Following on from their debut demo earlier this year, UK Noise/Black Metal duo Poisonous Reflection have returned with a self-released EP entitled ‘This Wretched Vessel I Inhabit’. If the demo was a little insight into the dark blight that is Poisonous Reflection, then the EP is a demonstration in mind control torture, as white noise combined with torturous synth wreak havoc on the brain. This is a sinister release, with a sound like maggots inside your skull feasting on your brain as you listen on helpless. It makes for an odd sensation when ‘Writhing in the Agony of Celestial Mutilation’ finally kicks in (the EP’s third track) and a sense of slight, although brief relief is felt as the Raw Black Metal chaos chimes in and brings with it a respective sense of normality. However, as per the demo release, this is no real respite at all as the bands style is pure unfiltered hostility.
What is different from the demo though is the pace changes. Here, Poisonous Reflection have embarked a slower, far more macabre sounding style of Black Metal in places, all tinged with their own brand of maddening, feral noise, a truly blackened cacophony. if you like clear, uncomplicated sounds then this isn’t for you. No, this is for those who dwell in madness! (Luke Hayhurst)
