Band: Bekor Qilish | Album: The Flesh of a New God | Genre: Black metal, Progressive metal | Year: 2023
From: Milan, Italy | Label: I, Voidhanger Records
For fans of: Cynic, Enslaved, Spectral Lore, Mare Cognitum
I do my best to avoid falling into ruts on this site. I’m purposely vague about what constitutes “progressive rock,” “progressive metal,” or any other “weird and/or experimental” music I cover on this site. This approach also extends to my attempts to highlight a lot of different record labels. At times, I feel like this site can border on being a showcase for Spinda, Karisma, or InsideOut. One of those labels I frequently feature–and possibly my favorite metal-focused label at the moment–is I, Voidhanger. This Italy-based label focuses on experimental and extreme metal, and their page always makes up a significant portion of my Bandcamp wishlist. I’ve covered multiple acts of theirs in the past, including Creature, Neptunian Maximalism, and Fleshvessel.
Bekor Qilish is another of I, Voidhanger’s acts that I’ve covered before. Their release from last year, Throes of Death from the Dreamed Nihilism, was one of my favorite short releases of 2022. The Flesh of a New God continues in a similar sonic vein, featuring scourging black metal and rich keyboard tones.
“Defaced Background” opens the album with a tumbling, dissonant riff beneath some hoarsely-gurgled vocals. The rhythm is all kinds of weird, and it keeps the listener off-balance in an engaging way, where you’re not quite sure what comes next. This overall weirdness eventually morphs into something more marching and stolid, but things hardly ever sit still for very long. In this song’s second half, synths become more prominent and contribute a lush spaciness.
The riff that opens up “Unobtainable Transformations” has a doomier atmosphere and a halting, awkward cadence. This slower pace also serves to add more weight to the synth pads when they emerge. The unusual chords add to the anxious mood as well, and this cut has an especially powerful conclusion, with a piercing, soaring guitar solo.
“Unearthly Dominion” features twisting, arpeggiated riffs that give the music a descending, swirling feel. This song features some metrical madness, as riffs lurch from time signature to time signature. Lush, dramatic synths bloom about midway through this track, and they lend this once-earthly cut a celestial character. The solo which follows is melodic and reminds me a lot of Cynic.
Synths continue to be prominent on the instrumental “Unaware Gods”. It’s a thrilling piece that gives the feeling of riding a rocket through space. It’s almost like if Hawkwind played black metal. Following this is “Enshrouding Wrath”, one of the more straightforward cuts on the album. Yes, the riffs are complex, inventive, and dissonant, but there’s nothing too terribly unexpected here. That’s hardly an indictment though; it’s still stellar, proggy black metal. Until the final minute or so, at least, when it plunges into some exceptionally weird territory.
“The Flesh of Terror” is a breakneck, full-throttle piece that wastes no time getting to the point. It features a synth solo early on that is tense, tight, and panicked. Before this piece even hits the two-minute mark, things suddenly get stripped back to some rolling toms and a synth drone. That, in turn, leads to a shambolic, tumbling doom riff. It’s a whirlwind cut that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The opening lines of “Infinite Self-Reflecting Circles” are relatively slow, by Bekor Qilish standards. The drums are still frenetic, but the guitars have a more methodical pace. The keyboard tones here bear some resemblance to a church organ, which lends some weight. Unexpectedly, a saxophone solo shows up, and it works quite well.
The album ends on a short instrumental, “Beggars”. It’s slow-moving, and it gradually builds in heaviness across its runtime. It evolves from a clean guitar arpeggio into something heavily distorted, with a thick layer of synthesizer. It’s a fitting way to end the record.
The Flesh of a New God is a great record. It features a thrilling blend of black metal, avant-garde flavors, and little bits and dashes of other things. Synthesizers are used often enough to be a key element of Bekor Qilish’s sound, but not so much that they become overbearing or a crutch.
Score: 83/100
The Elite Extremophile 