Tenements (Of the Anointed Flesh) is no exception to this trend, yet its title reflects newfound purity in The Axis of Perdition's performance. The group's aural abrasion still includes eerie narration, industrial field recordings, and metal played in uncomfortable time signatures. Glimmering out of the wreckage, however, is a newfound sense of melody. Ironically, this fresh juxtaposition has made the band's music more disquieting than ever.

"The Sleeper," for example, instantly raises goose bumps on one's arms. Soft ringing provides a backdrop for a voice to ask "Am I dead?" With mocking solemnity, another responds, "of course not…this is only the beginning" as air raid sirens wail in the background. The seeming normality of this creepy conversation draws the listener in, hinting at a world gone dangerously wrong.

"Unveiled" thus rumbles into life like an awakened monstrosity, seething with static and drums that roll in endless, inhuman loops like gears turning in place. They reveal guitars that lurch and stumble, their queasy melodies producing a sickening symphony behind lunatic howling.

"Unbound," for its part, wafts in on otherworldly guitar notes before erupting in a deluge of drums and screeching. From there, alien melodies whirl chaotically like ash caught in a vortex. They disorient and confuse, leaving listeners vulnerable to massive guitar grooves and frightening incantations shouted in preparation for the journey ahead.

"Sigils and Portents" is the first stop, and it's a world of smothering guitar tones and downpouring blastbeat drums. Soaring harmonics bubble out of the murk, yet they seem futile and leering in such a desolate soundscape. Proving this theory correct, the tune dissolves into hallucinogenic guitar grooves that gut any sense of earlier beauty.

"The Flesh Spiral" is next, a flurry of ringing cymbals clashing with lightning-quick melodies. Drums circle ominously around the clash, while vocalist Brooke Johnson rants and raves in the background. It all builds into sonic whiplash, violent stop-start riffs jerking listeners back and forth regardless of safety.

"The Dark Red Other" is thus a necessary respite, a brief interlude of dark ambient music in a vacuum. When "The Changer" begins afterwards, its soft, gothic guitar notes seem like a fluid transition. Gradually, it swells into hazy guitar chords and cymbals that tick with clockwork precision. The atmosphere chokes like smog, and chiming funeral bells produce dread among the album's most palpable emotions. The end result is a harrowing endurance test for the ears.

"Disintegration" is equally epic, writhing in a frenzy of percussion and distortion. Angular, chugging guitars surface for air amidst the insanity, revealing a cacophony of desperate voices gibbering frantically. This deranged chorus is eventually swallowed by the song's onslaught, fading into warped radio transmissions and then nothing at all.

"Ordained," then, is a revelation after the preceding madness. Beginning with hushed keys, it tortures the band's mangled notes into beautiful, lingering melodies. The vocals – so often anguished and mutilated – are also transformed into somber but moving song. Last but not least, the unerring repetition of the guitars and drums is stripped away, allowing a finale that is triumphant in its use of harmony and speed.

"Awakened" thus feels like an afterthought, its humming ambience and strange chanting little besides a bizarre coda. When Tenements is taken as a whole, however, it reveals that The Axis of Perdition carefully plotted the album's every step. The cliffhanger ending is proof that these masters of malevolence have many more tales of terror left to tell.

Tracklisting
The Sleeper
Unveiled
Unbound
Sigils and Portents
The Flesh Spiral
The Dark Red Other
The Changer
Disintegration
Ordained
Awakening

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