Shadowflag - The Delusion Machine (EN)

There is no second chance for the first impression. The band I would like to talk about today suffers the same fate. They are called Shadowflag and they deliver us "Poetic Black Metal" from the United Kingdom with their third album "The Delusion Machine".

Whenever I read something like that, I always have to roll my eyes. Maybe I am already too deadlocked regarding my views so that I cannot cherish new things like that, or maybe I am just not ready for the sound. In the end each listener has to decide for himself, just like I did after a thorough inspection of the disc.

What gets on my nerves is this whole noise-stuff, I really cannot the its worth. It already starts with the intro "4010KHz", takes its course within the (wanted?) disharmonic and misplaced guitar work, has its "peak" in the track "How to achieve Smallness with great Things", which consists only out of noise and vocals like known from Dimmu Borgir, and finally the whole thing meets its end in the outro "-", which consists only of these awfull noises. Yes, this song does not have a name and to be honest after I finished the album, I could not think of anything to say to that. Maybe joy or relief that it finally ended or something like that.

For a home-made disc the sound is alright. It's noticeable that the guys did not do this for the first time, but that does not change anything regarding the technical finesse, the meaninglessness of the song structures, melodies and drumming. Songs like "Skyscraper" with its "dududididududidi"-sound is a piece for the masses and not something I would imagine when I hear "Poetic Black Metal", quite the contrary to be honest. And in theory that should go for the imaginations of the band too, right?

Especially regarding the "poetic", the actuall heart of the whole thing, I absolutely don't see anything, since the bad sound distracts me too much. A real word of advise for the band would be that you can combine meaningfull lyrics and clean vocals.

Conclusion:
This one was wasted. Apart from one or two tracks, that did not turn out monotonous enough for you to take the album out of the player asap, the disc does not have to offer anything. Absolutely nothing. Only noise. That is why the recommendation becomes the only piece worth for the rating.

Rating: 3/10

Recommendation: Kingdom of Zero