TOTAL

What did I just listen to?! I am only a few listens in and I am already certain that this album will be on my short-list for my favorite of 2023. I suppose the best way to describe the music on this record is as the halfway point between the atmosphere of Ulcerate and psychedelic sludge of Intronaut. But make no mistake, the music here is utterly unique. I have seen other reviewers and outlets refer to this record as black metal. With the exception of the record's sparse vocals, Total has, thankfully, very little to do with black metal. Black metal is an insidious, cynical, and nihilistic genre of music that is utterly at odds with the atmosphere and life-affirming aspiration of the music on this record. Black metal exists in opposition to the emotionally complex reality that this Entropia is inspiring us to live with. The music here, like life itself, can definitely get ugly. But its intermingled with a complex beauty that is always bubbling just below the surface before dispersing through our beings as life affirming contentment, driving us to ever greater heights of feeling and expression.

I know nothing about this band or their previous releases. This changes TODAY!