Viranesir - Supports Flag Burning and Female Raping (2017)

The Turkish experimental black metal project Viranesir has returned with a new album, this one more influenced than black metal than the previous disc I reviewed. It's a bit different, a little more raw and far less experimental than the previous as well. I can't say that I like it as much, but nor would I suggest Viranesir repeating itself, which to my knowledge has not happened. Emir Merdumgiriz recorded the record earlier in 2016 and it's filled with treatises on everything from politics to an overall hatred of the modern metal scene. The Turkish born composer has been through quite a lot during his career, and mostly the dissension seems to come from him being the exact opposite of politically correct. Some artists apparently fear for their image and have obviously taken a strict liberal basis (metal is far more liberal by nature) which actually feels more conservative in the sense that they're almost afraid to be on an album release with this artist. Such a dispute was handled in the same form similar of a hip-hop diss track, entitled “Metal Is Full Of Faggots” which comes off pretty well until Emir starts using the high pitched vocal for the other unnamed band member that he was quoting, and it becomes a bit funny. Emir seems to be going for an almost G. G. Allin approach to black metal in a politically correct age, which is going to lead to more and more issues in the future. I don't take issue with it, rather I champion it. Because Viranesir is taking a path that artists seem afraid to do. Satan no longer really invokes fear among metallers, so in order to upset and offend them in the way that early black metal records used to do, uncomfortable topics like rape, murder and siding with terrorists are satirically hinted around at, more than likely in a way that will offend and upset the scant few who actually pick this one up. I haven't seen anyone actually covering this record nor this artist, and it maybe be all the Bandcamp hassles as a reason for it. I think Viranesir was also banned from social media. Hell, just mentioning these guys for some reason may result in people thinking I support the myriads of horrible things talked about on a record, but I also know the difference between reality and fiction, satire and the actual intent or belief in these items. The record explores many instances of raw black metal, death metal, doom and even some experimental quirks in places – but it's definitely not as uncomfortable as the last and feels full of anger. Emir is seriously pissed.

To some, the record might come off a little bit soapbox, but that's fine as I've made similar records and will continue to do so. It allows Emir to get some things off his chest, which I think is truly great art. Even when the message may come off as grossly offensive, rather harsh and undoubtedly pungent, it is still art at it's core and must absolutely be respected. Viranesir has made an album by which to shock and upset a great number of people and we're certainly not going to shame him here for doing it. There's no money here, no big corporate agendas and most certainly no safe space garbage to be had over at The Grim Tower.
Judging it in the vein of raw black/death record, it's pretty strong and I think that fans of extremely raw approaches to what can be considered heavily aggressive genres well find something in it. If the song titles turn you off or suchlike, there's not much I can say there. Obviously not everyone is going to love this thing, but it hearkens back to the days when metal was actually considered evil and dangerous. To be honest, the last couple of tracks (in native Turkish) were my favorites on the album and definitely show the act's strong suites. If you can get around some of the more comical sections of the disc, you'll find that it's what we need in extreme metal today. Viranesir makes no compromises here and the entire album is better because of it.

(10 Tracks, 37:00)

8/10

Viranesir - Dad's Choking On My Vomit Of His Semen (2016)

Viranesir went from being an obscure act that pressed it's own albums to a band that everyone loves to hate. Who's everyone? Well, how about Facebook and Bandcamp? The band have been kicked off of Facebook (which isn't a big deal as bands make new pages all of the time) but they did get removed from Bandcamp, which is a first for me. I'm sure it happens, but not often. So why am I reviewing these guys? Because this is absurdity, it gets under people's skins and makes them uncomfortable. Checkout the Merdümgiriz website and you can see mastermind Emir Toğrul's writings for yourself, in all of their interesting glory. Keep in mind that Toğrul also has a couple of other bands, and they've all created a new album this year as well – Blliigghhtted, Funeral Of God and Red Bible Black (compilation, but still a new release) all have new material to check out, so if you like this odd release, perhaps you will like those discs as well. Now Viranesir has had a history of explicit album titles, even though debut Fountain Of Uncertainty wasn't all that bad. I never really expected the guy to go this far, but hell – it got them attention and that's the best you can hope for in this industry. Let's see, we have Kill Your Repulsive Child, Shoot On Mom's Corpse, Raping Lesbians For Freedom, Kaos Garden: Burn The Homeless, You Jewish Bastards, Children's Suicide Music ((Ritual of (Love) Is The Key)) and finally, this one. Now most of this shit cracks me up, because I can take a joke and understand black humor. Then you have the Blligghhtted release, Into The Cunt Of The Witch (which really isn't all that bad, to be honest) which carries the theme onto other albums. Though I hope he would kind of keep it to Viranesir, as they've named albums like this in the past. The most odd thing about this record though, is it's name. I don't understand it. I understand what it's supposed to mean, but as an editor I'm confused. Is the semen vomit? Because how does that work? If someone coughs up semen, we don't necessarily call that vomit, like something related to food, blood or bile. I've never even heard the term, “vomit semen” before. So it has me confused. A better title for this might be, Dad's Choking On My Semen While I'm Vomiting On His Dick. I know, I just made that ten times worse and I'm a horrible individual. But as a writer, you have to work with what's presented.

As for the album, it seems to consist of a great deal of oblong keyboard mannerisms which more or less serve as the musical background here. It is not a guitar-laden release, nor does it contain any black metal. Sure, Viranesir might have been black metal in the beginning, but with this one, he decided to go for something of an electronic acid trip with weird squeaky vocals. It almost sounds like he's making fun of American pop music and homoeroticism, in a way that probably “triggered” a lot of writers. Better yet, I'm sure some emailed him back at the Merdümgiriz address and wondered what in the hell they had just been sent. It is certainly abstract, somewhat bizarre. I want to feature this in a print magazine I work for, but because of all the crap regarding the Bandcamp/Social Media situation as well as the title, I wouldn't want to be blacklisted. That's just the way it goes sometimes, so just consider this review to be more or less my article on one of their weirdest records ever to grace my inbox this year. If I want to put this into perspective, and even attempt to give you a proper display of the disc by which you're curious about (or you wouldn't be reading this review) then I could just tell you that the whole thing is like an out of body experience. It feels like you're on heroin or something. I just can't really put this atmosphere into proper form without telling you that it's demented. This isn't the kind of music that you play when you're looking to feel happy, it is instead a sort of record where it feels like something very wrong is occurring. If you play this in the background of well, I mean – I really don't even want to describe the scene in which a track like closer “Bourgeois Beleaguered II” would appear, but I'm sure that you can find such situations that may very well be going on from various conspiracy pages by which to decorate such unpleasant music. I don't believe that this is a bad record, it's just exceedingly uncomfortable. It feels like Toğrul has gone more into realms of horror than black metal here, which is great as Blliigghhtted more or less captures the early black metal element of this band. There's nothing wrong with changing hats and adapting new personalities and I do wish Toğrul the best on this one. I really don't know what that means as a whole considering everything that has happened, but perhaps these decisions gave the project a bit of an image booster and he needed it. 

I honestly don't care for many of the high-pitched squeals as you might expect from my rather explicit thoughts on their usage in other records, but here it comes off as part of the atmosphere. Conceptually it's just a bunch of weird keyboard and drum compositions, with all sorts of vocal iterations that almost seem to parody DSBM. Yet strangely enough, it all works and brings with it the sort of atmosphere that feels much creepier than several of the horror-influenced soundscapes that I receive on a montly basis from various bands and labels. Considering there is no Bandcamp page for this recording, you should be able to find it on the Merdümgiriz site as well as the writings I mentioned earlier. I do have my own personal opinion on the entire Viranesir image, but I'll actually hold my tongue on this one, as I have an inkling of what is going on here and would rather keep that to myself. At any rate, bands like this who are out to upset the status quo and really distort the minds of common individuals are definite winners in my book. Maybe they'll call their next one Licking Out The Excrement From Christ's Asshole in order to continue on with this grotesque and uncomforting imagery. As for the record itself? It'll include accordions and xylophones. Why not?

(7 Tracks, 37:00)

8/10