Polish channelers of alien music, Tenebris, released this, their third full-length album 13 years after the sophomore one, 'Only Fearless Dreams'. That 1996 album I've had since late 1990s. I had read some exalting reviews for it, and I found the album in most weird of places: a large department store built in the middle of forests, fields and lakes. In this rural setting, I found Polish alien prog metal album (and no less than the rare piranha cover version). Must have had some kind of a metal maniac running that record department... Or alien, perhaps!?

Time moves on, at least in human minds, and I noticed Tenebris had reactivated and released a new album in 2009. Five alien greys and a space picture on its cover and I was sold. I hardly buy albums without hearing some bits of them at first, and with this I was struck by a drum machine. I often abandon releases utilizing this Pandora's box faster than light, but it can be heard that a lot of time was put in programming in this case. The samples aren't all too lively, but then again, triggering a flesh & blood drummer is so common nowadays. The drum programming might well be influenced by Voivod's 'The Outer Limits' (1993); there's just something similar going on, and Away's drumming is hardly a bad thing one can ape (and this also has some warped drawings in the booklet... guess like who?!).

Music-wise, this album is kind of three-fold: Alien prog metal is there, but so is Earthy rock vibe, plus... Wait for it... goth rock! 'Mescalito' and 'But Fifty High' just brings pictures of Roswell's deserts and all that alien merchandising going on in that area into my mind. Like riding an UFO on desert highways of Mars... Goth rocking moments such as 'Sleep and Walk' and 'Mescalito' definitely remind of The Sisters Of Mercy most, so this ain't quite Tiamat-gone-goth, thankfully. Sometimes these styles happen in one song, but every song is different to each other. To tell the truth, I found this album very hard to get into. It's just... everywhere, and not really going to places. I felt I couldn't find much of memorable song-writing here: I basically find it to be jumbled for most of the duration of the album, but the repeated listenings helped a lot. The songs turned to be often very good, actually, and as a whole, it feels surprisingly unified.

'Five Arms Made of Black' starts the most metal and proggy line of songs on offer, and fretless bass is wild on it (and on many of the songs, actually); this song is the only real link to old Tenebris. 'Ooze' featured fantastic Voivod-ish guitar solo, and there are these 'The Outer Limits' moments happening here and there. 'But Fifty High' sounds like one of those Finnish old death metal bands (e.g. Disgrace, Convulse) getting more rocking. 'Are Leaving' leaves listeners with fantastic lead guitar melody. However, even going to more metal directions, it all feels kind of avant-garde. Perhaps the guitars, which sound a tad hollow, also cause that, not just the general weirdness in song-writing. The general production feel quite labyrinthine, too, and not very heavy except for the bass guitar, just trebly.

The worst bit, together with the drum machine sounds are the vocals, which are absolutely monotonous and often effected and pushed behind in the mix. The voice is manly yet often murmurous and uninflected. They soon turned into one of the instruments for me. The pronunciation is bad and so are misprinted lyrics. The themes are mostly about aliens (UFOs, Annunaki etc.) and self-exploration.

'Leaving of Distortion Soul' is a weird album and most definitely it isn't inviting or easy to get for most part. It is also unique, I have to admit, with its mixture of things, and in the end it contains a huge amount of character. One day it can sound somewhat amiss, and on the other day it can sound peculiar, like something alien you feel urge to examine closer. Then you perhaps can get hooked... So, one may be in for a real flight!

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
10/21/2020 21:18