Outre : " Ghost Chants"

The album is aptly titled in some sense as all the clean vocals are chanted. These guys are really into Death Spell Omega, so much so I had to start listening for all the ways they did not sound like them than looking for the influence that is worn on their sleeve. The dissonance might be borrowed from Deathspell Omega and there is also the way they let their chords ring out can also reek o that influence as well.Deathspell are great musicians so if you can cop their sound you can play, but what else can you do is the most important thing we are going to be asking here. On "Shadow" which is really the first real song on the album after the lead in it's the vocals that set them apart. They are layered really well. Sometimes its the hints of post- rock in the guitar melody and the way the drums back off a tad to accent it that let us hear who the real Outre is. The vocals are really fantastic as there is a wide range of sounds from low growls  to croaks to the more sung vocals . So King Diamond might also be an influence.

Its when they go for the more straight up black metal sound that they bore me a little because I know they can do more than this and it feels like it's obligatory. I find myself checked out midway into the song. Normally i can write and do other things and the music will still make me aware of it and hold me in they start to lose me on "the Fall".  I find myself back listening to "Lament". The blasts have a better effect here as all the emphasis is not placed on them.But I am not hooked in for the entire song, once they numb you out with obnoxious blasting I start checking out even though it is so abrasive you can not be aware of it. "Equilibrium" is darker and more melodic so that wins me over as well as the clean vocal chants all of which combine have a chilling effect, this is similar to what they do on the first "song", but this feels more like a song where the other I consider just an intro.

The pace picks up without resorting to blast beating off on"Vengeance". This song has a commanding drive. They can not resist the need to blast which they hold off on for the first minute. So the remaining hope for this album was laying on "Arrival" to sway me in a more positive direction. The song proved to be more sonic and they got out of habit of just beating you over the head with blast beats. Though they slip some in. I am still on the fence. I'll give it a 7.5 and make it earn an 8 if it grows on me I'm not rushing to get it off my iPod so we shall see. If you read elsewhere that these guys are re-inventing black metal, don't believe another word you read on that blog.