Ruinous Power – EXTREME DANGER: Prototype Weaponry Review

By Kenstrosity

As I get older, I grow ever more tired of labels. Yes, it’s helpful to have a baseline frame of reference for what something is, but lately, I find myself abandoning these kinds of single-use terms in favor of something more substantial and descriptive. So, when Canada’s Ruinous Power entered my review rotation, I allowed myself more room than ever before to interpret what they craft outside of the multitudinous boxes in which they could fit. A newer outfit comprised by members of Egregore and Mitochondrion (among many other bands) in 2021, Ruinous Power incubated their debut record EXTREME DANGER: Prototype Weaponry until its inevitable escape from the confines of twisted minds into meatspace, where it corrupts all who would encounter it.

Based on the lore and aesthetics of the Warhammer 40k franchise, Prototype Weaponry takes what on the surface sounds like blackened death metal, endows it with a raucous thrall of thrash, and imbues within it an eerie, synth-woven atmosphere. Comparisons to both Mitochondrion and Egregore are apt, placing Ruinous Power comfortably inside that family tree of skronked-up up blackened death pedigree. However, that extra dose of mutated thrash allows a twist of The Outer Limits Voivod to pulse beneath the skin, while Ulthar‘s unearthly, necrotic limb hovers just over Ruinous Power’s writhing flesh. Juggling long-form excursions into the murky abyss with violent expulsions of a much more expeditious nature, Ruinous Power embodies Prototype Weaponry with a restless, anxious energy and equips it with lethal armaments liable to destroy us all.

Prototype Weaponry wields those armaments with aplomb despite its unpredictable nature, expertly balancing impenetrable discordance with highly accessible rhythms and infectious repetition. Ten-minute opening epic “But What of Sacred Mars?” takes tumbling, scraping riffs in stride, sticking the landing with a proggy companion motif that ripples with lean power. Pumping that momentum for five minutes, this track takes its rest and allows a bass-led, Mare Cognitum-esque second act to immerse the listener with lush instrumental developments. In doing this, Ruinous Power prepare the listener for what’s to come, and what’s to come is unchecked destruction. “The Long Game,” “Kneel,” and album highlight “+++ Engine Kill +++” represent Prototype Weaponry’s most vicious salvos. All three toss the listener clear across a dystopian battlefield with tearing leads evoking a sooty and scrawled Portal-ish visage (“The Long Game”), relentless riffs that refuse to adhere to either death metal or thrash metal conventions while still inheriting many of their physical traits (“Kneel,” “+++ Engine Kill +++”), and an uncanny sense of melody that defies Ruinous Power’s inhuman lust for aural obliteration (“The Long Game”). So as to not deprive the listener of a cohesive experience, Ruinous Power stitches these divergent anatomies together with strange, but never unfamiliar, connective tissue in such a way that transitions between seemingly incompatible segments provide the context necessary to justify their positioning at every joint.

In this way, Prototype Weaponry proves that Ruinous Power’s experience with the weird and wild pays dividends even when crafting more straightforward material than their more notable main projects. However, a few nagging concerns remain. Though its myriad riffs and motifs feel fresh and vital in the context of the greater metalverse, Protoype Weaponry also toys with self-plagiarism a little too closely in its album-wide microcosm. “The Descent of the Host” inherits an assortment of its constituent building blocks from the motifs introduced by “But What of Sacred Mars?” and “+++ Engine Kill +++,” and some of the arpeggiated wiggles and runs featured on “Cerebrum Malefice” feel all too familiar to those on earlier cuts like “Kneel.” On a separate note, with an album as tight as Prototype Weaponry—a mere thirty-one minutes, rounding up—instrumental interludes like the title track provide very little outside of superficial atmosphere, taking away from the whole rather than bolstering it.

As the dust clears and the bodies are counted, Prototype Weaponry stands strong and victorious, but the battle left a few weak points exposed. Not to be deterred by mere flesh wounds, Ruinous Power used their extensive past experience crafting dense, oppressive extreme metal to make a bold statement inside a more accessible framework. Thus, Prototype Weaponry earns my overall recommendation. Its riffs break necks as easily as they invite spirited imagination. Its dynamic structures immerse as readily as they immolate. Its presence enthralls as deeply as it terrifies. If that entices you even in the slightest, and you crave EXTREME DANGER, secure yourself some Prototype Weaponry today!

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Website: Too Kvlt for Webz
Releases Worldwide: February 28th, 2025

#2025 #35 #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #DeathMetal #DissonantBlackMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Egregore #EXTREMEDANGERPrototypeWeaponry #Feb25 #I #MareCognitum #Mitochondrion #Portal #Review #Reviews #RuinousPower #ThrashMetal #Ulthar #VoidhangerRecords #Voivod

I have in the works a few things for you all, but primarily I'd like to share news of a guerilla art project I'm working on.

This is a kind of decentralized, potentially global "performance" (using that word quite loosely) wherein we generate interest in and hopefully legitimate, deeper engagement with specific prompts and internal work.

But it requires participants to help distribute something, and participants to share about that thing on whatever online platform they're comfortable sharing on. The more the better, and the more dispersed around the world the better.

To maintain the impact of this project, it must be secretive. You must be able to be quiet about your involvement until things are set in motion.

If you'd like to get more details and be a part of this, please DM or email me. If you don't, but would like to assist in a small way, please boost this ✨🖤

#PerformanceArt #GuerillaArt #OccultArt #Egregore #CollectiveSpells #AskFedi #FediCoven

Mitochondrion – Vitriseptome Review

By Dear Hollow

Vancouver’s Mitochondrion has a knack for violence. The quartet has always hinted that its signature relentless breed of dissonant black/death war metal is a façade for a much darker reality, contrary to the lurid barbarousness of its counterparts. Longwinded compositions of unhinged brutality suddenly align into chuggy riffs and experimental prowess at the guidance of its triple-vocal attack from hell, making cohorts with just as much of the likes of Teitanblood and Adversarial as Ulcerate and Portal.1 Deceptively straightforward, incessantly pulverizing, and neck deep in otherworldly ambitions, it’s non-Euclidean punishment from men who are alchemists at heart. Mitochondrion returns.

Otherworldly ambition has largely separated Mitochondrion from its counterparts since its 2003 inception. Vitriseptome is the lineup of their classic albums, 2008’s Archaeaeon and 2011’s Parasignosis, with bassist Sebastian Montesi of Auroch and Atemporal the only new addition in 2012. It has been thirteen long years since Mitochondrion’s formidable Parasignosis, only an EP (Antinumerology) and a split with Auroch (In Cronian Hour) to fill the absence. What 2024’s Vitriseptome does is ambitious to compensate, a ninety-three-minute affair described as a trilogy in two phases, separated by a flurry of ambient interludes – often the only respite from the intensity. With classical alchemy in mind, Mitochondrion concocts this mixture: the two phases or halves representing “Dissolution” and “Coagulation,” the trilogy denoting the three classical alchemical elements salt, sulfur, and mercury, and its quarter movements coined “Separation,” “Confusion,” “Initiation,” and “Return.” Each portion consists of a distinct sound palette while adhering to its emphasis on non-Euclidean and claustrophobic punishment rooted in sinister blackened death, cavernous OSDM, and bellicose war metal while venturing into the realms of dark ambient and noise. While its length is challenging and ambition alienating, it is worth a trek through Mitochondrion’s darkness where the smoke curls up and the crooked galaxies hang.

Each division encapsulates a certain mood or focus. Opening five-track suite “Separation” would feel right at home in an Adversarial album, gashing the ears with relentless blasting, unhinged tremolo, wailing solos, and putrid roars amid shifting sands of jarring tempo shifts, aligning like rotten stars in pulsing staccato climaxes (“Increatum Vox,” “Oblithemesis”). The seven tracks of “Initiation” balance its muscular character with a thick shroud of grime-crusted noise (“The Cruxitome,” “Ignis Caecus”), punishing concrete riffage emerging like colossal fists (“Argentum Mortifixion,” “The Protanthrofuge”). Contrary to these blasting behemoths of excess, latter halves “Confusion” and “Return” are far more restrained,2 comparatively meditative explorations that encapsulate the respective war metal attack and noisy approach (“Vacuuole,” “Viabyssm”), while expanding into filthy oceans of emptiness with Ulcerate-esque dissonance and haunting solos (“Flail, Faexregem!,” “Antitonement”) – a darker place to land that serves as a reminder as to who holds the key on this intense journey. The mix is dense and nearly impenetrable, a key contrast to the likewise ambitious organic treks of Ingurgitating Oblivion or Orgone.

As disparate as the styles are within Vitriseptome’s various divisions, they never stray from Mitochondrion’s signature breed. The punishment is still all-encompassing and incessantly pulverizing, but balance is the priority. Its moments of relative stillness there is a tension to the looming attack (“Viabyssm,” “The Protanthrofuge”), and there are moments of tense placidity in the more warfaring partitions (“The Erythapside,” “Ignis Caecus”). Dynamically, the band utilizes its interludes and its underlying approach extremely effectively, with smooth transitions (“Oblithemesis” to “[]” to “Vitriseptome;” “Ignis Caecus” to “[antimonphoresis]” to “Vacuuole”) guiding the proceeds from experimental and unhinged former to patient and contemplative latter. As such, nary a second feels wasted on Vitriseptome despite its interlude-heavy tracklist and demanding runtime. Its two-then-three-then-four thematic divisions don’t feel confused or convoluted, because the density of the music and intricate construction lend purpose and distinction. Vitriseptome offers undeniable proof that Mitochondrion remains atop the death metal echelon, in spite of its thirteen-year quiet.

Vitriseptome is challenging, but it’s a challenge well worth undertaking. A puzzle unlocked, its secrets are revealed with every listen – a harrowing and putrid collection of knowledge. The dynamics therein tell a story of alchemical rage and occult obsession, fueled by madness and horror. Undeniably a test of patience, its first impression of unhinged insanity slowly gives way to intensely calculated brutishness, bolstered by its atmospheric prowess and bared teeth of noise. Mitochondrion hasn’t missed a beat after thirteen years: Vitriseptome succeeds as a reminder of their formidable greatness and sets the tone for the act’s pulverizing future.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 53 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Profound Lore Records
Websites: mitochondrion.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/mitochondrion137
Releases Worldwide: November 1st, 2024

#2024 #40 #Adversarial #AtmosphericDeathMetal #Auroch #BlackenedDeathMetal #CanadianMetal #DarkAmbient #DeathMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Egregore #IngurgitatingOblivion #Mitochondrion #Noise #Nov24 #Orgone #Portal #ProfoundLoreRecords #Review #Reviews #Teitanblood #Ulcerate #Vitriseptome #WarMetal

This is a sigil for the entity WABRI, the function of which is to make sure that weapons of mass destruction are never used.
The original spell was done at a public Discordian event in 2018, Catch-23. Since then, we’ve been developing it to become more effective. Over 50 magical practitioners have been involved so far.
The first sigil in this post is the original one, the simplest, which you are encouraged to use as a starting point.
In this latest stage, you are invited to put your own magic into it, to help it become a true egregore entity - something much more effective than a servitor.
This process of open magical work started at my book launch on 9/12/23. In the attached posts you will see some of the other sigils that were made at that event, all based on the first one.
The original sigil is a bindrune, made of the runes WUNJO, ANSUZ, BERKANO, RAIDHO, ISA. It’s a 5-pronged attack on WMDs.
The meanings we ascribed to those runes for the purposes of this working are:
WUNJO: The laughter of the universe banishes the insanity of mass destruction
ANSUZ: The weapons don’t work
BERKANO: When it comes to it, people won’t push the button and launch WMDs
RAIDHO: In the eye of the real, how can this possibly happen?
ISA: The snow of ISA falls into military temples
Would you like to get involved in this bit of magical work?
Then please make you own copy of the sigil, so you’ve got it for yourself, not just on public media.
Feel free to post that sigil up on Facebook or Mastodon, or start your own thread on another social media platform, together with the intention and instructions for other people.
Sing the name WABRI, sing the component runes if you like, contemplate the sigil and the meanings of its runes, while you skry, in other words open your mind to whatever impressions of the entity WABRI’s form appear.
Don't worry if you don't get vivid images as if delivered by a deity, just ‘fake it till you make it’ and imagine what the entity would look like if you could see it.
Record your visions but please don't share them yet. We want to give people plenty of time to do their own skrying without being exposed to other people’s visions, which could bias their own.
We will share the visions on Imbolc, 1st February 2024.
After that, the WABRI egregore is out there, with a lot of forms to choose from!
Please copy & paste this into your own feed if you wish. Also please make suggestions - this is an experimental working!

#sigil #magick #chaosmagic #egregore

La réception du #JdR #Égrégore de Stéphane Sokol chez les #XIISinges

Il y a plein de choses à lire, de superbes aides de jeu.

#jdr #ttrpg

While waiting for tomorrow's not-so-bigfoot themed episode, check out this older not-so-bigfoot episode where Jordan and I discuss cryptid hoaxes spawning egregores!

#cryptid #cryptids #cryptozoology #sasquatch #bigfoot #tulpa #egregore #folklore #magic #magick #highstrangness #Weirdo

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Vu69FjN0Yp1EJJVkQhk21?si=FZcCP9sMSqiHGnkrKYFR2A

We need to normalize "striking out" in #paranormal settings. It's OK if your attempts at contacting entities or studying #ghosts or UFOs just *don't work* sometimes. But when this happens, it's a chance to try new approaches!

Last night during #WUFO, we tried asking the Sherlock Holmes #egregore to describe a #tarot card to us. It failed the first time but the card wasn't visible to viewers. When we tried again, this time showing the card to our viewers, we had much better results!

Today is the very first #WUFO (Wednesday Night #UFO Watch Party) of 2023 (for those of you who believe in "time")! Join us tonight at 8PM PST/11PM EST (either before or after you go outside to Look Up). Details as always are on http://WUFO.watch!

Tonight's plan is to try to contact a very special #egregore who JUST HAPPENED to enter the Public Domain this month. If you're wondering who it could be, try using your powers of deduction and you may find it... ELEMENTARY!