PURTENANCE - MEMBER OF IMMORTAL DAMNATION (1992)

Yep, I'm still on an old-school Finnish death metal bender. And I'm far from.... FINNISHED!

Jesus Christ, sorry about that. The oddly-named Purtenance (not "pertinence", as in "having precise or logical relevance to the matter at hand", but "purtenance", as in "an animal's viscera or internal organs, especially the heart, liver, and lungs") came from the town of Nokia, which, as you may or may not recall, was also the dwelling place of Wednesday's feature band, the oddly-named Lubricant. Which leads me to believe that there was definitely something in the water over in Nokia right around '92-'93, because like their Bros Lubricant, Purtenance also display a surprising knack for sludgy, forward-thinking metal, and in a very brief time together (they were only around from 1990 to 1992) created something memorable and, above all, undeniable heavy.
This album starts off slow, with a weirdly out-of-tune intro track that leads into the repetitive doom riffing of the second song, "Black Vision". But stick with it, as Purtenance will eventually lead you to some face-melting satisfaction via whiplash-inducers like "The Lost Memories" or "A Dark Cloud Arises". And just when you think you've got these guys all figured out, they go all "classical acoustic guitar arrangement" on your ass. It's a strange, jagged journey, all leading up to a strange, jagged outro that leaves you bruised, bloody, and quite a bit confused. The point is, Purtenance manage to keep you guessing while they shred your balls off, which I appreciate 100%.
Just look at the fucking cover. What are you gonna do, not download it?

REALITY ISN'T DISAPPEARED

You are helpless to resist.

Metallum/Last.FM