Altere – My Blood, My Tears
Self-Released – 2005
By Jason Jordan
Metal, unlike jazz and comedy, isn’t known for improvisation, but the lone member of
Altere is trying to change that. Funnily,
My Blood, My Tears isn’t metal in the truest, strictest sense of the term, though Pawel Goj has his roots deeply implanted within the soil that encases bands such as
My Dying Bride,
Agalloch, and
Katatonia. And this first demo, which has three songs and spans eleven minutes, is good and fitting when listened to during appropriate circumstances.
It’s difficult for me to review this when I’ve already heard Goj’s second outing –
Pieces of I – but rest assured that I will eventually get to the rules of
Altere in the follow-up review. For now, though, let me tell you about this one.
My Blood, My Tears comes in a slimline case, with good-looking liner notes and a pretty CD completing the overall décor. Unlike the artwork, which undoubtedly took hours to compose, the music was written extemporaneously. And on an emotional level, the dejectedness is nearly tangible as Goj plasters wispy vocals overtop clean guitars and minimal electronic effects. “I Just Don’t Know” begins in the way I just described the music overall, and the despondency radiates effortlessly even as the tension heightens by the 2:30 minute mark. Good luck understanding the lyrics, however, and you won’t find anything but song titles in the inlay either. Still, a pinch of drone can be unearthed in “I Just Don’t Know” and “My Suicide Note,” while the latter does indeed siphon influence from the weightless moments of
Agalloch. The increase in tempo – and crossing of two different guitar parts near the end – succeeds overwhelmingly. Perhaps oddly, the melody of “A Study of a Broken Mind” is akin to
Zao’s piano instrumental “Violet” taken from the ’98 excursion
Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest. Nonetheless, the crash of thunder heard at the 2:15 minute mark, which precedes rainfall of course, is masterful insomuch that this one-man project is perfectly suited to be interweaved with rain.
Honestly, I did want more material by the time
My Blood, My Tears stopped flowing. I’ll save definitive wrap-ups for the next review, but both the premise and execution of
Altere’s music are laudable in scope. Alas, is the concept of recording impromptu music self-defeating insofar that the songs would be superior if reworked and rehearsed diligently? I’m not sure. Even so, this is a demo worth owning, and one that meshes uncannily with moroseness and its climatic counterpart.
7/10
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