Review by Dominik on September 17, 2025.

If I had to pin Membaris down with just two words, they would be "endurance" and "perseverance". For over twenty years the band has been hovering in that strange twilight zone where the motto seems to be "almost there", "just shy of a breakthrough", or "you can hear the talent, but…". They seem always circling the gates of greatness, never quite storming through. The band has consistently shown promise, but I've long felt that Membaris lacks that elusive "something" that would push their records over my personal threshold of 80/100, which separates a "good" record from a "must-hear" category.

"Black Plasma Armour" doesn't break the pattern, until, disturbingly, it does. This is one of those rare albums in my collection that constantly drives me to the brink of madness. Few albums I recall swing so wildly between "is this mediocre?" and "holy hell, this is brilliant". On Monday it feels run-of-the-mill, and I shrug it off. On Tuesday I wonder how I could have missed the inspired passages tucked inside the songs and am floored by sections I swear I hadn't heard before. By Wednesday I'm not even sure I listened to the same record at all. If that sounds confusing, it's because it is, and that's part of the charm, or maybe the curse. If nothing else, Membaris has found a way to make gaslighting into an art form.

Let me start with the easy part: the songs that impressed me right away. "Onwards To The Last Blink Of Reason" stands out immediately. The bass around the 1:40 mark rumbles in a way that recalls Bölzer, giving the track extra weight and reminds you that string instruments can sound like wild animals when handled correctly. The music mirrors its bleak lyrics, surging forward with manic aggression before pulling back into melodic reprieves. These are brief moments where the listener can reflect on the insignificance of human existence. Midway through, clean vocals appear, quoting Schopenhauer, before the song crashes back into urgency. It's a convincing mix of madness and philosophy, in other words: pure black metal existentialism. Probably just what your therapist warned you about.

"N.O.V.A." is another highlight, and the only song performed in German, which makes everything sound ten times more accusatory. At nine minutes, it's a beast of shifting dynamics. The opening minutes are relentless, building like there's no tomorrow, before slowing into a riff that oscillates between reflective and accusing. A short acoustic interlude interrupts the flow, only for the band to slam the gas again. The vocals follow suit, switching between despairing shrieks and guttural growls, painting a picture of someone screaming at the universe, then immediately realizing the universe doesn't care. Which is, of course, very German. Towards the end the song winds down in a doomy crawl. Think of it as the apocalypse in acts.

"Threshold Of Dystopia" lives up to what the title promises. The band sounds as though they're standing at the edge of a collapsing world, peering into the abyss of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Especially the vocal performance is gripping. It moves between hopelessness, frustration, and despair. Both musically and lyrically, it's easy to immerse yourself in this vision of ruin, and Membaris nail the atmosphere completely. So far, so good. But "Black Plasma Armour" also challenges me in ways that are less pleasant.

The title track, which also opens the record, is a prime example. My first thought was "utterly unpredictable". Which sounds like a compliment—after all, nobody wants predictable black metal and to die of boredom. But here, unpredictability often feels like incoherence. It is less creative freedom and more like a drunk driver behind the wheel. The blasting sections work well enough, but the slower parts break the flow and feel stapled on. At the 4:24 mark, a bass solo jumps in from nowhere, without a clear purpose and vision. It is followed by acoustic plucking and spoken words. While each piece might work on its own, together they feel like mismatched puzzle parts forced into the same frame.

"Poet Of Fire" leaves me with similar frustration. It starts promising, but then a short acoustic fragment battles with aggression. In that moment it feels more like two tracks awkwardly stitched together than one unified composition. The tremolos sometimes drift into generic territory. The varied vocal tones—clean vocals, followed by a more imploring, desperate, and everything in between pitch—are strong, but they can't disguise the lack of cohesion.

And that's really the story of "Black Plasma Armour". There are moments of brilliance, and then there are moments where the band's ambition makes them stumble. Membaris keep circling greatness without quite landing on it. Still, I have to admire their stubbornness. After twenty years, they're still writing, experimenting, and refusing to play it safe. I genuinely hope their next release converts me into a fully-fledged disciple. Membaris deserve that much.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10, because my verdict changes more often than the weather forecast. And the album knows it.

Review by Maciek on March 12, 2013.

I've read comparisons to Death and Cynic in few reviews for this album. I would probably add some Pestilence between "Testimony Of The Ancients" and "Spheres". So these are the basic similarities which first come to mind.

The growling is a little lower than in all those mentioned and sometimes you can hear harmonies similar to Behemoth when it comes to mixing growling with clean vocals, done quite well. All tracks here are compositions quite complex, mixing many styles and melody lines. Thanks to musical skills of guitarists and bassist you can also hear many calmer passages which definitely remind of Death, especially last album. Guitarists use even the same guitar effect during some of their solos, but there is a solid amount of harmonies used in Cynic. It seems France is quite good place to produce bands which like to experiment (I'm still waiting for Symbyosis to wake up from hiatus, Misanthrope is also good example). And because of the mixture of various tempos and musical styles this is not the album to be fully heard for the first time. I just realized that quite similar effort was made by Polish band Sceptic, so if anyone likes this kind of metal mash, this is a position I would strongly recommend. Is this album lacking anything? Bearing in mind that it's the band's first full album this is definitely a successful attempt to record such complicated material. And I guess if you have so many ideas for riffs and compositions, the choice to choose the right ones and melt them together in one album is a hell of a challenge. I would personally prefer to hear more catchy passages and some riffs were just screaming to me "we are the perfect background for an awesome solo!!!", but the solo was not there. And definitely musicians need more courage in using some elements which are used just once or appear for a tiny amount of time as if the band wasn't sure if it sounds good.

Piano in 'Everywhere Of Nowhere'? Yes, perfect choice. Keyboards in 'One Day'? Awesome. But leaves an unsatisfied hunger. It's like eating just one Twix or watching "Flash Forward". But I definitely look forward to their next album and hope there will be more.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 10
Originality: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 9 out of 10