Sin Querencia
(20 Buck Spin)
35:47min
“Sin Querencia” is the third full-length effort from the Chicago based IMMORTAL BIRD, released through 20 Buck Spin in October of 2024. Performing as a three-piece, IMMORTAL BIRD encapsulates an approach that borrows from multiple genres, anchoring itself to a frame that is primarily modern Black Metal of a distinctive American flavoring. Borrowing generously from Atmospheric Black Metal, Sludge, Crust and early Hardcore, IMMORTAL BIRD weave a complicated tapestry that varies from atmospheric and sonically wide-open Metal to more concise and suffocating elements. Opening with ‘Bioluminescent Toxins’, IMMORTAL BIRD takes a position of marrying heavy slabs of discordant Sludge style riffing and fuses it to a Black Metal vocal approach. There is little convention at work here, as the song weaves and shifts under pounding drums, that vary from technically impressive fills to bare-boned blast beats, in conjunction with riff structures, that move from clean arpeggios to blistering shapeshifting chords, heavy in minor key execution. ‘Plastered Sainthood’ embodies the essence of modernized American Black Metal, bubbling forth in foul manners, aggressive tremolo picking that moves in sonic slabs, crushing the listener under a suffocating fog of constant heaviness. Shifting from genre to genre, tracks such as ‘Propagandized’ resurrect the putrid corpse of mid 1980s Hardcore and pulls it into the nexus of Black Metal, creating a unique beast that is direct and confrontational. Quick fifth-chords, down picked with sheer aggression, guide the track into blast beats and short spastic bursts of tremolo picking, teetering into metallic Grindcore territory similar to bands like FUCK THE FACTS. ‘Ocean Endless’ and ‘Synthetic Alliances’ are exercises in riff composition and unique structuring of the overall song as a whole. Never keeping its shape for too long, never giving an opportunity for boredom to rot away the message of the music, IMMORTAL BIRD weighs technicality against simplicity and often creates lurching beasts of riffcraft and sonic percussion gunfire. One must think of the early days of crushing technical Death Metal to appreciate the direction in which these songs flow. Overall, “Sin Querencia” is a demonstration in riff crafting and sonically ever-evolving composition. From Sludge to Black Metal, from Crust to Grindcore, IMMORTAL BIRD create a monster of a record that transcends conventional genres and takes its place in an eccentric realm of its own. For more information on IMMORTAL BIRD, see www.facebook.com/immortalbirdband and for more information on 20 Buck Spin, check out www.facebook.com/20buckspin.
Andrew Krause