Schammasch - Triangle

****  

The 'Triangle' of Doom

Schammasch return with their third album 'Triangle' a triple album, their previous album 2014’s 'Contradiction' being a double (imagine their seventh!). Each disc being 33.30 minutes long. I’ve always liked Schammasch, they have always transcended genres and never stuck to tradition. They have always put pushing boundaries and put the atmosphere and feeling above just being another black or Death Metal band, brutality for example isn’t their priority.

I really liked their previous album 'Contradiction', I loved its depth and complexity and I enjoyed how the songs were slow burners and how the album flowed. In all fairness not much has changed on 'Triangle' if anything the band has expanded in their depth, and they are giving you something new and improved. The band effortlessly sails between the heavy and brutal, to the beautiful and Ambient... they really are something unique.

It’s hard to pick a highlight to this album, as the tracks really do flow into each other and the album really does work as one body of work. The songs build up with tension and things speed up and slow down, the album really tells a story and goes on a journey. However things really come to a fantastic climax on disc two with 'Metanoia' and 'Above the stars of God', with it’s amazing Bluesy guitar solo before fading out nicely with the bleak and peaceful 'Conclusion'.

Now on the downside, as ambitious and impressive a piece of work this is it does fall short in some areas. As great an idea is it doesn’t automatically mean the idea has come to fruition, the idea of the concept behind the album has taken of the content somewhat.

And it does feel like the album has been padded out, to meet the criteria of three albums each at 33.30 minutes. For example on the third disc, it is completely instrumental aside from some Spoken Word / Ambient pieces with some ritualistic tribal passages also. Now don’t get me wrong this is cool, it will be great as interludes in their live show and all of it will be great as a film score... it’s not bad but is it really necessary?. After already going through an hour and ten minutes,  I don’t really need to listen to film score music.

Now a lot of reviewers have been stroking their chin, and baffling on about the concept of the boncept etc, etc but talking as a someone in the real world who bought a CD I’m telling you most people will listen to it once and skip the third disc when revisiting the album. Again it’s a genius idea but I do feel the album had been constructed to fit the idea rather and natural length it needed to be.

If it was one long thirty three minute piece, that might have worked on the whole this would have been fine as a double album just like 'Contradiction'. That gripe aside 'Triangle' is a slow burning, dark, complex, intelligent, intricate album that is well worth investing your money and time in. It takes a lot of listens to fully digest but the rewards are plenty and they keep coming, so this is a record that you might like to add to your Doom collection. 

Review by Joe Denby.

Check Out! the Video for 'Metanoia' Below...