Review: Yaldabaoth – That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate

The sun is shining, the temperature is nice, you are drinking a delicious cold drink and you’re just chilling. That are the perfect circumstances for playing an album like That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate from Yaldabaoth. Not! It’ll probably only take a few moments before the sun gives way to rain, wind, possibly even snow and darkness, while the temperature is quickly dropping. Your cold drink will probably still be cold, but more like frozen causing to burst the glass while it’s in your hand. Everything will probably change in a complete nightmare full of chaos, just as can be seen on the very nice and detailed cover, made by Business for Satan’s Pierre Perichaud.

In 2017, the Alaskan black metal band Yaldabaoth, of which the only thing known about its members is that they’re also members of fellow Alaskan black metallers Arria Paetus and They Leapt From Burning Windows, released its first material. That first material was only one song, titled Megas Archon 365, as their part of their split with Skopt, who play dark ambient. On February the 29th, Yaldabaoth released its second release, titled That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate, which is their debut album. It is released via Aesthetic Death.

With That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate Yaldabaoth delivers an album packed with pure chaos executed in a very well-done and well thought-through way. Their musical style can be described as black metal, but it’s certainly not just black metal. It’s quite complex, progressive and also has a somewhat experimental vibe to it. There probably are only two options when hearing Yaldabaoth’s music: you either run away as fast as possible or you are totally taken by it, just as I am. I don’t think it’s that easy to find a way in between.

It will probably only take a few moments for you to make that choice though, because opener Fecund Godhead Deconstruction might start quite calm, but hell breaks loose after 43 seconds, just after a short build-up. The hellish vocals, which vary between ominous screams and deep grunts, are a bit in the background of the mix, but that only makes the music in its entirety even more chaotic and hellish.

Instrumentally, Yaldabaoth delivers a humming bass, nice drums, in pounding blastbeat-style as well as otherwise, such as can be heard at different moments in Gomorrahan Grave of the Sodomite and album closer Mock Divine Fury, as well as crunchy guitars, such as in the returning track Megas Archon 365, but also guitars that sound less crunchy, as can be heard in that same track and Gomorrahan Grave of the Sodomite.

Gomorrahan Grave of the Sodomite also begins quite calm with an atmospheric vibe, that atmospheric vibe remains during this track, but as soon as things are getting heavier, this will only be the case very lightly. The track that follows, To Neither Rot Nor Decay, also is quite calm and includes a choir-like effect with a nice distorted vibe to it, with roaring guitars, a humming bass, nice, deep drums and very nice vocals are later added step-by-step. The additional instrumentation on this track is done by Skopt.

However, the most interesting thing of That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate is the way everything is combined. Yaldabaoth not only delivers pure hellish chaos as in them playing black metal, including its rawness and intensity, but the many, often abrupt but still very fitting rhythm-changes, the regularly returning extra energy boosts, such as around 6:50 into Gomorrahan Grave of the Sodomite, as well as the raw, cold-feeling production of this album, while everything is still quite audible, are making this album even more chaotic, complex, raw and intense.

That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate is quite overwhelming in a very good way, there’s a lot happening on this album, which makes that you don’t want to lose your attention because that means you are going to miss something. Luckily this album has everything in it to make sure that your attention will remain focused. Highly recommended for everyone who likes their metal very hellish and chaotic!