Martre - Ofelia (Digipak CD)

With Ofelia, his first full-length effort, Danish one-man band Martre throws the listener in medias res into a distorted dimension filled with grief, rage and torment. No intro, no predictable solutions, no respite, Ofelia is confrontational music, a furious fit of blackened-grindcore aimed at the very concept of death.Even the sparse and deceitfully atmospheric interludes work together with the terrorizing violence of the music, enhancing the fever dream state in which Ofelia flows all over its way. Pitch black and unsettling, Ofelia takes no prisoners and dares the limits of anything that's ever been labeled "black metal". And yet at the core of its controlled chaos, Martre crafted an album that is - just like its beautifully evocative cover image - a harrowing, mournful elegy.