[Review] NOTHING - ‘The Self-Repair Manifesto’ LP.
Author: Dean
Band: NOTHING
Release: The Self Repair Manifesto
Release date: March 26th
Label: Self-Released
I reckon a one-in-four summation of Australian artists is appropriate for this column. So for my fourth review, Melbourne Band NOTHING receive our noteworthy attention, and the auspicious honour of being the very first Australian band that I will review.
I have been fortunate enough to witness these guys deliver their artfully-contrived compositions at two live sessions. Once in 2023 at The Bendigo Hotel, and again in 2024 at The Leadbeater. The first occasion, I went with no expectations, as they were supports. Both live sessions were particularly memorable as testified by the fact that I could recall both venues and occasions. (Yeah… you know what it’s like, some nights). NOTHING positions themselves amongst such 3 pieces as highly esteemed as our own Werewolves and Faceless Burial, partly due to the intensity and scope of captivating sound that an accomplished 3-piece can manifest. NOTHING can do this in spades.
Consisting of:
Tank: Bass/Vocals
Tobias: Guitars/Vocals
Van Haltren: Drums/Vocals.
I don’t write of their appeal lightly as I’m not a major fan of Prog (Brady just dropped his plectrum, because he knows how much I love Opeth), but the way NOTHING blend their crushing Death Metal with Prog and Thrash is masterful by all accounts.
NOTHING have been active since 2005 and there has been a slow build to this, their second LP. Our first taste of this charcuterie of delectable modern death metal came pre-covid in 2018, with a follow-up single released in 2020 and then two more in 2023.
The band state on their Bandcamp page that this compilation is a concept album which presents a narrative of real-life events, encapsulating the journey of a broken female protagonist who rises up to overcome her male tormentor. This, coupled with inspiration from the classic poem of Dante’s A Divine Comedy. (Yes, you know, the Dante’s Inferno Dante). Far from knuckle-dragging larrikins, NOTHING has drawn deep from the well of culture for inspiration.
The album as a whole is a blistering fury. I have road tested this in the gym, so I can fully endorse how hard this slaps. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not in your face constantly, there are some subdued quieter moments such as on ‘Subterfuge’, where you pause for some harmonics then a noodly, jazzy piece of lead.
These moments aren’t laboured, however, and they are purposefully composed to pull you back up, slap you in the prima facies and drag you back into the pit. The only exception here is the closer, ‘Resolve’, which is a pleasant, reflective orchestral piece celebrating the victory and vindication of our unnamed heroine. If clean-singing prog makes you want to puke, don’t worry - NOTHING have got you covered in anti-puke armor. No clean singing here. All three members combine to deliver deep guttural vocals, gravelly screams, and Van Haltren has an intimidating growl to compliment his pulverising and technical drumming. (Sorry Phil Collins - you’ve been outdone here).
It cannot be understated just how integral Van Heltran’s drumming is on this album. Suitably, album-opener ‘Initiate’ begins with a hypnotic, tribal-feeling percussive backdrop. This occurs as the bass starts up and rumbles along, the guitar chords joining in and swelling with a slow, rising, distorted tune until a scratchy chug quickens the blood in anticipation for what's to follow.
What’s to follow? ‘The Self-Repair Manifesto’.
This is a quick-tempo, jaunty death metal track. The blastbeats are prominent, lightning quick, and intense. There is a real frightening and foreboding feel to this track, prominently due to the guitars and, in particular, the deep thumping bass line. When the tempo slows the bass is huge, hammering down the variations from the central melody, anchoring the track before it loosens up again. There is a great back-and-forth, with guitar chords jumping hectically around before they transition to a proggy melody, temporary as it is, before we head back into some more traditional riffing.
Not to leave you content with the heavy and varied kaleidoscope of Track 2, Track 3 (‘Subterfuge’) unleashes 4 minutes of straight-up, thrash-infused death metal. The intro features a bumble bee-esque bassline, inducing a bad trip or a demented visit to Toy Town. You're listening to distilled ADHD in a bottle until the breakdown hits you - like a baseball bat through Sheldon Cooper's train set. This is a brutal, hectic gallop until the 4:05 mark when you suddenly hit the brakes for a jazzy guitar interlude. This is rapidly followed by an almost punky chord transition, which gives me a Green Day vibe for all of about 8 bars before the guitars and drums ramp up again and the vocals scream “Slowly crashes like a wave…” and my metal God does it kick back in hard. The final minute is a melodic chorus followed by the most monstrous thrash riff to close. Absolute killer track, this one. Probably going to place it as my number one on this album.
A return to the tribal drumming to intro Track 4, i.e. ‘The Shroud’. This is promptly replaced with a lunging death metal passage, which just gets more and more pronounced as you work your way into the track, guitars ringing out on one chord before blastbeats hit you in a frenzy. These chords are sharp and quick, then slow down to a heavy stomp. Again, there’s a lot going on in this track; for a three-piece, it’s remarkable. Guitar chords flick around chaotically before a black metal-feeling melody and screamed vocals compliment the creepy interlude. Then, lick your lips ‘cause we’re carried into some blackened thrash that you are going to find yourself headbanging along to!
Want a bit of phaser pedal back in your metal? Well, head to Track 5 - ‘Dirge’. This is a brutal assault, contained within a track. The guitars scream, stall, then chop, chop, chop. The singing is raw. caustic, and on the edge of desperation. Boy, this track hits hard in the chorus - and the vocals switch between a cold, evil Goblin-pitch to an Ogre-growl. The riff is sodden, heavy thrash. Just when you’re expecting another maddening riff, the song surprises with a jazzy breakdown on solo lead, (phaser pedal gets a dust off), joined alongside a nice, fat, syrupy bassline. Heavy chords add another layer, the drums kicking along solidly as well, underpinning this unexpected diversion. Each instrument loosens with a flourish of eccentricities, building to a discordant melody on the lead guitar with a solid, menacing riff shadowing alongside emergent blastbeats.
The whacky, creepy melody dances up and down the octave like some mischievous imp. This morphs into another intricate melody with some gritty slide-guitar antics, underpinned with high-tempo blastbeats and then slammed into a wall of brutal death-metal riffing, the vocalist exuberantly growling: “Witness the end, she is redeemed”. The final refrain reminds me of Ashen’s ‘Deadsight’. It carries the same forceful death metal chant as a caveman clubbing his assailant… repetitively and non-respectfully, shall we say. Perhaps it is our female protagonist ramming her tormentor's face into a butcher's hook!
Track 6, ‘Abrogation’, opens with machine-gun riffing and jackhammer drums/bass. This is low-octave pounding riffage. You’ve got a looney-bin death metal jig leading you into the chorus - and the moshpit is getting serious. This is the ultimate thumping victory for our heroine. “Let the taste of what was scorned rip his throat and kingdom…As this colosseum burns foundations loosed from the burden of his guilt”, all three scream out in unison. The bridge features a slower, spacey, drifting lead melody before bursting into a stompy, sludgey pulverising riff accented with heavy kicks. This really conveys the sweet taste of revenge and catharsis the heroine has over her narcissistic tormentor. Probably my least favourite track, excluding the intro and closer. I felt that some of this track could have been more pronounced. It’s still NOTHING to be sniffed at. [Editor’s Note: Nice one, Dad !- Brady] .
I’m intrigued by the placement of the soft, solemn, melancholy-feeling orchestration of ‘Resolve’. I gather it either consciously or subconsciously contrasts the oppressors' savagery epitomised in the tribal introduction to the album. It reflects a sense of release, relief and vindication for our heroine. The feeling of emancipation from her oppression.
This is a juggernaut of a progressive death-metal album. These guys are incredibly talented, and their artistic vision is expansive and inspiring. This has transpired to a monumental production. Credit must likewise go to their production team. It would be easy on first listen to miss the fact that this is a three-piece. I thoroughly recommend that you purchase this album, if this is your type of jam. With sick green putrescent cover art by Wes Benscoter, (Cattle Decapitation, Vader and Kreator) - what are you waiting for?
Likewise, if you're living in the Land of Oz, check them out live. It is seriously a sight to behold, an aural degustation and an unforgettable experience. Far from nothing, NOTHING is everything you’d want from a prog/death metal three-piece.
8 out of 10 layers of Dante’s Inferno.
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