Those of you familiar with the name and work of Vladmir Cochet have probably already heard this. For the rest of you, allow me to let you in on a particularly well kept secret in extreme metal and quite possibly one of the most promising artists in extreme metal today. Weeping Birth is Vladmir Cochet’s first foray into the world of extreme metal and was formed by the man in 1999. While this year has already seen him release an album under his black metal project Mirrothrone, Cochet seems to have kept himself quite busy with the release of Weeping Birth’s second full length just months after the release of Mirrorthrone’s Gangrene .

Right from the opening blast of Then the Moon Came it’s apparent that Weeping Birth is a very different beast in comparison to his other projects. The music is brutal and relentless but at the same time Cochet’s song writing skills are such that Anosognosic Industry of the I is an album that doesn’t get old. The music is for the most part a perfect synthesis of the best elements of black metal and brutal death metal. Imagine Vader going head to head in a bare knuckle boxing match with Emperor and you’ll get a vague idea of what’s happening on this album.

The songs are all very heavy and aggressive yet have enough change ups and benefit from Cochet’s superior guitar playing to be really memorable individual pieces. Stand out tracks include the awe-inspiring Totalitarian Grievance with its superb guitar work, the almost groovy I Was and the epic Der Tanz der Toten which has a cinematic and eerie feel to it.

Overall, the song writing here is far superior to anything found on the last Mirrorthrone album but the problems that mar Weeping Birth are the same as the ones I had with Mirrorthrone. Cochet still uses a drum machine and while his skill at programming is undeniable, it does get a bit irritating to sit through for the entire 73 minutes of music on offer here. The other problem is the album’s running time. It could have done with some trimming as the second half of the album feels a bit bloated with songs like Vaginal Secretions, Orgasmic Fetid Breath and Immobile not really living up to the quality found on the rest of this album. At the same time Anosognosic Industry of the I ends on a high note with the superb one-two punch of Shadowless and Le Mauvais Oeil both of which blur the difference between Cochet’s many projects.  

While I’m very interested to see what this man can accomplish with a quality drummer and a full band to back him up I have to say that this is music of an insanely high caliber coming as it does from a one-man project. Anosognosic Industry of the I is a definite highlight of the year for me and wipes the floor with most of the blackened death metal that is being released this year.



Label - Conatus Records
Year of Release - 2008