"Are you brave enough for this?":- A review of Mastery's "Valis"

Ladies and gentlemen!

There is a quite controversial hype surrounding Mastery's debut release "Valis" these days. It's definitely one of the most unusual records ever done. Some think it's some sort of radical progressive innovation made by a genre-breaking new genius. Others claim that these forty minutes are just a pretentious atrocity recorded by a dangerous nihilist. The answer lies maybe somewhere in between and this kind of music is probably best analyzed from an objective point of view. One thing is certain: this release will be hated by most, adored by few and isn't suggested for your daily consumption. If you dare, read my review, make up your mind about this one-man experiment and give this nightmarish trip a try. Don't tell me I didn't warn you though...

Mastery is a one-man extreme metal project from California that just released its first full length record in ten years of existence. Please read on before you skip this review since this album is far better than your usual raw black metal or grindcore noise recorded in a shady basement by a depressive loser that has no friends and releases twenty demos each year. “Valis” comes in fact closest to the definition of a musical nightmare itself. It’s pitiless, turbulent and unpredictable. Imagine an ultrafast avant-garde bastard of the early chaotic years of American extreme metal band Absu, the weirdest material of Norwegian avant-garde band Shining and the most dystopian songs of Canadian progressive thrash metal innovators Voivod and you might get an approximate idea what to expect from Mastery. Mastery may also be described as a more extreme take on French avant-garde black metal band Deathspell Omega. The only other extreme metal band I know which is as hard to digest as Mastery is the surrealist British project Ebonylake. This boundary-breaking kind of music is so inhuman, radical and repulsive that it suddenly becomes addicting, innovating and mysterious again.

The three challenging main tracks feature fast and unchained screams that are surprisingly present throughout the entire record that features a lot of lyrics. The songs are carried by discordant, loud and noisy guitar tones and unchained blast beat rhythm sections. There are also some really mean breakdowns that are even more disturbing than the usual maddening speed. On the other side, some songs also have short breaks with calmer drum patterns, laid back acoustic guitar passages and reduced vocal efforts. The two other tracks are short transitional instrumentals that can be described as restrained industrial ambient tunes. They deliver two very short and highly welcome breaks from the unbearable forty-minute long madness that must be experienced in one shot to work efficiently if you are brave enough. Despite the overloaded wild mixture of genres, instruments and noises, the production of this record is surprisingly clean, modern and solid.

Who listens to this kind of music? There might be emotional people who like to find extreme sounds that confuse, torment and scare them. There might be open-minded experimental listeners who want to test their own boundaries of tolerance for radical arts. There might be a few courageous weirdoes that were curious to discover what is probably the most controversial extreme metal record since Morbid Angel’s mixture of industrial music, death metal and dark wave on “Illud Divinum Insanus”. Is there a philosophical message behind this project? Does it want to show us the deviant downfall of our society? Does it try to reveal the predictability of social media trying to uncover funny sensations like these? Does it parody the ridiculousness of the extreme metal genre itself? Is it simply a weird kind of trolling humour? Is this just a weird fun project without any meaning at all? Might there be a seriously twisted mind behind this rollercoaster ride? The lack of answers, background information and different interpretations make this release even more intriguing and enjoyable. Some people are fascinated by the unknown, others scared. I belong to the first category and in a weird way, I quite liked spending some time on this odd experiment. Even though I’m most certainly not going back to this very often, I can only recommend this to open-minded artists. If you want to join the discussion or simply make up your own mind about this phenomenon, get prepared for a disturbing, radical and wicked listening experience.

Final verdict: 8 out of 10 points

Please support the band and check out the following link:

Bandcamp / Label: http://theflenser.bandcamp.com/album/valis