Scholomance

The Immortality Murder (The End)
by Martin Popoff

A major improvement on the extreme and eccentric but under-produced A Treatise On Love, The Immortality Murder features a band operating at the fierce, front edge of labyrinthine metal, Scholomance proving that Americans can gut and reconstitute esoteric black metal in the craggy name of Van Der Graaf prog as handily as Norwegians.

The sound is near indescribable, something akin to aggressive Goth metal (Laiho shred and vampiric keyboards) sent crazy by disorienting French, Italian, and German prog rock. But there’s a compressed, claustrophobic urgency, underscored by Jimmy Pitts’ dungeon-depressive death scowl, bruised and battered by the techno-percussive maelstrom of Scott Crinklaw. The album comprises two CDs, the second fully instrumental, the first featuring the band’s unique philosophical vision and odd courtroomy language in which their vision is delivered.
(556 S. Fair Oaks Ave. #101-111 Pasadena, CA 91105)