Numenorean : " Home"

This album appeared to hold the promise of being the depressive black metal I was looking for. It did open up with crying which is always a good sign. The vocals carry a pained whine that echoes out into the distance. There are blast beaten sections and atmospheric sections. The sweeping guitars that injected what all assume to be the shoe gaze like influence into this music. Granted Deafheaven earned the biggest name for themselves but combining the two and Alcest let go of the metal all together so here we are with these guys.The nine minute title track that opens this album flows through the range of dynamics we have now come to take for granted in this brand of black metal. My only complaint coming out of the first song is that it could have been darker. Like the midget in Twin Peaks' Black Lodge, I want all your pain and suffering. As some one with a mental illness, you can not fake your funk with me.  So maybe these guys just need to develop a drug habit.


The second song confirms that they are really good at the one thing they do, but I do not hear anything that wasn't already done on the first song. So I get my hopes up for "Shoreless" , but alas it proves only to be an intro for "Devour" that hits a little harder when coming back into the fray from the post-rock interlude. It's a harder and angrier take on the range of dynamics they displayed on the first song, but no depression being expressed. At over 12 minutes they have enough time to explore a pretty wide range of dynamics. The last minute of which is wasted with ambiance that doesn't really add anything to the song. The opening guitar tone of "Laid Down" suggests a more introspective indie rock like post-vibe as it rips into blasting. When they come out of the blast and into the heavier chug its much more effective , but this doesn't stop them from going back into the blast for better or worse. I like the riff that comes at the four minute mark. Like the other more sprawling songs there is still a little fat that could have been trimmed here and there. There is also a cool breakdown where the bass comes more prominent, I'll give this album an 8.5 as it's  well executed and sounds great, fans of Deafheaven looking for an entry point to take them further into real metal will find this to be an easy transition.