Rating: 7.4

Country: Czech Republic

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. Spermivore
2. Jigmasterpiss
3. Buttsuck
4. Hermaphrodit Anal Express
5. Clitblaster
6. Pussy Off Road
7. Homo Erected
8. Shit Paintress
9. Bukakke Bitchbombers
10. Perineum Battlefield [mp3]
11. Blow Job Time Pt. 2
12. Cummageddon Final Countdown

Band Website: Isacaarum

Isacaarum – Shibari Kata and Other Practices

Jimmy - Bassacre and backing vocals
Bambus - Guitar and additional vocals
Chymus - Three tessiturae vocals
Monthy- Drums
F.C - Guitar

I happen to nurture a dislike for bands that play a hybrid of metal genres. I prefer when bands stick to playing in one style of music instead of taking two or more otherwise good genres and making a shameful mess out of them. Sure there are exceptions, but in majority of the cases such music manages to have an appeal only comparable to that of a shemale. Which is the precise reason why I chose to overlook Isacaarum in spite of them being on the mighty Obscene Productions roster, for then, the band seemed to play in an unconventional “grind-black” style of music.

Quite sad, because after hearing their latest effort ‘Shibari Kata and Other Practices' they appear to be one of the exceptions of this peculiar case. Here the music is an “interesting” blend of not two, but three genres – death, black and grind, and gratifyingly, most of it sounds like death metal. The mere categorization of the main component of their music as “death metal” won't do much justice to their music as various death metal bands have influenced them. To give you some idea let's take the album opener “Spermivore” . It kicks off in a similar fashion like how Vader did in their ‘Litany' album but the accompanying riff sounds like Vomitory with the vibe of ‘Eternal'/'In Cold Blood'-era Malevolent Creation. Next one “Jigmasterpiss” has a melodic streak to it that is evocative of God Dethroned. In the midway you are quaked violently with massive breakdowns and when you finally regain your balance, Isacaarum teases you with a Fleshless riff. Listening to their third song “Buttsuck”, Cerebrocide flashes in my mind followed by newer Behemoth as the song progresses, but my brain becomes dead when they play a killer riff soon after. I really like how the band metamorphoses their sound by effortlessly shifting through genres, and with their competent altering of pace and tempos, it's almost like the changing of gears which happens very frequently in Isacaarum's sports car.

Often I could hear influences from mid-era Hypocrisy and in “Hermaphrodite Anal Express” they make it obvious by playing their typical slow, dolorous riff halfway into that song. In “Shit Paintress” and “Bukakke Bitchbombers” Yattering sounding parts are conspicuous also thanks to those queer shouts. During the end of their album in the rather relaxed song “Blow Job Time Pt. 2”, they've made wonderful use of trumpets which sound like the ones played by the black metal band Hail. So you see, their influences on this album are manifold and don't forget that there are also grind and black metal parts merged well in their songs. But despite of that, I couldn't call their music original - as I've pointed out a few cases where I've heard similar sounding parts before.

The vocals seem to represent the all three genres that form a part of their music - you have the low death metal growls, scalding black metal rasps and gut-wrenching grind squeals. By painfully emitting such sounds, they seem to be telling us about their fascination with Japanese bondage. Good for them. The stuttering drumming over here reminds me a lot of the last two Fleshless albums. I must stress on the fact that, like most of the releases on this respectable label, the production is top-notch. It's impartial to the genres they play and gives them all equal support and encouragement. And with its lucidity, it also promotes all the instruments fairly without any favoritism. One ought to appreciate its nature.

I have to admit that this album bamboozled me with its high quality but that doesn't mean I'm going to allow myself to get tied up and have my face smeared with mud, or worse but in all probability, with shit. However I can't say the same about those with a black metal approach to the music who would be more than willing to do something of that sort to enhance their listening experience. Either way, face packs or not, this album is recommended for those who need some excitement and variation in their monotonous life. This album has left me so dumbfounded that I'm going to try and purchase all their numerous (damn!) previous albums to make up for my foolishness of neglecting this band for so long. While you don't always have to do exactly what I do, make sure you at least pick this one up.

November 29th, 2005