Spektr: The Art To Disappear

Avant-black French duo err on the side of incoherence

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Spektr won’t appeal to everyone and with their latest opus they may not even appeal to those who enjoyed their previous output.

Through The Darkness Of Future Past is a melting pot of industrial, black metal and dissonant frequencies, and while these ingredients often combine to create a terrifying barrage of sound and lock into a tight groove, it often strays into incoherence. This strategy seems to follow the French duo throughout their fourth full-length, and takes away from the dizzying discord of 2013’s Cypher.

Curious spoken word sections appear between the tracks but give no weight to the following sounds, and so From The Terrifying To The Fascinating falls on the weak side, despite its abstract use of trip hop beats segueing into huge crashes and off-kilter guitar structures.

Usually, any jarring juxtaposition of sounds can give a band an edge over their peers, but Spektr lose all semblance of musical interrelation and The Art To Disappear feels rushed and bloated.