Rating: 8.3

Country: USA

Release Date: 2007

Record Label: Cephalic Records

Track list:
1. Fuck Protest
2. Back Acne Buffet
3. Iceman
4. Mother Daughter Bonding
5. Green Seed
6. BTK
7. Nursing Home Kneebash
8. Prog
9. Toilet Water Island
10. Family Ties
11. Urineat
12. Play Catch, You Lose

Band Website: Syphilic

Syphilic - Erotishock Therapy

Brian Forgue - Everything

Syphilic is a new one-man brutal death metal band from the vocalist of Mutilated [review] and Gutrot, Brian Forgue. And on his band's debut, Erotishock Therapy, Brian handles all the instruments including drum machine programming. Now this, I'm sure you will agree, is not a walk in the park. For a vocalist to single-handedly write and play everything on his 12-track full-length album is laudable as well as scary, because in a time where brutal albums are released faster and more consistently than shit from a large diarrhoeic horse, his chances of making a presence felt in the scene let alone leave a mark are minimal. Does vocalist Brian Forgue's ambitious project merely corroborate your preconceived notions of it then?

Oh, absolutely not. Syphilic will surpass your weak expectations by such a great margin that it will make you look retarded. To use one word for its music: staggering. Unsurprisingly influenced by the brutal one-man bands of good repute, Putrid Pile and Insidious Decrepancy, Syphilic‘s music is like a tribute to them; only it betters some of their work. Brian, apart from having six fingers on each hand, a fine ear for music, and ultra flexible vocal cords, also has an oversized brain. Using that, he has culled only the best elements of those two bands and then augmented the sound using some of his own homemade therapy. Erotishock Therapy falls thus somewhere between The Pleasure In Suffering and Decadent Orgy of Atrocious Suffering, the best work yet of those two bands.

Cruising in its fluid, seamless, and sinuous manner, Syphilic's music makes you feel as if you are experiencing an extreme roller coaster ride. At a dizzying, neck-breaking speed the music takes you up and down, left and right, round and round its convoluted tracks, your limbs flap about from side to side with each turn like saucy red noodles, and you take heart from the fact that the ride is bolstered firmly by riffs that are actually solid, real, legitimate riffs and not some cheap jun-jun brootal crap masquerading as them. Cramped with smooth pace fluctuations and tempo changes, the ride on this elaborately designed structure is timed beautifully. Strapped on tight to it like a baby and just as awestricken and mesmerised, you don't want to bail out of this surreal experience but wait till the very end of it, after which you can't wait to experience it all over again once you stop reeling.

For his technical music that is mind-boggling not mindless, Brian's performance in the vocal department is a tour de force. Ultra brutal vocals rarely went better with this form of music, with Brian deploying every weapon from his arsenal (serrated yet streamlined grunts, interminable squeals, inhuman screeches, et all), overwhelming you and demonstrating why he should be regarded as one of the best brutal vocalists in the scene today. With a contortive mouth like his and an awesome pair of lungs to boot, Brian can blow any conch in this world. You would think without his dynamic vocals his music would probably fall flat; that, my cynical friend, is far from the case. Take for instance “Prog” – an instrumental that promises to blow your mind along with all the scepticism stored in it. Brian the musician has arrived; have no doubt about it. The critical drum programming which could very easily hamper the music is commendably done. Production is competent on all counts, though it could have done with more meat. As for its shortcomings, the tracks on Erotishock Therapy can be too similar, as in for some it may seem like one long song. More punchy parts and mood-altering leads like that of Putrid Pile could prove to be very effective. For its kind of music, the album appears a song or two in excess of what would be a perfect start-to-finish listen, and perhaps Syphilic would want to keep its song lengths in check ("BTK" is seven minutes song!) lest it works negatively for it like the Scottish Regorge even with all its brilliance.

Technically proficient, engaging, and exuding enough sickness, Erotishock Therapy is a seriously impressive debut. I really didn't expect a vocalist to single-handedly put out what is undoubtedly one of the best brutal death metal albums of this year. I hereby decree Syphilic to be uttered in the same breath with Insidious Decrepancy and Putrid Pile when speaking of celebrated one-man brutal bands.

January 3rd, 2008