Arrangement Analysis: Asphyx – “The Rack”

Asphyx’s debut album is on the whole an undisputed classic of death-doom and underground metal in general, but for this time we’ll focus on the title track that finishes the journey and perfectly displays the album’s most cherished qualities. The song is particularly successful at evoking a truly otherworldly and epic feeling, like the Lovecraftian encounter with forces beyond humanity, and is bookended by a theme as simple as it is iconic and effective.  

Regarding simplicity and complexity, we should take some preliminary notes on this topic that is much discussed but also frequently misunderstood. Usually, “complexity” seems to be equated with difficulty to play, which naturally correlates with a series of metrics such as speed, quantity of notes and how exotic the chords or scales are. This only refers, however, to one particular facet of complexity, certainly applicable to much of the music of Mozart or works like “Obscura” by Gorguts. By contrast, musically minimalistic pieces like Burzum’s “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” present another type of difficulty: because they are so elusively “simple” and made out of very few musical elements, each and every note must be pondered over with exhaustive care since any little mistake would be impactful, whereas in a more “technical” piece, one slight mistake here and there might not be as damaging or noticeable.

The same could be said of the introductory riff for Asphyx’s “The Rack”; it’s one of those chord progressions that simply “work” intuitively. The fact that it’s played so slowly seems to emphasize how each chord has an adequate placement and any tiny misstep would ruin the flow of the melody. In fact, one of the aspects in which Asphyx particularly excel in this album is precisely the construction of “catchy” and evocative doom passages and their purposeful integration in the death metal framework.

The song starts with the main sequence of notes, entirely played on the sixth string of the guitar, that are then converted into powerful power chords rooted in the previous notes, while the rest of the instruments join the song. This is, again, one of those simple tricks that nonetheless communicate exactly what they need to, in this case, the transition between the introduction of a theme and its imponent affirmation. The slow pace allows for the filthy guitar noise from each strum to be fully absorbed by the listener.

The same chords are then played through quick palm muted downpicking on a single string, except that each of them is repeated several times before moving on to the next, creating a ringing, insistent effect that is made more crushing by the choice of particularly powerful power chords such as the G chord that starts it. Interestingly, at the end of this section, the melody’s last three chords are played again at normal speed and without repetition, exactly as they were introduced, as if to contextualize this palm muted passage within the overall momentum of the intro. This is a perfect example of the “complex simplicity” we’ve alluded to. Notice how much movement and dynamics are extracted by the variations within a single sequence of notes, to the point of creating its own mini-narrative. The fact that it’s the same chords that are simply arranged and rearranged in different manners lends a sense of fluidity to the music, as if it’s all emanating from the same origin.

All of this makes for an appropriately imposing and mighty overture that sets the tone for what’s to come. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to place this introductory riff on the pantheon of death metal’s most iconic and evocative passages.

As expected from a song harmonizing elements from both death metal and doom metal, the introduction gives way to a faster riff (let’s call it A, not counting the intro) that stately and dramatically cuts with the previous section and sets in motion a sequence of riffs in constant mutation. Its basis is the alternation between a higher pitched note and G before lowering to D-flat and G-flat and then briefly playing a series of notes. A is succeeded by palm muted riff B, which prepares for the blast-beat section that follows, defined by the two duelling riffs seemingly fighting for the control of the song’s direction. The same technique we noted in the intro is used here: The chords that make up the first blast-beat coated riff (B1) are rooted in B’s notes and played in the same order. A returns as if to reinstate order after the blasting chaos and is followed by two new riffs (D and E) that add further dynamics to the song structure. E begins by alternating between power chords and the E note, providing an effect similar to riff A, until the power chords dominate and develop into riff E, which consists in the same chords played in new configurations. We return to A, which by this point has become a bridge riff serving as connective tissue between the different sections of the song. From there, the previous sequence is repeated in a shorter reprise, with each riff being played fewer times or only once, in a sort of synthesis of the whole song until now. Thus, while said sequence could be considered an exposition, where riffs and their interactions are presented for the first time and repeated in order to allow the listener to familiarize himself with them and absorb the ambiance in motion; this shorter passage serves as a recap, wasting no time on the rumination of information that’s already been given. This is actually a well-known hallmark of classical music in sonata form: a recapitulation provides a straightforward summary of the exposition, although some composers develop it further by adding new themes or even a secondary exposition.

The song structure could thus be represented as such:

Intro, A, B, B1, C, B1, C, A, D, E, A, B, B1, C, Outro (Reprise of the Intro).

The overture is then played again. This is a perennial technique: the reprise of an earlier theme after many other events have taken place, leading us to see it in a new light, like a traveller returning home from an adventure with new knowledge and perhaps an entirely renewed worldview allowing him to see the old sights from a more complete and profound perspective. This time, the riff is accompanied by excellently placed choir synthesisers that lend heightened drama to the theme and offer an atmosphere simultaneously ethereal and ominous. The lyrics describe the character’s dark fate in a torture chamber, with medieval imagery and grotesque detail both typical of much of death metal, and it is reasonable to interpret this coda as the passage to the other side, as terrifying as it is transcendent, and the meeting with the forces of the otherworld and afterlife.