Terminus Episode 78 - Amenra, Phrenelith, Stabat Mater

TERMINUS: extreme metal podcast

Weird episode today, boys- we've got weirdo death metal, we've got funeral doom, and we've got a lot of weird little tangents between everything. Opening the evening is a quick live reaction session to 1914, everyone's favorite EMOTIONALLY GRIPPING AND POWERFUL WW1 themed every-band-ripoff, but we quickly pivot to a look back at Amenra, a TBMG favorite that allows us to discuss the dubious concepts of "post-metal" and "atmospheric sludge" and what those terms actually refer to musically.

The first half of our episode is dedicated to the return of Danish death metallers Phrenelith, who return this year with their second full length record after making some pretty big waves with their debut in 2017. Phrenelith play death metal in the Dark Descent style- that is, Incantation, Swedeath, and Finndeath blended into a single mash. We have qualms, though- why is it so quiet and weirdly unaggressive? When is a riff a riff and not a half-riff? And how important is playing death metal when your musical goals seem entirely outside of it?

The back half is an entirely different beast with the return of Stabat Mater, a full 12 years after the project's debut full-length. We've touched on Mikko's funeral doom work before in our Torture Doom bonus episode, but over the years it's transformed into a wholly unique beast, exploring the uncomfortable spaces where sorrowful beauty and extreme ugliness brush against one another. This is difficult but rewarding music that encourages multiple listens... just maybe not if you're trying to have a positive attitude for the day.

0:00:00 - Intro ft. 1914 and Amenra

0:20:35 - Phrenelith - Chimaera (Nuclear Winter)

1:00:52 - Interlude - Iniquity - “The Bullet’s Breath” fr. Grime (Mighty Music, 2001) (Seemingly out of print and not available on Bandcamp, but used copies are easy to find.)

1:04:42 - Stabat Mater - Treason by the Son of Man (Northern Heritage)

1:56:23 - Outro - Godflesh - “Black Boned Angel” fr. Selfless (Earache Records, 1994) (Your local record store almost undoubtedly has 5 copies of this gathering dust right now.)

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