Repeated motifs also serve to add coherence to Anoint. For example, that doom-metal riff that serves as track three's midsection reappears as the opening salvo of track four. Similarly, tracks one and two, at least to my ears, sound as though they're constructed off slightly different versions of the same musical passage. And track six flows into track seven using a frantic series of high-pitched notes that sound like an alternate-universe version of the main theme to Psycho. The point is, if you're going to listen, be prepared to listen closely.
The most surprising thing about this project, though, isn't the virtuosity or inventiveness - it's the unusual grace contained within the squall. Barr isn't just flailing away on his guitar; rather, he's trying to use the abstraction of noise as a way to reach a transcendence. Anoint is brutal, but it's also often possessed of an unusual beauty. The bass line is the holder of much of this - check out the unexpected upshifting of it at the close of track three, or the way it bleats through the haze of the three-headed lead near the end of track seven like a boat approaching a lighthouse in the mist. If you can't see it, try imagining this reconfigured for a string quintet. You'll understand what I mean.
Mick Barr has topped himself with Ocrilim's Anoint, a transfixing, puzzling and uplifting work of art. In a sense, this is the culmination of everything he's been doing prior to this. Its fulfillment of its lofty aspirations allow it to soar above most other albums of its ilk. It's also, lest we forget, righteously noisy. Turn this up to full blast and let it envelop you - it's the only way.
Article comments
1 - Guppusmaximus
I love experimental music and the heavier the better but when you used Slipknot as a good reference point to Metal, my intent to try this album out had lost it's gusto. Hopefully, you were just using that name because alot of people have heard of them...
2 - Steve C.
Rest assured - that was not intended as an endorsement of Slipknot, a band I find boring. I simply needed a name that people would recognize.