26/02/2016 17:17
This 4-piece progressive metal band from the west of The Netherlands in the city of Leiden. ILLUSIONLESS writes and performs passionate, furious and driven death metal with progressive- and black metal influences. Heavily inspired by art, history, the occult, strange realities and a profound interest in the unknown they seek out new ways to further deepen their musical endeavors.
After releasing their EP ‘Rulers of The Sane’ I was very excited to hear a lot more from them. After receiving a message from Zeno (Guitar) if I wanted to review their latest record. And of course I wanted to. I had high expectations because after seeing Illusionless live at the Stonehenge festival and hearing their Rulers of The Sane record. Let’s dive in this debut full length of Illusionless.
The 6 counting Age of Kali kicks off with the track ‘Horror Vacui’. A small atmospheric interlude introduces me to the next level of progressive death metal Illusionless produces. The extreme amount of sick groove is being produced during ‘Horror Vacui’. The very fast upbeat music of Illusionless already leaves a mark after one song.
‘Way of Dark Creatures’. An obscure title for such a beast of a song. Controlled chaos? Yes, that is probably the best way to describe ‘Way of Dark Creatures’. The song has got a small surprise around the middle of the song. A fat disgusting deathcore’ish breakdown. Illusionless certainly knows how to execute breakdowns. Then probably my favorite song of Age Of Kali. ‘Sky Of Mirrors’. I’ll put this in the box of brutal progressive death metal. The song contains moments of brutal death metal and that is why this is a great song (and my favorite) on Age Of Kali.
I guess the next song ‘Malevolent Manifestation’ is the exact opposite of ‘Sky Of Mirrors’. It is a melodic death metal song with some perfectly executed progressive elements. Not my favorite of the album but it isn’t a bad song. I just consider it to be a filler song. After ‘Malevolent Manifestation’ a beautiful instrumental song called ‘Aletheia’ makes its way into my ear. A nice and ‘calm’ song where Illusionless prepares us for their last musical weapon called ‘Extinction’. The last 7-minute beast of Age Of Kali. Save the last for the best? That’s what Illusionless has done. Not the favorite of mine but 2nd favorite for sure. This 7-minute beast explodes and comes at you like a high speed train without brakes.
Tracklist:
⦁ Horror Vacui
⦁ Way Of The Dark Creatures
⦁ Sky Of Mirrors
⦁ Malevolent Manifestations
⦁ Aletheia
⦁ Extiction
Review by:
Bonno Zwaan
Dutch Brutal Death Metal Thrash
