Hailing from deep within the underground of the ancient city of Kolkata come a group of Aghoric Gnostics who have declared war on the greater spiritual world. These mystic militants have started their musical jihad in 2012 under the banner of Tetragrammacide, a total affront and annihilation of the so called ‘mighty’ tetragrammaton of kabalistic origins. Drawing upon many symbolic themes across many different occult practices, there’s is but one figure that precedes not only this group, but the symbols and figures they draw upon as well, and she is the mother of the void, Kali. Her destructive and creative nature truly shines in their work, calling upon her shapeless form to manifest within their destructive sound waves and infiltrate the psyche of those who are unknowing, or unwilling to accept the call. While there aren’t many releases under their belt, what they have put out so far crushes most other bands, especially within the blackend death metal world. Many of those timeless classic influences like Black Witchery, Blasphemy, Teitanblood and so on, are there and can be heard, but they take it to the next level and push the boundaries beyond what is comfortable acceptable even to the most trvest of kvlt fans out there. Taking a moment to reflect upon what lead them up to their most recent and most heady release titled Typho-Tantric Aphorisms from the Arachneophidian Qur’an, their audial evolution is quite interesting and well worth taking the cacophonic journey through these dark utterings if your psyche is willing to handle it.
Third World Esoterrorism (2019)
While not technically their first release, Third World Esoterrorism is a compilation of their early recordings, from their demo release Tetragrammacidal Oration to their single Baneful Abortion of the Cosmic Fetus as well as a handful of recordings that were revealed for the first time upon this compilations. What’s presented is about as raw as raw can get. Noisy, chaotic, and frantic, this is quite the dense release, with much of the instrumentation hidden under the massive wall of industrious war sounds. They’ve mixed in different samples, voice clips, and other noise to confuse and distract the listener, but if given the chance and with proper attention and meditation, you can start to pick up on the subtle melodies and details beneath the chaos. The drums are incredibly grindy, frantically blasting away any sort of hope, while the guitars, just barely audible, chug and grind right along side it, creating dizzying riffs that cut you right down to the bone. The vocals are just as intense and manic, screaming and belting out esoteric hymns, sometimes they’re lost underneath all the noise, but on a few tracks they stand out and add onto the frantic chaos of it all. What’s interesting to me is the heavy emphasis on noise. This was the first release that introduced me to this band, and I had assumed they were purely a noise act, with metal sort of being the after thought of it all. Once you really start to break it down and give it a chance, you start to form the connections and hear the intense wall of noise is mainly thanks to an overblown out guitar mixed with what ever sort of industrious noises they’re able to glue together. Overall their early works is just that, noisy chaos. Like staring into the void and having it scream right back at you. Its intense, off-putting, and not for the faint of heart. Certainly a release that doesn’t exactly fall into the norm of the genre, but well worth a listen if you can get past the harshness of it.
Typhonian Wormholes: Indecipherable Anti-Structural Formulæ (2015)
Continuing down the path of audial chaos, with their EP release, Typhonian Wormholes: Indecipherable Anti-Structural Formulæ, they begin to slowly take shape and present their more melodic side. The guitars are more comprehensible and rough, death metal grinding riffs are strewn all through out this release with loud and raw drums banging away in mind melting blasts. That wall of noise is still very present here, though with less of an industrial angle to it. The noise is coming mainly from the raw drumming, the cymbals and crashes have this ear piercing quality to them that adds to the overall chaos generating form this EP. When mixing with the chugging guitars, the overwhelming wall just suffocates the listener. This release definitely feels like a transition point for the band, slowly moving out of the pure raw noise and dipping their toes in a more melodic and traditional black/death sort of way, but, it doesn’t let up the fact that this is another harsh and dense release for even the toughest of metal fans out there. While it does feel like more of the same from their demo and other older recordings, I do feel like this sets up the band more for what’s the come in the future.
Primal Incinerators of Moral Matrix (2017)
There was a lot of mystique and hype centered around this debut, Primal Incinerators of Moral Matrix was the first deceleration of war against the demiurge, and with the band finding their sound and footing with this album, it certainly rocked many people’s minds when it came out. Taking a step out of the raw noise and into a more familiar sounding black/death metal sound, the band is able to take such a familiar sound and twist it, making it their own be infusing their own unique occult approach that was kind of seen in the past with Teitanblood or even Black Witchery, but there’s something a bit more far out with Tetragrammacide. With dizzying and impactful guitar riffs that either crush the listener beneath its immense and harsh sound, and that ever lasting blast beat drumming that has been ever present through out all their releases feels and sounds as tight as ever. Along side the now some what audible vocals, whose guttural screams spit out vitriolic esoteric rantings of unknown origins. Another thing of note too is how this album feels like a full fledged idea. At this point, they’re just simply channeling dark entities to manifest them within these soundwaves, bringing their message to the psyche of man in a way that has yet been done, and if I am to say so my self, is done in an extremely successful way. While of course the running theme through out this band’s whole career is their dense titles, once you start to break it down word for word and dissect what they’re presenting, its rather mind blowing and incredibly interesting. So much so that I’ve found my self going down historical rabbit holes related to obscure myths. The band themselves are able to connect the dots, and bring us these mind melting ideas in a way that only seems suitable and presentable for such deeply esoteric and dark knowledge. There are some moments that harken back to previous releases, with vocal samples and ambient noise that can get rather ear grating, like the fifth track that sounds like some sort of manipulated Muslim prayer. Its rather harsh and truly pierces your ear. What I find rather amusing, as that bands within the genre that have a sort of ambient interlude in the middle of the album, make it ‘listenable’ to give the listener a break from the intensity of the music, but Tetragrammacide on the other hand, doesn’t care, and tortures you all through out. A bold move and very memorable. This album as a whole is an amazing release that I think sets the way for not only the future of the band but the future of blackened death metal as a whole genre. A must listen.
Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From The Arachneophidian Qur’an (2023)
After a long 6 year wait, their second album comes to fruition. Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From the Arachneophidian Qur’an sounds like a lot and it definitely is, especially with the sounds at hand. Continuing from where the left off from their first album, they continue down the road of blackened death metal that crushes those it deems not worthy of its gloriously violent message of holocaustic spiritual terrorism. With this album, feeling like a direct message from Kali her self, spewing her divine wrath upon us as we are dead in the middle of the Kali Yugic age. The guitars, drums, and vocals all come together in a deadly focused harmony, grinding, and blasting away at the listener. The vocals, still deep and beastly, it feels a bit more ritualistic though, as if the lyrics he’s spewing out has power within the vibrations alone, not even needing to comprehend what is being told. While on the previous albums, the drums have had a very strong foothold on the tracks and really stood out among the noise, the guitars have taken its place instead, with plenty of dizzying and mind altering riffs that really present the band in a completely different light. As I mentioned with their previous release, this is kind of a groundbreaking album in my opinion, and the hype that has surrounded this release is truly justified. This is pushing the genre forward in a productive and creative way, and say what you want about the song titles, they’re just as interesting as the music at hand, and gives you plenty food for thought if your brain can chew down on it all. But, its certainly a much more approachable album, and probably their most approachable release. I know for me personally, this is gonna go down as not only the album of the year, but probably found its self alongside my favorite albums of all time. From the imagery to the musical content, all of it is just so enchanting and hypnotizing, they’re truly casting some powerful magicks with this release and presenting it to the world in a way that will probably fly over people’s heads. All in all, a must listen for everyone.
This was quite the musical journey for me and something completely mind altering. Going through their releases and truly taking a deep dive and trying to break it down in my own way felt like I gave a little bit of my own psyche to the void itself. As if I have offered up apart of my own soul at the altar of Kali. There’s a lot to take in from this band, and it certainly won’t be for everyone. If you’re willing to push your musical tolerance beyond what you feel is acceptable and are willing to take your self down an esoteric rabbit hole of gnostically occult knowledge pertaining to the ultimate truth that is always and is eternal and takes form within the image of the One Goddess in the form of Self-consciousness.
“All that can be said with truth of this Absolute and Supreme Reality is that IT IS. This must suffice.”
-Israel Regardie