Question "Reflections of the Void" Review

 

   

    So, I'm not quite the biggest fan of the recent old school death metal revival. The entire movement to me feels like a sailed ship; then the ship sank and is at the bottom of the ocean, and all these bands are still trying desperately to eek out a little more fresh oxygen from within the hold. They've all been doing the same thing for decades, with derivation upon derivation of being waterlogged in the old school culture and image, never cutting above the water. It's refreshing to see bands who poke their head above the surface and squeeze a little more life out of a dying art. They are merely few and far between. Almost none of them have managed to realize OSDM needs an all-out rescue mission, with Horrendous as a notable exception.

    Now here we have a band sticking their head above the rest, clawing their way into relevance with a release the tows the line between the old school and new school so deftly that, in a void, it seems to break those distinctions down. Question have been on a crusty, depraved rampage for almost ten years making the kind of death metal that makes you feel like you need to take a shower. From the heart of the Mexican homeland their brand of death metal has been slowly evolving to suit what feels like an empty void in a long standing member of the metal genre spectrum. That is, a bridge between the filth-encrusted brutality of bands like Carbonized and Asphyx and the sophisticated energy of Atheist and Pestilence. Question certainly aren't the first to take this route - in fact, Carbonized did themselves sort of stray from straight up death metal - but they do it with such elegance and class on their new release, Reflections of the Void.

    The album opens without ceremony or fanfare to "The Process of Dehumanization", a track tearing itself apart between very open-ended, thoughtful arpeggiated riffs and sections of straight misanthropic rage sure to get the pit started. Often times the transition between these two disparate pieces is at the drop of a hat. With no time for bullshit, putting just over half an hour to record, Question undoubtedly make their presence and ideals known from the get go. They wear their influences on their sleeves, and they aren't afraid to see how those influences can be mixed and matched. They continue a similar onslaught on the next track, "Beyond Illusions of Existence", breaking out harder hitting blasts and putting down some catchy lead-infused guitar harmony, before holding the hostility hostage in their first interlude, "Sunyata". It is here I wonder about the trend in death metal to let off the aggression for dedicated 'pretty' songs. While I enjoy "Sunyata", I realize it falls in a long tradition of these interlude-type tracks that serve to break up the flow of the album and give some breathing room to the listener. Rarely these days do I find myself thinking these tracks are entirely necessary, or, in most cases, anything less than indulgent. After all, "Sunyata" is just a two chord progression with some bass leads over it. Really, the question is why wouldn't I just skip it to get back to the meat and potatoes? That isn't to say these songs can't be worthwhile, in fact last year Haunter put the best interlude track to tape that I've yet to hear: "Abdication" off of Sacramental Death Qualia. If you could even call that track an interlude. It was seven minutes long...

    I digress. As the album continues, it feels as if the guitar lines become more divorced from each other, breaching into counterpoint territory on "First Fragmentation", then reuniting for an all-out pummeling in "Alone with Everybody". Throughout the album, Question are able to simultaneously maintain their love of the crunchiest and most violent metal imaginable alongside their desire to keep things interesting. There's a section midway thru "A Fate Worse Than Death" that just tears down the song structure and breaks into a high register wailing on the guitars underscored by the bass and drums going off into their own dimensions with leads and off-time blasting. Most tracks feature some interplay between interests of progressive and old school, and Question make deft work of sewing the rift between such conventions seamlessly. Such a feat is made all the more savory with the style of production on display. Guitars sound like they were recorded at the bottom of a tar pit, allowing just enough clarity to make leads possible between chunky riffs and massive chord arpeggios. The bass has this distant, muddy quality to it reminiscent of early metal production, while the drums cut through everything effortlessly. All of these elements are on display in their primacy as the last bit of audio fades out on "Vacuous Thoughts", and the swirl of chaos comes to a close.

    What Question have done here is incredibly fresh. It gives me some faith. There are bands out there, similar to acts like Haunter and Blood Incantation, who are following in the steps of their progenitors in a new set of boots, carving new trails and forging new sonic landscapes. And also commissioning some killer fucking album art. Like what the fuck is even happening here? Is this guy being devoured by a lake of blue cosmic ooze while his brain ejaculates visions of eyeballs and crustaceans? Also check out that sick sunset and the colorful mountains. It's fucking awesome. Check this shit out.

-Dalton