Why do some metal fans hate anything that involves the genre changing into something unique? Liturgy has become the outcast of black metal due to Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s musical philosophy of transcendental black metal. Subgenres like metalcore, deathcore, and even nu-metal are justifiably scoffed at, but when an artist creates something legitimately great under one of those subgenres they’re immediately dismissed no matter the quality. Even an artist like Gautier Serre, known infamously as Igorrr, is laughed at for his creative fusion between black metal, breakcore, and baroque music (and some because of his disturbing and off-kilter music videos). I get if one heard about his genre combination it would sound gimmicky at first – myself included. When actually listened to, it is far more than a simple gimmick and more would realize that if they could just retract their head from their own ass. I’m not going to stand here either and say his records so far were great, but they were recognizably good. This is especially true for his major label debut as a group, Savage Sinusoid, that saw a variety of artists working alongside Igorrr for his most diverse record to date.

Savage Sinusoid is still a crazy record to this day. What was missing, at least for me, was a little more cohesion between ideas. Gautier Serre being the musical genius he is seemed to follow in the footsteps of Frank Zappa in the sense that he would begin with a song that could be perceived as perfect then added in countless other elements that varied between cohesive and non-sensical. Igorrr’s new record Spirituality and Distortion still sees this as expected when combining various extreme metal styles with polar opposites like baroque music, breakcore, and other short moments of other genres, but the majority of tracks are more comprehensive and polished this time around. Nevermind the fact that this is easily their most badass and fun record because they go all in with idea after idea.

Each track also has its own identity often summed up by the title. The opener “Downgrade Desert” is a peaceful yet barren acoustic piece with surreal plucking and Laure Le Prunenec’s naturally elegant voice that is almost spiritual. As the track continues it begins to devolve into more aggression adding in a crushing riff, double-kick drums, Laurent Lunoir’s panicking screams, and ends as a blast beat heavy black metal beatdown. Quite the strong opener that not only showcases their variety but their improved knack for progressions too. The lead off single for Spirituality and Distortion, “Very Noise”, is probably my favorite track because of this. Its sporadic breakbeats alone are exciting, but how the guitar riffs following along grow in distortion, volume, and speed before exploding at the end makes it one hell of a rollercoaster ride. “Camel Dancefloor” is also similar with its danceable acoustic groove that adds on layers of exceptionally performed percussion, trippy distortion, and other elements only growing in size and headbangability until the final climax. I’m also impressed “Paranoid Bulldozer Italiano” (I don’t know either) and its shifting between orchestral vocals and strings that melt at the hands of the breakbeats, doom-esque chords, and psychotic howling chopped into sixteenth notes to match the swift riffs all before diverting all expectations and ending with a short and concise slice of grindcore.

Other tracks may be more “straightforward” in terms of Igorrr and don’t feature as epic progressions but are great in their own right. “Nervous Waltz” as the name implies has a swaying aesthetic from the baroque elements that is transformed into either a paranoid vibe from the breakbeats or a tense nature from the groove focused riffs. The waltzing accordion on “Musette Maximum” on the other hand uses the blast beats and pummelling riffs more as quick intermissions with smooth transitions and a bassline continuing through each segment for more cohesion. “Kung-Fu Chèvre” is very similar to “Musette Maximum” but more complex and in Igorrr fashion with random noises and effects including goat sounds that are mostly hilarious but some are admittedly over-the-top. Some tracks on Spirituality and Distortion do stand out as simpler as the rest. This does work favorably for “Parpaing” featuring the vicious growling of George Fisher from Cannibal Corpse making for a sick death metal track with a few electronic elements thrown in here and there. For others like “Hollow Tree”, “Polyphonic Rust”, and “Barocco Satani” they stand out as slightly weaker than the rest of the record in terms of creativity. Don’t get me wrong they’re far from being bad by any means, but do lose the enthrallment that the tracks around them produced.

Igorrr really refined their sound on Spirituality and Distortion to new heights. Fusing genres that have no reason to be put together with the addition of randomness is not an easy feat. There is more blending of sounds along with crisp transitions that push the record towards greatness. The comparison to Frank Zappa can be made even more than ever with the greater complexity put into their unique sound. I can only hope more metal fans decide to give this the chance it deserves because Igorrr is shaping up to being a driving force in reviving creativity in metal. Either way with a handful of stellar stand-out songs and the rest at worst being quite solid, Spirituality and Distortion is a record that deserves the attention of any self-proclaimed music fan.

Favorite Tracks: “Downgrade Desert”; “Nervous Waltz”; “Very Noise”; “Camel Dancefloor”; “Parpaing” ft. George Fisher; “Musette Maximum”; “Lost in Introspection”; “Paranoid Bulldozer Italiano”

Rating: 8/10

Released: 03/27/2020

Label: Metal Blade Records

Genres: Avant Garde Metal, Breakcore, Baroque Music

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RATING SCALE

Perfect Excellent Great Very Good Good Meh Disappointing Bad Horrible Pitiful Bottom of the Barrel