AUTOKRATOR — The Obedience to Authority (review)

AUTOKRATOR — The Obedience to Authority album cover

Album · 2016 · Death Metal

4/5 · 2022-03-29
siLLy puPPy

Riding in the wake of its terrifying blackened death metal debut AUTOKRATOR returned the following year with another unrelenting release of caverncore also known as wind tunnel death metal only this time around exchanged a few members leaving only guitarist / bassist Loïc Fontaine and Spawn of Satan vocalist David Bailey as the original members but lo and behold these two members are the key to holding the secrets of AUTOKRATOR’s multiverse approach to crafting an extreme form of death metal so freaky and drenched in noise that for those who loved the debut will find an excellent sophomore followup.

Slightly longer with a playing time of just over 36 minutes, THE OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY continues true anarchy in sonic form with references to Ancient Rome and apparently recorded in hell’s sewer system located in some underground cavernous region of the world. With eight tracks each constituting a chapter of this saga of noise and defiant oppression, AUTOKRATOR continues its unique stylistic approach that uses a variety of percussive patterns ranging from military procession marches to unhinged speed of light blitzkrieg blastbeat bombast. Add to that the swarm of hornets buzzfest of pure reverb-drenched distortion oscillating in and out of tune like some of the skankiest lo-fi black metal has to offer.

Of course what really makes AUTOKRATOR stand out are the cursed demonic blackened death metal vocal deliveries of Bailey who truly sounds like he is possessed and summoning the blackened army to attack! More than just gurgling or guttural growls, his vocal style covers an interesting spectrum while remaining in true hellish form. While the whole thing is a bit suffocating with an incessant assault of the senses, the tracks are broken up into the most depressive moments of atmospheric ambience that prognosticate the rampaging storm to come and come it does with the force of a category 5 hurricane ripping the life-force from everything it consumes as souls fling into oblivion forever! Ah hahahahaha!

I guess there’s a tale being told here but as with most death metal, the lyrics are unintelligible which allows your imagine to run wild. There are a few moments of spoken word segments such as the intermission moment of “Chapter VI” which allows a bit of industrial electronic effects to be the suffocating element of choice while some oppressive history lesson is recited in the French language. “Chapter VII” jumps straight back into chaotic aggression with the now well established mix of military march drumming sequences, blackened death metal growls and the apocalyptic swarming effect of guitar and bass reverb distortion on steroids. Watch out Portal, Grave Upheaval and Mitochondrion, you ain’t the only caverncore junkies out there!

While pretty much a continuation of the 2014 eponymously titled debut, THE OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY offers a bit more zing in the production department and that’s not to say that it is more commercial in any way, shape or form. On the contrary, the production has been utilized to make an even more brutal and frightening complex of distortion, dark atmospheric dread and heaviness only designed to bring the world of cruelty into a more clear sonic representation. Once again AUTOKRATOR delivers a truly uncompromising brutal assault while eschewing the all too common pitfall of becoming a dreary monotonous one-trick pony. True that this shit is reserved for the most extreme audiophiles out there and this caverncore truly makes old school death metal sound quite tame in comparison but for those of us who really love this ruthless assault of extremity on every level possible, i have to say that AUTOKRATOR is a master of delivering the goods.