[Cover art by Matt Stephens – sole full-time member of the band]
If you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance that you are a music obsessive. More than likely, that means you consume other forms of media with a similar vigor and passion. For those of us wired this way, it’s impossible not to spend time lusting after the opportunity to experience our favorite records, movies, games, etc., for the first time all over again. More importantly, we think through what the ideal experience would be for that. How different would our favorite old movie be if we had our first experience with it on the big screen with a modern sound system? Would we be as blown away by our favorite band if our first experience with them had been live, with zero context from their recorded materials? Would we even like our favorite childhood video game if we experienced it as an adult first?
So, what’s the ideal first listening experience for Anticholinergic Derangement? Why, being higher than RFK Jr. snorting heroine and the dust of bear bones off of a raccoon penis, of course! I picked a day when I knew my wife would have to work and I had zero other obligations on the calendar. I imbibed in a hearty dose of a substance that is very legal in my state…and waited. I sipped some coffee while listening to Enslaved’s Vikingligr Veldi followed by Swans’ Filth. I could only barely make it through the first half of the latter before I knew I was on another planet and it was time to get the Effluence train moving.
I set up shop at the kitchen table, grabbed my best headphones, opened my laptop, hit play and started typing out every thought that came through my stupid brain. What you have below is my unfiltered, immediate reaction to Effluence’s most insane work. I didn’t edit anything after the fact, so get ready for nonsense and typos.
I would encourage you to hit play and follow along. May your first journey be as unnerving, hilarious and incredible as mine was.
Molluscan Hemolymph Extraction (3:34)
- Starting off in a space horror movie – nice
- Phantom of the Opera and The Toxic Avenger are banging
- There’s more of a Gigan weirdness to this album that I’m really digging
- Haunted circus has landed
- These transitions back into brutality have been excellent
- How has it only been 2:30 seconds in and THIS MUCH has already happened?
- My VCR in hyper rewind
- Lololol that bass wobble into blasting outro was awesome
Dissected Infantile Hypothalami (3:02)
- Killer Devourment-style riff going into the super slow beatdown
- Wasn’t expecting to hear synths doing a dance around hyperblasts today
- Jeeeeeesus that meathead chug in the middle is glorious
- Someone taped over my brutal metal with free jazz here
Cyclical Triform Aiolomorph (5:08)
- Club meet skull
- Creepy crawlies coming out of walls and ceilings in a horror movie trailer
- Pennywise the DANCing clown
- I think someone’s trying to play the X-Files thing on theramin and getting pissed about being interrupted by blast beats
- Bass scrambling my brains like that you’re brains on drugs commercial
- Pennywise is back! But is there weird moaning in the back?
- A violin of knives
- That moment around 3:45 startled the shit out of me
- Is there an ASPCA for musical instruments? I think we have to call them on this guy
Demophoön (4:13)
- What a horrifically violent start to the song
- Hahahaha the fucking tamborine
- This is so wild in good headphones. So many tiny little things happening all over the place with quick notes jumping ear to ear or up and down. Makes it feel like the different instruments are fighting across your head in a war for attention
- This wobbly bit near the end into that sample was uncomfortable
The Medusae And The Class Of Drugs Known As Death Inducers (4:32)
- AHH, got me again
- The proggy bits are almost like someone having a bad trip while trying to cover Pink Floyd from memory
- That nature soundscape in the middle is creeping me out
- Now we’re in a submarine…but is it yellow?
- How could I know? I said we’re IN it
- I’m getting the sense this may be more of a submersible looking for the Titanic situation
- Oh, what up Pocahontas
- Back to the sewer!
Eγχριστον (The Enchristation) (5:32)
- This is the worst 80s porn soundtrack ever
- Listen to those eerie ghosts back there
- Ooo we’re dancing at a lovely ball with a slight sprinkle of blood in the air
- Jazz getting another colonoscopy
- This is the part in the old sci-fi when we’re discovering the final truth through some metaphorical vagina that gives us rebirth
- I’m too high for this talking bit. That was creepy as fuck
- Oh good, now there’s laughs.
- Wait, was that just flutes and not laughs?
- The ancient community makes their last stand agains a volcano sized Hypnotoad
Milking The Paidiska (3:36)
- Weird to think that this sort of brutality right off the bat almost feels like a palette cleanser at the moment
- Nice dummy beat down parts in this one
- This would the song you use to trick some no/bullshit brutal death metal fan into listening to this definite bullshit brutal death
- Ok, maybe not, there was a drum circle
- That lead was an excellent little change-up to throw in
Antibody Conjugated Substance (2:19)
- Did this get cowritten with Mr. Bungle in their heyday?
- That little picking-up-pennies chug into weird melty riffs to speed up was sick
- The keys and sustained notes are overwhelming in a great way here
Endogenous Polypharmaceutical Communion Rite Of The Oracular Virgin Priestess (35:27)
- Fuck, here we go. If you want to be the best, you gotta beat the best. Lock in
- I genuinely burst out laughing when that first brutal part kicked in. This is absolutely insane
- It is very upsetting how often these instruments sound like people screaming (yes, I know there are actual screams, too)
- Giant spiders sprinting across pianos
- Christopher Walken playing flute
- Jesus christ, I’m only three minutes in
- That sounded like a woman falling into a pit of vermin but with the Looney Tunes sound fade
- This is giving me Classic arcade game vibes with some unintelligible villain bellowing threats
- This guy listened to the creepy samples of kids on the nearby playground that Chris Barnes worked into Tomb of the Mutilated and said, “I can make that worse”
- What are these bird noises?
- These instruments are layered and blended together so well at times that I can’t tell what is what
- The song has a real sense of improv chaos to it
- Like this is what some guy’s off-off-off-off Broadway one-man shows taking place under an old pier would sound like
- Now we’re having an episode of Buffy where we flashback to her communicating with the first slayer
- This is so far removed from brutal death metal right now and somehow makes perfect sense on this album
- I’m only at the 11-minute mark, but this song is incredible so far
- There’s a phenomenal layering of uncomfortable notes and noises blended into upbeat birds or notes and the tension is really striking
- This is Indiana Jones appearing over the horizon in the desert coming toward his destination pyramid
- OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK?!?! That transition with the tortured murdered struggling woman is horrifying
- FUCK the slowed down last scream was even worse
- That was circus bubbles music in a toilet
- These riffs have been numerous and absolutely killer during this stretch
- Bass said “bitch, what am I chopped liver?” and popped some bops in the fight
- Sparring with the piano again. It following the kick rolls was a killer touch
- Wany’s World tiddly-dee thing after it got punched in the nose twice
- We’re halfway folks!
- Nope. Nope. Nope. Don’t like this screaming. Not one bit
- Holy fuck, that layered keys, flute, whatever the fuck is creepy and oppressive as hell
- Oh good, an evil gospel
- Yet, again the transitions back to “standard” violence are pulled off perfectly and right when you need them
- This is the music during the most violent kill in some old Giallo movie
- This drum solo during an avalanche is pretty awesome
- Back to communicating through lights and keyboards with aliens
- Hahahahah that transition back to the brutality made it sound like a punch of birds simultaneously got kicked by the drums
- Whoa this is more like a Swallow The Sun riff there for a sec
- Back to rattling tin cans, warning of an impending tornado, with Satan playing the role of Paul Revere
- Korean Jesus, I know you’re busy with Korean shit (this isn’t racist, it’s a 22 Jump Street reference), but please guide me through these final 10 minutes
- We are going on one whacky journey right now
- Alfred Hitchcock sharpening knives floating on a wooden platform in a river
- Are we doing a tango? Or samba or something? I’m picturing perfect posture and spinning red skrits/dresses
- Now we’re kinda getting into an 80’s action build up montage
- Haha the vocals
- This is crowd pleasing headbanger…with flute?! Did I turn on Korpiklaani?
- You could genuinely dance to this whole stretch
- This kind of reminds me of The Faceless a bit and then they added seem keyboards by The Doors (fuck you, Danhammer)
- As I’m approaching the end of this song, I’m almost tempted to start it over and listen to it again. This has been very compelling
- PURE CINEMA! MASTERPIECE! BRAVO! BRAVO!
Inoculation With Aντίχριστος (4:55)
- How could there possibly be more?
- Hey, don’t forget we can clobber you to death with pure ignorance too
- Fuck up that whammy bar, big bro
- Phasers set to KILL
- Slowly melting in sewer rot
- I think this was added to the album to test your endurance and take any last glimmer of hope you may have had after the previous 35 minutes and kicked its teeth in
- The snare is doing a river dance on your will to live
- Sure, might as well have one more final creepy outro
- I wanna go again, I wanna go again!!!
