If potable water doesn't become a commodity in the future, free time will. In this age where the vicious cycle of debt and hopelessness that is getting a college degree is the most basic necessity for any job in existence, and retirement is but a quickly waning fad, the only thing that actually lies in the future for most of us is working as a means of survival. Forever. And ever. Until coronary and then “The End”. And, well, work is just getting more ruthless by the week. I haven't even left high school yet and I already find myself running from room to room, developing less time-consuming ways of gulping down food and concocting an all-week schedule that includes every detail from how much I sleep to exactly when I take a shit, all so that I can manage to savor some precious moments of relaxation, occasionally.
I really envy the people who decide to see a movie and then see it within the same week. I've given up on books and video games ages ago, and now I don't even have the time to listen to music anymore. I don't have the time to create music anymore. Fuck, I don't even have the time to sleep anymore! Succeeding is all about developing this balance between work and social life, meanwhile dying inside the whole time. And it amounts to fuck all. The only reason I allow myself to get all worked up here right now is because no one ever reads this shit anyway!
Alright, sorry about that. I guess that if you've read this far you do want an actual review. Well, my point with that wall of text was that, to me, albums such as Vanished In The Cosmic Futility are like a godsend. Why listen to Geogaddi, The Wall, or The Galilean Satellites for over an hour, when I can take in as much information from under 14 minutes of Purulent Jacuzzi's mindrape? And I mean this without a hint of sarcasm. This does rape the mind and I do love it.
What we have here is a very catchy, refined and natural-sounding mix of slam death metal with assorted grindcorisms, the occasional flourish of technicality, and a very original riffing style to boot. The musicians are excellently precise and very proficient, and the production joins it all together like no other. If those two sentences right now didn't convince you to give this a listen, I don't know what will. I guess I might try exploring a bit more detail.
The first thing that pops out when listening to Vanished In The Cosmic Futility is just how perfect the sound is. It's raw, screechy, punchy and gives you a rush. I have never before heard a BDM album with such a fitting sound. The vocalist also deserves a mention for doing right everything that the one from Waking the Cadaver did wrong, and to great effect. Everyone else is not far behind, providing instrumentation that is easy to follow despite its creativity. Structure-wise, there's not much of interest for the most part, but you get some very nice subtleties here and there. For the most part it's the grindcore style of linear “Riff1, then Riff2, then Riff3, then Riffx” endeavor, only with the “awesome per second” gauge too far up. And the riffs are something worth talking about. Every single one of them appears to have been crafted to perfection to create a style simultaneously very abstract and groovy. And then you get moments of guitar orgasms while the drums follow accordingly, and these moments are incredible.
The only actual problem I have with this album, a problem which is minuscule in comparison to the positive aspects, is the same that appears to plague every BDM album, and that is a cheesy intro and uncompelling outro. Admittedly, without them the whole experience would have been under a quarter of an hour long, but I don't really mind. This is an album of unbridled intensity teaming up with creativity and attention to quality, and the two bookends are rendered rather insignificant by the constant magnificence of the rest. I'm not saying that Vanished In The Cosmic Futility has helped me find meaning in my life or spare time, but it is a perfect soundtrack for while I'm looking for it, and after.
Standout tracks:
Last Phase Of Leptospiriosis
Quadriplegia
Spastic Disphonia
Vortex Of The Inanity
Contagious Dementia
Rapture Of The Venous Vessels (New Version)
Pulsatory
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