text: Oscar Wendt
The Committee
Memorandum Occultus
Folter Records
February 25th, 2017
Being an international collaboration of musicians, The Committee is a group that certainly can’t leave you indifferent to their music and the band’s concept. Having released their debut album, Power Through Unity in 2014, they immediately determined the musical direction of the band. Now, with the turn of the month, the new propaganda is ready to be released and spread around. Memorandum Occultus is to see the light of day on February 25th through the German Folter Records.
The mysterious character of the album cover art gives an unprecedented feeling of being intrigued with the content. You then press play and you know that you are definitely dealing with black metal! The magnificent and very confident beginning of Memorandum Occultus leads you straight to the first blast! Dead Diplomacy – Weapons of War is an excellent opening track which intensifies your interest in the new album. The short acoustic intro of Golden Chains – Weapons of Finance is one of those little features that make Memorandum Occultus so compelling. Being the longest track on the album, it is kept in the uniform tempo with a great deal of riffs to be remembered for a long time. Actually, the whole Memorandum Occultus, just like Power Through Unity, is filled with engaging passages and it’s quite easy to establish that song writing hasn’t been done by amateurs.
Upon the first listen to the album, I couldn’t get rid of an idea of some Mgła influences. This is particularly distinct in Treacherour Teachings – Weapons of Religion. The starting riff immediately placed the Polish band in front my eyes. The inspiration, however, is turned into something with an idiosyncratic character of The Committee which, I think, is one of the greatest things any band can do. You need a certain skill for it, that’s beyond doubt. The way this aforementioned song is constructed and composed makes it my favourite one on Memorandum Occultus. What is happening in the second part of the song classifies as magic – it’s absolutely out of this world.
Memorandum Occultus is a profound elaboration on Power Through Unity. The new album takes what’s best from the debut record and, through hard work and commitment, turns it into something equally good, yet so different. Both albums unite the common features of The Committee, but Memorandum Occultus is an ambitious expansion of the band’s ideas. Both black and doom metal influences are cultivated here, perfectly complementing one another.
Prior to the release, the album was described by the band as ‘a methodological journey through a dark world of intrigues, lies, deceit, outright manipulation, suffering and genocide’. I can clearly see the validity of that point now. Memorandum Occultus deals with the society’s degenerations through acceptance of the most powerful weapons. The album tells a certain story. A story of humanity’s downfall. This being put together with outstanding and complex music, makes Memorandum Occultus a proud monument, an imperishable manifest of all the destructive weapons of this world. The Committee’s effort has definitely put them on the list of the most interesting bands of 2017.
THE GOAT TAVERN 