Xenesthis - Thou Shalt Not
Thou Shalt Not
CD Info
2011
Independent Release
10 Tracks
English Lyrics
You get some unusual names for bands in the metal arena, many take a Gothic direction, at least in the Female fronted business. But, naming yourself after a brand of tarantula spider is a new one on me. But, that’s the direction this Austrian band has taken, and, in some respects, I guess it’s not entirely inappropriate. They do tend to go in a relatively dark direction, with a vocal that enhances that darkness. Xenesthis formed in the 2004 timeframe, it’s a more metal sounding music with vocals from blond front woman Katrin Bernhardt. Not a lot of the keyboard symphonic, not a lot of melodic beauty although Bernhardt clearly has a voice that can go in multiple directions. And they seem to be receiving their share of notoriety. They’ve opened or played with some major acts, Metallica, Slayer, Lacuna Coil, Dream Theatre and others so they’ve gotten exposure at some high levels. This is their second full CD with another 3 EPs available for your listening enjoyment.
As a metal band, Xenesthis is pretty much what the doctor ordered, pounding drums, solid guitar riffs and a solid metal vocal. No opera work here, symphonics not really on the bill. But, if you want to rock, this will work for you, no problema. You want a little heads up, try this one on for size. And not a damn spider in sight, thankfully for those of us with a healthy arachnophobia complex. Clearly, the band is a live oriented project and, given their success in this part of the business that should be no surprise. A lot of energy, a lot to look at, some get off your ass and move around music. The question for this type of band is how will their music transfer to the CD. Well, I haven’t heard their previous work, but this one seems to be relatively well done, the music stands on its own, some pretty nice production although too much production magic can often detract from the energy you would expect from a live performance oriented band. So, there is no production overkill here although they do spend a little time working the vocals, especially the female lead with some limited layering, but probably less than what we have come to expect with this type of music. There is a clear intent to make the music approach what you’d hear live, without the crowd noise, of course.
The music begins with Alecto and provides us with a slightly different set of Commandments from what we get in the King James version of the Bible before getting to the meat of the subject. And, right away, you get the picture that this will NOT be Boy Band material. Bernhardt is clearly pissed off at someone and she spends some time presenting the argument, with the band providing background sounds to augment that anger. This scathing intro is followed up with Reflections, the previously mentioned video and this is the highlight of the CD. Again the emotion drives the music and our lovely blond is clearly not getting any less pissed with the circumstances she finds herself dealing with on this track. But, beyond the vocals, this selection demonstrates the solid axe work and the killer drumming that are the signature components that drive the music. And, if it sounds like Armageddon put to music, well, that’s what it’s supposed to be. The CD cover, which, thankfully, is not a hairy 12 inch spider, is actually Alecto, one of the three Erinyes, the ancient Greek daemons of revenge. History tells us these bad dudes had a tendency to punish the less than innocent with insanity, full insanity, and it wasn’t treatable, Thorazine arriving several centuries in the future. So, what we have here is an interpretation of what you get for pissing off the wrong Greek immortal, in all its full fury and musical trepidation.
But the anger is recognizable on most of the tracks, at one level or another. And there are other emotions, some dealing with fear, others with terror. We examine hedonism, we discuss illness and loneliness, we speak about pain and the devastation of relationships. Sounds a little like my marriages come to think of it. But mainly, we speak about the daemons that stalk us in our darkest hours, the fears that wake us at night. And we pull no punches doing it. Ashes of Affection seems to make the most pointed statement.
Fuck you / I don’t give a fuck of what you say.
Don’t give a fuck of what you do / I’m in the middle of nowhere
The misery you brew / I don’t give a fuck of that drama
Don’t give a fuck of being close / I manage well without you
There’s even a track that seems to mirror some contemporary social commentary. Raised Fist Armed is a little different in that there is a significant male vocal, not exactly a death metal vocal but certainly one that mirrors the anger of the female vocal. Again, the background is driven by double kick drums and pounding speed metal guitars. But here, the message talks to the anger of youth towards the prevailing social structures, these are young people after all. The message seems more closely patterned at the uprisings we are seeing in various parts of the world. You don’t get this commentary often in contemporary music, but here it seems to work with the rest of the anger presented.
Watch out / We grow with every move you strike against us
And your anger we don’t fear / Watch out, we march against you
Raised fist armed creativity / Your anger we don’t fear
You will never suppress that here / Why can’t you tell us the truth? / LIAR!
Lyrically, the message on the CD has consistency. To some extent, that carries over to the music, we don’t get a lot of ballads here, we don’t get what some call melodic metal, even though you see that term used by some reviewers to describe this music. Maybe that’s a bit of a shame since the lead vocal seems to have the ability to move further in that direction. What diversity there is seems to be focused in other ways. Drowning may take us there, we get a somewhat softer tone, and again, we get a healthy dose of the male vocal, but there is little variance in the guitar work or the drums, both continue to pound in almost religious ways. Not that there is anything wrong with that, especially if you favor that type of music. However, for some of us, a little more diversity in style might be viewed positively.
The CD concludes with Sand Through Hands, another pounding anthem, but one which takes us in a somewhat different direction lyrically. The anger takes a vacation here; instead we get what could qualify as remorse. Another ingredient of relationships to be sure, but here we almost get some variety in the lyric. She’s still not a happy camper, but she seems to look on the events described with something closer to resignation, not happy resignation, but a realization that some things are what they are and, what the hell:
So hear me! / Every time I see her face
It makes me weak, it’s a big disgrace / I got to leave this place
I leave you / Cause your character is much to strong.
The song, and the CD, conclude with the restatement of those Commandments, all beginning with "Thou Shalt Not. .. . . "
Well, it’s a little different than much of what we cover here; some may not be comfortable with the harder direction that never seems to fade. But, if you want a rocker, and many people do, this is about as good as you’re likely to find. Reviewers compare the work to other performers and some of those comparisons seem accurate. It’s surely talented instrumental work, and no complaints regarding the vocal direction, a true siren here, and certainly not one you’d want to take on in a political argument. And Thou Salt Not be bored, that’s for damn sure.
8.5 / 10
