(written by Islander)
Thaumaturgy: the working of miracles, magic, or supernatural feats, whether genuine or illusory. The term originates from Greek, meaning “miracle working,” and is associated with any art that invokes supernatural powers, performing wonders or creating illusions through esoteric knowledge and ritual practice.
It’s worthwhile to begin with that definition, because thaumaturgy is an uncommon term: according to this source, the word’s frequency of use in modern written English is 0.02 occurrences per million words. We will appreciably increase the number of those meager appearances today because Thaumaturgy is the name of the Kansas-based band whose song “Plague Ritual” is the subject of this premiere.
That song is the second to be revealed from Thaumaturgy‘s forthcoming second album, Pestilential Hymns, which is set for release next month by Memento Mori. That label’s publicist has provided a number of evocative descriptions for the music within, including this one:
Previously an outright death-doom metal act with a darkened edge, the band has morphed into an entity whose musical offering is crammed with furious, ripping riffs, contrasted by crushing, echoing doom passages, as well as a surprising element of dark melody, evoking comparisons to the more diabolical early bands from Sweden, such as Necrophobic and Grotesque, although combining that approach with the tenebrosity and the murkiness of Incantation and Krypts, the violent and chaotic assault of Morbid Angel, the aggressiveness of Dutch bands like Sinister and Pestilence, the modern approach of acts like Grave Miasma and Cruciamentum, and even the sheer lightlessness of bands such as Demoncy and Adversarial.
That opens the salivary glands, doesn’t it? At least for connoisseurs of especially diabolical and descending death metal and death/black, it surely will.
All those band references point to an especially dark and disturbing form of magic and miracles, as do the names of Thaumaturgy‘s album and the song you’re about to hear. “Plague Ritual” certainly lives up to its name. It proceeds at a staggering pace and with an opening riff coated in corrosive distortion that’s steeped in misery and rot. Eerily quivering tones, smashing cymbals, and poisonously squirming fretwork become manifest, shrouding the doomed affair in an aura of the supernatural.
But this is a musical plague that also spreads viciously and virally. The riffing begins maniacally swarming; the bass punishingly slugs; the drums furiously batter; and the macabre vocals insanely bay, roar, and scream. The grisly vibrating riffage makes it easy to imagine being engulfed and consumed by disease, and when the pace slows to a pounding stomp, sweeping keys create sensations of downfall and agony on a vast scale.
With a spine-shivering scream leading the way, the song also explodes in a frantic fretwork convulsion that generates both weirdly writhing and feverishly angular chaos, segmented by slowly oozing melodies of bleakness and additional doses of vocal horror. At the end, the music towers, but the monument it creates is a haunting testament of utter hopelessness.
So, in a nutshell, prepare to become chilled to the bone by an expertly rendered experience of affliction, madness, and despair, one that’s both unearthly and discernibly human.
Thaumaturgy was founded by KT, now joined in infamy by TG and DS.
Memento Mori will release Pestilential Hymns on CD format on October 20th. Credit for the chilling cover art goes to Daniel Hermosilla of Nox Fragor Art. For more info, check the links below — and then also be sure to lend your ears to the new album’s first single, “Neuroticism Triumphant“.
MEMENTO MORI:
https://www.memento-mori.es/
https://www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label
THAUMATURGY:
https://thaumaturgy.bandcamp.com/
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