Yaldabaoth - That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate

YALDABAOTH - That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate (AESTHETIC DEATH Productions - CD 2020)

I have to say that quite often, when I listen to albums from Aesthetic Death Productions, I just don't know what to write. Basically every band from this label challenges me and gives me a headache playing music, which is by far removed from the boundaries, where my usual metal taste lies. Their unorthodox approach and unconventional ideas are sometimes a hard nut to crack for me, personally. Although I always give my best and write such review only after multiple spins, when I can really give it a justice.

Well, it's not different with Yaldabaoth and their debut album "That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate". Although I must admit that it definitely belongs to the most interesting releases from Aesthetic Death, the musical style of this project is also far from something typical and common. You could label it as black metal, sure, but it's just not even close to anything from the traditional meaning of this style of music. I would easily add words such as progressive, a little bit experimental (although the band limited their instrumentation to guitars/bass and drums only)... I feel like Yaldabaoth is kind of walking the path similar to bands such as Svartidaudi, Deathspell Omega or Blut Aus Nord. Not necessarily they all sound alike, but in the meaning that they all equally break the rules and walk their own individual paths. Many weird dissonant riffs, twisted melodies, broken rhythms, screaming vocals and some growls... The music is quite hard to get into, there are no obvious song structures and arrangements, nothing memorable or catchy. You get lengthy songs, which can go even for nine minutes and they drill your mind with all these twisted motives that kind of become almost hypnotizing in its atmosphere. Just take such "Megas Archon 365" as an example for that. Generally, the entire album is as diverse as it could, there are blasts, more mesmerizing parts, few more melodic passages... When fast, Yaldabaoth really sounds pissed off and uncompromising, this is also when the music becomes more chaotic and even more cacophonic.  When slower, it gets more memorable, easier, it may even be on the verge of the so called post black metal or whatever.

And you know, I wouldn't say that "That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate" convinced me 100%. But it did intrigue me, so that’s a start. I don’t have a feeling like I just lost few hours on listening to something that I didn’t like, it’s the opposite, because this is solid album and pretty original music, at least for my collection and musical taste. I will definitely come back to it rather sooner than later and challenge it again. And one more thing – I wouldn’t really call Yaldabaoth a black metal project, even if there are some similarities to this style of extreme metal.

Standout track: "Gomorrahan Grave of the Sodomite"

Verdict: 70/100