Phlebotomized
Immense Intense Suspense

THE REVIEW

Before starting this review, I first wanted to apologize to all the users who were offended by an ambiguous phrase in my first review. Secondly, since you've accused me of writing a useless review, now I want to write one that surely isn't on this site, and it's about a practically unknown album by a practically unknown band: "Immense Intense Suspense" by Phlebotomized.

The album in question, which incredibly fuses classical music and death metal, is from 1994. And while today it's almost normal to hear a violin in extreme metal, it certainly wasn't back then. The short instrumental intro "Immense Intense Suspense" immediately takes us into a parallel dimension, with the instruments painting an alienating landscape. While some pieces like "Dubbed Forsweare" (the beginning is tear-inducing) and "Barricade" elevate the blend of classical and death typical of the group, others demonstrate that the Dutch are also capable of going heavy: it's impossible to find many tracks from that time more violent than "Subtle Disbalanced Liquidity," another masterpiece of this phenomenal album. "Devoted To God" and "Mellow Are The Reverbations" are two very complex tracks, particularly the former, which is opened by a long 3-minute instrumental introduction. The album's closing piece, "Gone," is a masterpiece within a masterpiece. The acoustic guitar and violin seem to sketch an easy-listening track, but the tranquility is shattered by infernal screaming, followed by a section that's both violent and poetic at the same time, eventually concluding as it all began. In my humble opinion, the best track is the instrumental "In Search Of Tranquillity," which has the power to move me every time as if it were the first listen.

This album, although unknown to most and having had (due to its poor distribution) almost no influence, deserves, for its intrinsic beauty, to be remembered as one of the best metal albums of all time.