Rorcal - Silence

Angry Metal Guy 80

Silence is a weight, a pressure, a gravity all its own. Silence demands reverence when hubris has long worn the crown. They say that silence brings lunacy. I can’t shake silence, it clings to me like a cancer in a room where silence echoes against the walls like a mad dialogue. Like Rorcal’s cover, a twist of Fuseli’s 1799 painting of the same name, silence is an enigma – we search for answers or meaning, for symbolism, but the silence remains resolute in its secrets. For a band who has modeled and painted its pilgrimages to the void with one figure or another like a crooked painter, Silence’s approach forgoes the frills in favor of a simple premise: the absence of hope.

The subject and approach vary for the Genevans’ storied catalog: the teeth-to-the-gravel sludge approach in the renowned Heliogabalus’ portrayal of the morally depraved Roman emperor; the apocalypse in the white-lightning grind of Vilagvege; the tragic king of Antigone fame conveyed through patient black metal in Creon; and the blackened drone portrayal of Eric Stener Carlson’s tale of pandemic and possession in Muladona. Rorcal’s approach to auditory darkness is nonetheless unmistakable, post-hardcore and post-metal coursing through every vein. Dissonant and ominous, tar-thick slogs of drone/sludge contrast mightily with raw wounds of blackened shreds with impeccable balance thanks to guitarists Diogo Almeida and Jean-Philippe Schopfer and bassist Jeremy Spagnolo, while Yonni Chapette’s desperate and fiery sermons bring with it horsemen of reverie and blasphemy. What makes Silence such a triumph in the Swiss act’s catalog is its ability to hone both sides of the act’s devastating approach, sharpening the blackened attack to a barbed edge and adding further weight to the drone/doom bludgeoning – as well as the barren industrial soundscapes that connect them.

Silence by RORCAL

In many ways, openers “Early Mourning” and “Childhood is a Knife in the Throat” are misdirects from the Creon era, dealing in denser-than-usual black metal reminiscent of Thantifaxath or Dodecahedron – until that riff hits near the end of the latter. Rorcal reveals its sinister cards, a fluid and miasmic movement between furious black metal and thick sludge that somehow avoids pitfalls of labels like “blackened doom” or “blackened sludge.” Similarities to the likes of Amenra and Celeste become apparent in Silence’s ability to bend genres just to their breaking point to accomplish its vicious aims. While “The Worst in Everything” and “Constant Void” are no-holds-barred feats of movement between roaring blastbeats and devastating weight, centerpieces “Extinguished Innocence” and “Hope is a Cancer” live up to their lightless namesakes through sprawling industrial- and drone-inspired ambiance. Rorcal mightily tethers its balance of fiery and monolithic with a commanding percussion performance from long-time drummer Ron Lahyani – a thread of sanity through the unforgiving density.

What makes Silence a dark triumph is its ability to bridge the old and the new of Rorcal’s catalog, making it an effective primer and great place to start for prospective listeners. “Under the Nails” channels the fury of Vilagvege, “Extinguished Innocence” feels like a passage of Heliogabalus, and “The Worst in Everything” draws industrial water from Muladona’s well. Post-metal is embedded in their DNA, Neurosis’ Through Silver in Blood inspiring passages in “Hope is a Cancer” and “Constant Void.” Closer “No Alleviation, Even in Death” draws from post-hardcore a la This Gift is a Curse or Fall of Efrafa, hiccupping dissonance interrupting tar-thick chugs with hardcore-esque intensity. While sonically scattered, Silence features smooth transitions between each lull and blast, making it a far more desperate and vicious affair than its recent output, particularly Creon and Muladona. Borrowing from its storied catalog, Rorcal manages to conjure the ten-ton weight of their Heliogabalus years and fuse it with the most blackened punishment they could muster, with all the smooth transitions and scorched-earth industrial soundscapes to drown listeners in hopelessness.

Compared to the lofty ambitions and high-minded muses of former releases, Silence’s simplicity makes it the most lethal. While previous releases felt comfortable in their respective lanes, Rorcal conjures a vigor and weight that drags listeners into the void proper: a tangible darkness in which every movement is designed to extinguish all hope. While this lightless form of music is not for everyone and some might be averse to the range of sounds present on Silence, its particular breed of brutal weight and sonic pain has teeth. Lunacy is a clear answer as to what Silence brings, and you’ll enjoy every step along the crooked spiral to your destination.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 224 kbps mp3
Label: Hummus Records
Websites: rorcal.com | rorcal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/rorcal
Releases Worldwide: September 29th, 2023

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