Panta Rhei, an aleatoric (meaning that some element of composition is left up to chance) black metal project masterminded by prolific Pittsburgh noise artist RJ Myato, released a split album with the ever-bleak Thar Desert last month.
The Panta Rhei side of Transmuter sounds like a supergroup consisting of corpse-painted Scandinavians and straight edge punks playing in the middle of a dust storm, while the Thar Desert side sounds like the dust storm swallowing everyone whole. The towering Panta Rhei cut “133 189” looms like the Eye of Sauron, swirling and impenetrable against a darkened sky. Unearthly shrieks and howls pierce the relentless wall of sound created by sheets of sandpaper guitar and crushing drums. The maelstrom is certainly violent, but it’s also kind of beautiful.
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