As the impending doom of mankind begins to fill thoughts of humans beyond the traditional stratum of ‘conspiracy theorists’ and doom cult accolytes, so the work of artists such as Lychgate take on an added relevance, not to say importance.

For Lychgate, on the album Also Sprach Futura seem to concern themselves with the succession to humanity; whether that be machine, man a synthesis of the two or even perhaps the inculcation of a man/machine ‘spirit’ into previously inanimate matter or automata. That what man has created can necessarily become it’s controller , or, more likely, successor is a recurring theme that the artist returns to throughout the quartet of pieces that comprise this release.

Listeners can, as is usual, take or leave the lyrical conceits and base their acceptance or otherwise of the release purely on it’s musical merits – which are many – but surely a familiarity with both sides of the dichotomy provided can only lead to a great appreciation and understanding of the whole.

At times the music presented is familiar, the bombast stripped away revealing perhaps a strong link to the works of British artists such as Akercocke; however such a comparison only works so far. Despite the over driven guitars and chaotic drums this is a work that goes far beyond the parameters of heavy metal. An appreciation of twentieth century classical music places this very much at the heart of this movement, with it’s reliance on the dissonant and the atonal. Nihilistic black metal of course lends itself to a synthesis with this style of composing, and the listener will enjoy the sound of two distinct musical spheres merging.

Added interest will also be found for readers with an interest in the work of Polish writer Stanisław Lem; Lychgate examine some of the areas covered in Lem’s seminal work Golem XIV within the pieces written for Also Sprach Futura.

Lychgate’s Also Sprach Futura is out on March 13th.