Mostly Yelling #5: Perilaxe Occlusion Digitally Renders Death Metal

Armed with lyrics about 3D modeling and rendering techniques, and backed by music inspired by Black Sabbath and Finnish death metal, comes the wonky and ever-expanding sounds of Perilaxe Occlusion.

Perilaxe Occlusion started in August 2020 not with music, but a logo. “In August, I got Lucas Valtenbergs to do our logo, which was the fire under our ass to get working on material,” said guitarist and bassist XT. “I conjured up 22 minutes of death metal, recorded it in early October, and was released worldwide December 11.”

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While the Perilaxe Occlusion logo is certainly great, it’s the cover art for Exponential Decay that initially caught my eye. Far from the guts and gore of death metal, Exponential Decay sports what looks like something you’d find on the screen of a sci-fi movie scientist’s computer.

“It’s two terrain meshes. One is upside down and both are transparent, so it looks like they’re converging in on the horizon,” said XT. “It perfectly represents our lyrics themes of 3D modelling and rendering techniques.”

Alongside that artwork comes the lyrics and overall concept of Perilaxe Occlusion, which is unique to say the least.

“I think the name Perilaxe Occlusion sounds like a cool death metal band name and I pushed it,” said XT. “The other part of the push is Nile having their lyrics about ancient Egypt. Karl Sanders’ fascination with ancient Egypt pushed him to write that style of music, which is very unique. For me writing about something I’m passionate about is in the same vein. I think more bands should have a unique theme to them. Like Blood Incantation with aliens, and all that. It stands out.”

Despite working on another three-song demo called Raytraces of Death due out later this year, and the potential for live shows to come back, Perilaxe Occlusion has no intention of hitting the stage.

“Even if the pandemic never happened, we’re not a live band, and likely never will be. It’s too much of a headache finding skilled, dedicated musicians with proper gear and technique to form a full lineup,” said XT. “Touring is an even bigger task because you have to have visas and all that shit. For the foreseeable future, we’re like Darkthrone; A two-piece band dedicated to just music.

“As for 2021 plans, we have a new demo called Raytraces of Death expected to be released in the middle of this year. Possibly July. It’s another 3-song demo, roughly the same length. It explores new territory for us such as skank beats, cello, and even a black metal-inspired outro! It’s still got plenty of doom, tech, and seriously foul riffs about. In terms of sound, it’s much heavier sounding than Exponential. The cymbals are bigger, the bass has more distortion, and the guitars have more chainsaw to them. It’s a proper follow-up to our first demo.

“The album art is MUCH less abstract than before, but the artwork in the CDs and tapes is all fitting with the 3D aesthetic.”

Oh, and when you’re listening to Exponential Decay, keep an eye out for “Skeletal Bifurcation”. It’s the band’s favorite and densest song, and “represents almost everything Perilaxe Occlusion has to offer.” The song also closes out with an absolutely devastating rendition of “Under the Sun” by Black Sabbath, which is a great way to see the track off and give you a quick break before “Rigid Body Displacement” completely atomizes you.

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Exponential Decay is available digitally through all streaming platforms, and via their Bandcamp.