Corrupted

The Japanese quintet Corrupted propelled the art of huge slow-motion droning metal to a new (very cold and very empty) dimension. The 42-minute piece of Paso Inferior (Frigidity Disco, 1997) and the 71-minute piece of El Mundo Frio (HG Fact, 2005) patiently escalate hypnotic post-rock suspense a` la Godspeed You Black Emperor or Mogwai only to crush every bit of emotion with catastrophic eruptions of guitars and drums a` la Boris. The former opens like virulent and miasmatic power-electronics and then the vocalist's growl and guitar's glissandoes indulge in a sadistic industrial torture. The latter spends the first ten minutes ticking in an ominous silence which is then ripped apart by crackling guitar distortion and slowly pounding drums. After twenty minutes the guitar intones a simple melody and unfortunately the vocalist begins reciting his horror story. Luckily his delivery soon turns into a growl and the guitar resumes its grueling torture. After 31 minutes the music fades away and we are treated to 15 minutes of desolate subliminal jamming. Finally the guitar intones a martial theme and the voice returns to narrate more gruesome stories. The distortion picks up again but it's a brief spasm and the last twelve minutes are only an extremely slow and ethereal vanishing.

The two colossal suites of the double-disc Llenandose de Gusanos (HG Fact, 1999) represented two sides of the same angst: a 74-minute black hole of quiet ambient/cosmic drones (El Mundo) and, after 16 minutes of sinister calm, a soundscape of martial and evil riffs, growls and choirs (Sangre/ Humanos). Not everything fits the stereotype though: the mini-album Se Hace Por Los Suenos Asesinos (HG Fact, 2011) contains the 17-minute Gekkou no Daichi for acoustic guitar and vocals.

Corrupted disbanded after recording Garten Der Unbewusstheit (Nostalgia Blackrain, 2011) in 2009. The album contains the colossal swan songs Garten and Gekkou No Daichi.