Severed Receptors is a 5-piece female fronted black metal
band formed from the ashes of Psychobliss. Their self-titled demo is the band’s
first release under this new name, and provides 5 full tracks (plus an intro)
of black metal with varying influences, including but not limited to symphonic
black metal, atmospheric black metal, and more straight forward sounding black
metal. One of the major distinctive forces of the band is lead vocalist Kyla
Stollings, who is able to easily switch between clean and harsh vocals. Her
harsh vocals are fantastic; they have that classic black metal rasp. While not
as potent as someone like Abbath, they are somewhat similar in tone. The clean
vocals, on the other hand, are a bit of a mixed bag. From a technical
perspective, she definitely has the ability to notes and control her voice, but
it sometimes feels like she isn’t going after the right notes. Perhaps this is
meant to enhance to atmosphere, but these clean vocals sound just a bit off.
The rest of the band is pretty standard given the genre, but offer just enough diversity to be interesting. They
abuse tremolo picking and blast beats (as they should in this style). Luckily,
however, the entire album isn’t just blasting. In fact, there is quite a bit of
variation in the drumming. Another way this release is a bit more memorable
than your typical black metal record is through the use of interludes. Quite a
few songs use them in various parts; for example, the outro to “Nothing Remains”,
and the intro to “Blood Descendants” both feature nice symphonic pieces. The
riffs occasionally deviate from speedy numbers, such as on the opening riff to “I
Become The Night”, which shows some chugging of dissonant notes. In terms of
songwriting, none of these tracks are amongst black metal’s highlights. While “Blood
Descendants” is certainly the best track, even that song is unlikely to bring
you back to this demo time and time again unless you are a big black metal fan.
Whether or not this says more for my taste for the genre is up for debate, but
ultimately, Severed Receptors is appealing because of their somewhat unique
identity rather than their songwriting.
Highlights
"Blood Descendants"
Final Rating
3.5/5 or 70%.
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