So Igorrr is this French dude Gautier Serre who basically took every genre you can think of and threw it in a blender with some baroque music and black metal. The guy’s been doing this whole experimental thing since 2006, combining everything from breakcore to operatic vocals to traditional folk music. What started as a solo project named after his pet gerbil (with an extra “r” because why not make it harder to pronounce) eventually became a full band. Dude even had a chicken named Patrick that “played” piano by pecking at keys with food on them, which should tell you everything about what you’re getting into here.
Spirituality and Distortion from 2020 is probably their most cohesive album yet, which is saying something considering it’s still completely bonkers. The whole thing feels like the soundtrack to some post-apocalyptic world where fragments of different cultures survived and got mashed together. You’ve got traditional Middle Eastern vibes mixed with death metal breakdowns, baroque compositions sitting next to 8-bit electronics, and operatic singing layered over blast beats. The standout tracks here are “Himalaya Massive Ritual” and “Paranoid Bulldozer Italiano”, the first one takes you on this massive journey through different musical landscapes, while the second perfectly captures that classic Igorrr flavor of classical music meeting extreme metal. “Parpaing” features Cannibal Corpse’s George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher doing his thing over 8-bit sounds, which sounds ridiculous but somehow works.
The album runs over an hour and manages to keep your attention throughout, which is impressive considering how much ground it covers. It’s more focused than their previous stuff but still maintains that element of surprise that makes Igorrr special. If you’re looking for something that’ll completely mess with your expectations of what music can be, this is your gateway drug into experimental metal. It’s accessible enough for newcomers but deep enough to keep longtime fans happy, and honestly, there’s nothing else quite like it out there.