Xasthur - Telepathic With The Deceased

2xLP, gatefold jacket, comes with two promotional inserts (Back on Black and Plastic Head Distribution). Tracks on side D are exclusive vinyl only bonus tracks. 2021 Repress of 2004 release.

Xasthur's fourth album opens with a nearly four-minute electronic instrumental consisting of two chords in a long, droning pattern, sounding like the results of a jam session between Trent Reznor and Steve Reich. The nine tracks that follow add some more traditional black metal touches (hyper-speed and completely unfunky drumbeats, death growl vocals, guitar amps set on stun -- that sort of thing), but they're still all in the service of these lengthy, predominantly atmospheric drones. The vocals are deliberately inaudible, which is actually a huge plus because lyrics and vocals are invariably the weakest points of this style of music. Furthermore, the downright odd mix of the album as a whole makes it seem like every element of each arrangement is exactly the same (not particularly loud) volume as all the others; rather than simply making the record sound flat and boring, this somewhat paradoxically adds to the songs' power, because the listener invariably strains to pick out individual instruments within the onslaught. When the arrangements open up, like on the woozy, disorienting coda of "Abysmal Depths Are Flooded," which sounds like death metal's answer to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, the effect is astoundingly effective. Death metal goes art rock, then.

All Tracks on Side D are exclusive bonus tracks for this double vinyl release:
D1 Storms Of Red Revenge (Rehearsal Track)
D2 The Cold Earth Slept Below (Judas Iscariot cover)
Written-By – Judas Iscariot
D3 Suicide In Dark Serenity (Rehearsal Track)