KOLLAPS\E, kollapse, Collapse

Breach past, present, future?

Don’t collapse into despair before the work week ends. Embrace finality. Enter the Phantom Centre as presented by KOLLAPS\E via Trepanation Recordings for the weekend.

Sweden has long been an epicenter of what I jokingly refer as the CultOfNeurIsis. Sure, it is common misconception Cult of Luna is the Swedish grand-daddy of the post whatever doom sludge quiet/loud atmospheric style that built off Neurosis and Isis, which built off Sabbath, Amebix, Swans but, give credit where it is due, it’s Breach. Sure, they began one way and morphed into the collosal Kollapse sound. You can do all the wiki work you want and discover who, what, where, why, when and how.

Now, the matter at hand being KOLLAPS\E. This is a relatively new act but given the confidence and strength of song writing and recording you wouldn’t have guessed this is only 3 or 4 years old. Sure, a couple members have been doing time in Hearts Alive since the early years of this millenium that they have familiarity working with each other and it counts in terms of writing with detail and precision, especially working dual guitar as creatively as this record displays.

Through the entirety of Phantom Centre there is attention to detail in terms of dynamics and atmosphere. Some of it being very subtle, whether the electronics utilized during certain songs - take “Beautiful Deslote” for instance - where noises ebb and flow, changing where they are perceived in the mix from barely audible in the background to shifting position to mid and foreground. The mix itself is dynamic from song to song and even within songs changing instrumentation focus from the dual guitars to the backline.

What is captured here is a great headphone experience and it helps set KOLLAPS\E up for success in a field that has fast become overcrowded to the point of overkill. Much the same can be said of every niche genre known for having a signature sound, but, again a lot of the CultofNeurIsis style is predicated on a similar quiet/loud dynamic and wall of sound churning attack with hoarse vocals leading the charge. This, too, has it in spades though the songs here are lean, mean, never overstaying their welcome and have such attention to minutiae and self awareness of limitations inherent that it overcomes through creativity and being detail oriented.

Album opener “Era” establishes the foundation with pocket perfect drumming, electronic washes that swirl giving additional sonic movement to then soak into the background as textural weight or melodic counterpoint to the distorted bass, larynx frying vocals and the left/right guitar spread. There’s churning rhythms at play as well as open spaces allowing more room for the dual guitars to work off each other and swell and decay with effects.

I hate to admit it, but, I feel the best track is the instrumental song, “Uhtceare.” This is not a knock on guitarist/vocalist Daniel Wallenborg by any stretch of the imagination. After all he is the madman mixologist behind the recording. It is simply the fact the arrangement is constructed in such manner it draws attention to itself by pulling out all the stops and purely embracing the musicality of the instruments, effects, and electronics implemented in a way it recalls Telepathy and Latitudes without necessarily sounding like either.

We’ll roll back a little way to the Dane trio kollapse. This, too, has Breach in their blood. Though the attack is more minimal and spare than either of the Swedes. This is a case where working in minimalism maximizes the sound. Distortion isn’t aggressive on the guitars and the enormous bass tone paired with cannon fire drums is doing the heavy lifting in terms of heft. Another aspect that proves advantageous being the vocals are in their native tongue making the screams sound more ferocious to a non-native listener.

Travel back to the source. Breach. After the dissolution comes Terra Tenebrosa, The Old Wind, Norna, among others.

A breach in time brings us back to the late 1980s, NYC and Collapse (NYHC). A short lived act and we’re all the worse for it. Members were from Life’s Blood and Absolution and would go on to more well known acts, and again, you can look that all up on your own but for starters Quicksand and deftones. “Failure” sounds so much like the Bay Area’s Sacrilege bc’s “Azmeroth” being performed at Don Fury’s studio with an assist from Tony Iommi’s sure hand on a couple riffs. You can find the band’s discography to download at Blogged and Quartered. The self-titled song is a loose, bass driven piece capturing Black Sabbath meeting Santana in the cbgb bathrooms circa 1988.

“A secret oath to kill Sworn by Azmeroth” off the debut LP from the underappreciated SacrilegeBC: I’ve never been one to be gung ho on thrash, but, man SacrilegeBC absolutely ruled on the demo and Party With God with a vengeance. Strephon Taylor’s rabid, rapid fire vocal delivery, bass playing that may rival the equally unsung Beyond Possession.

Back to burly post metal noise rock hybridization and DEATH ENGINE’s Ocean. The lean and mean bare bones simplicity of Unsane and Membrane. Walls of guitars and a smashing backline that has technical finesse and zero regard for the damage it inflicts. Seems to be more attention here to the vocal arrangements than before and it definitely makes a difference as so many bands that operate in the genre tend to be one note static delivery that becomes fatiguing. What’s curious is when they do group vocalization arrangements it reminds me a little of From Mars to Sirius Gojira. Maybe one could even make a musical comparison as well to that record when Death Engine engage the Killing Joke tribalism as you can hear on “Lack.”

Hellenic madness by Wothrosch that is being described as “the soundscape experience of SepticFlesh clashing into the furiosity of Anaal Nathrakh.” To me it’s a disservice, although to another listener it could hit the nail on the head. Production speaking, this is enormous. Huge tones, scathing vocals, a lot of textural noises adding both unsettling atmospheres and creepy melodies and harmonic disruption. Sometimes it seems to step on its own toes concerning the drums; but, par for the course once things go full throttle SYL - City. Maybe the ambience is the “soundscape experience?” At least it isn’t overly faux symphonic and orchestral as when I think of the most recent iterations of SepticFlesh. As this moves forward I think sonically speaking this is demigod or zos kia cultus Behemoth riff-o-rama crossed with City’s everything and the kitchen sink approach given modern production.

Second track from forthcoming Cultura Tres album Camino De Brujos due in April.

With a guitar tone the audio equivalent to chewing on tinfoil, yes, it is that painful… moreso than Ulver’s Ulver Nattens Madrigal – Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden… DAWN RAY’D return with the violin, banshee screeching, stripped down kit pounding and politically charged black metal assault.

In case you didn’t already know: “Your Opinion is Wrong” - Remote Viewing. New album in February on Human Worth.

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