The Way of Purity – The Order Of The Deep Roots
Wormholedeath Records
Release Date: 26/05/23
Running Time: 33:36
Review by Dark Juan
7/10
Normalcy is a state that is false. Define normalcy if you please. Normal is whatever you make it. Normal for a kinky couple might involve other people, giant dildos or pampas grass in the garden and a fruit bowl full of car keys for a group of half-naked, all drunk middle-aged people looking to jump bones with each other. (What the fuck are you on about?! -Rory) Equally it might be like Dark Juan’s world, which is one of incipient alcoholism, a love of animals and megatons of books and music, because Dark Juan really is not that keen on the outside and is famously socially awkward and requires a fuckton of booze to loosen his tongue on the rare occasions he ventures beyond the front door of Crow Cottage. Dark Juan thanks Satan for the gift of compartmentalisation, otherwise he would not be able to function at all outside of his front door. Also, all my stuff is behind my front door, and I don’t like being away from it. However, basic human nature leads me to sometimes leave my safe space and attempt to associate with fellow humans. Normally, I can manage this for about an hour before I must search out the magic elixir of booze to get me warmed up enough to enjoy the company of people.
There is a point to this, I promise, good people, and that is that The Way Of Purity apparently are not people people. They are hardcore Vegans and appear to be waiting for the apocalypse to wipe out humanity so Gaia can be reclaimed by nature and recover. Dark Juan can get behind this point of view. They choose to broadcast this manifesto via the medium of Gothic Metal and fiery rhetoric. The puissant Platter of Splatter ™ is balefully spinning. Let’s see what happens.
“The Order of The Deep Roots” opens with ‘This Is Not The World You Want’ and begins with a drone with artificial strings being plucked as the guitar creeps in a sinuous fashion around the edges of slowly building classical sounds, being an instrumental piece that leads into piano and the very Post-Punk influenced ‘The Red Herring’ which sounds like female vocals overlaying a classic The Cure song. There are also baritone male vocals. The two come together for the chorus as the god that is distortion cuts above the chiming, bell-like guitars of the verse, although the Post-Punk, Gothic influence continues beneath the distortion, swirling away as a counterpoint to the sonic violence. It’s actually a pretty good amalgam of early Lacuna Coil, Evanescence and Aeternitas although it does, somehow, exude a kind of organic, home-grown quality. This is not really a criticism, but the record feels like it has been recorded in a home studio. There’s a bit of a lack of rigour in the production and the vocal performances, as if the band have gone for good enough rather than excellence.
‘Sidetrack’ ups the ante somewhat, dropping the Post-Punk element for a bit of Metalcore mixed with some unusual electronic motifs beneath the Metal, before returning to the blueprint of Gothic Metal with crooning and an epic chorus. I can’t help feeling that it is a bit of a filler track, though. ‘hearthshattering’ is a different affair again, with lyrics detailing what the human race is doing to the planet in the name of profit (which again, as a rabid vegetarian anti-capitalist, Dark Juan is fully behind) and how we are destroying our own planet. The Gothic Metal stylings of this song are counter-pointed in the break with what sounds like someone playing a stylophone for the solo, which adds a level of interest not normally seen, and this idiosyncrasy continues on ‘The Great Leveler’ which features Jazz/ Ambient musician Shadowdream contributing some seriously sexy saxophone and a dreamy electronic underlay to the distorted guitars and the swooping vocals of XLostMyFaithX.
The whole album is a manifesto for the liberation of the planet from the horrors of capitalism and pollution with added elements of Thelemic tradition. Dark Juan is of the opinion that involving traditions from esoteric belief systems is a bit dodgy despite fully supporting the animal liberation aspects of The Way of Purity. I am an ally. I am not a convert.
‘Thy Will Be Done’ combines the high Gothic of keyboard led Metal with a kind of Punk attitude on shouted parts of the song, even though the Gothic splendour carries on unabated behind them. ‘Usque Ad Mortem’ sees the band letting rip with some pure Death Metal throat destruction and some tasty stop-start riffing overlaying a constant riff throughout the verse before descending back down to the High Gothic aesthetic for the middle eight and the chorus. ‘Ego-Monster’ dumps the whole fucking lot of what has gone before, choosing pure snotty Punk attitude crossed with New Wave electronics and Industrial bludgeoning until the chorus, where the band turn up the Goth Metal from “obvious but sensible” to “fucking big boots, outlandish make-up, wavy hands dancing and outrageous coiffures”. Basically, they go all Schysma on your unsuspecting arse during the chorus. A standout on the album, I feel. This is the song where the band actually let rip and become the sum of their many and varied parts. The same feeling is evinced by closing track ‘This Is The World You Deserve’ – it is a stomping, unpleasantly violent Industrial quasi-masterpiece that doesn’t bother with subtlety. It is three minutes and something of being trampled by hobnailed boots. Dark Juan feels that The Way Of Purity are more enthusiastic about their Industrial sound than they are about the Gothic…
The production and sound of the record is, as I said before, curiously home-grown sounding somehow, without your good correspondent being able to put his finger on exactly why I feel this way, but the arrangement of the music is brave and frequently avant-garde, with interesting touches abounding, and what could have sounded a bit jarring and forced actually being fused together pretty well (I refer to the obvious interest of Industrial and Gothic Metal being bashed into each other). There is the odd missed note along the way, but Dark Juan is a fan of warts-and-all recordings and the drums sound curiously artificial throughout the album.
This is a bloody good record, but Dark Juan cannot help himself – it is curiously soulless in its sound and execution. Clearly, they are passionate about animal rights and the reclaiming of the planet, and this is an endeavour Dark Juan wholly supports, but it feels like the music has taken second place to the manifesto. Still as entertainment, leaving out the band’s personal politics, this is well worth your time.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Det patenterade Dark Juan-systemet för blodstänk) awards The Way Of Purity 7/10 for an album that hits all the marks you might expect, and is an enjoyable listen but somehow leaves you feeling a bit cold.
TRACKLISTING:
01. This Is Not The World You Want (featuring Phil Stiles)
02. The Red Herring
03. Sidetrack
04. hearthshattering
05. The Great Leveler (featuring Shadowdream)
06. Thy Will Be Done
07. Usque Ad Mortem
08. Ego-monster
09. This Is The World You Deserve (featuring Phil Stiles)
LINE-UP:
Without Name – Bass
Wod – Drums
Jeffrey – Guitars
Deathwish – Guitars, Keyboards
XLostMyFaithX – Keyboards, Vocals
LINKS:
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