Black History Month- Merrimack : "Of Grace and Gravity"

 

The last album we reviewed by these guys was back in 2012. For a French band, they are less experimental and more in your face with a second wave of raw ripping anger, that has not mellowed with age. The second song has a more deliberate throbbing, but they are never far from lashing out with a blast beat. There is more nuance, and the creeping hints of eerie melody continue to haunt their sound. This darker sense of melody is laced with even more sinister intentions with "Dead and Distant Clamors". More of a waltz runs through the heart of the song. This allows a romantic darkness to emanate from the song.

It is not a mystery that six albums into their career they are going to have the sound they want nailed down. The guitar melody that slithers through "Wounds That Heal' shows they have fine tuned their songwriting prowess over the years. The more venomous sonic battery they are prone to accelerate things into generally works, but I can not help but feel at this point with any black metal band it has grown obligatory. Here is the tug of war most metal bands find themselves in no matter the sub-genre, to be true to the cultish adoration of these sounds birthed from nostalgia or strike out into new places? They play it a little safe, which is what most black metal bands seem to be doing these days. Sure there is an excursion into almost doomy passages on this song, but that is still not far removed from where they were already heading. It does paint a nice backdrop for the guitar solo to drop into. 

I think where they really excel as a band is when they strike off into even deeper darkness on "Starving Crowns". Sure the bulk of the song might be devoid of blast beats, but I think the willingness to do something different should be at the heart of all black metal rather than conforming to tradition. When they do go into a blast beat it works better because there are dynamics at play. They are back to blasting basics on 'Under the Aimless Spheres".The last song has more of a sonic ring to it which is more interesting than just playing heavy metal. Arrangement-wise however it works off more of a drone, before going into the obligatory blast. I will give this album an 8.5, fans of the band should be pleased as they continue to bring the kind of fury they are hoping for, 

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Merrimack: the Acausal Mass

Celtic for hell pit the band lives up to its name,as it seethes with darkness, the must sweat black when they launch into their mc blast offs, the tormented vocal gurgle spewed forth.
The French five piece has been around since 1995 in one form or another but this is only it,s fourth full length.

It opens with straight ahead black blast of velocity with some haunting tinges a
round it's frayed edges,The drumming even in the spastic blasting sections is very precise,songs like "Gospel of the Void" Slayer influence cn be heard, so Dave Lombardo worship might be e source of this attention to detail here. Like Slayer the opportunities taken to slow down the tempo add to the creep factor,I have always adhered to the fact Slayer's serial killer love letters are their best works. they tend to not keep their blast up for longer than two minutes which is timed just right for my threshold hold of such a straight ahead sound and then it blurs in hyborean ambiance.

The second song leads in with a tempo change, a more comfortable grasp on atmospherics and their lead shred down scale patterns with mores skill than howling wind,which in somes ways this album feels like but what howling wind was trying to accomplish . As a whole has a more melodic temperment. By the third song they are eager to get back to the blast.i think this was done to more effectiveness on the opening number,they relent at the two minute mark far the guitar chords to ring out in a similar manner to how w again gives you the feeling you are floating away on a viking pyre during "Waters of Ain'. The solos are once again superlative because how many black metal bans aside from immortal and emperor have guitarists that can really shred the house down.

The band captures and executes their sound perfectly, the variations are primarily tempo changes for dynamic, with about three speeds,within that context the tones are hewn into stone, with little deviation in vocal of guitar tone. The seasons in the abyss moments are are constant them with back ground over dubs drifting into the background to create the sound track to relaxing boat ride down the river Styx.The rare mid tempo groove opening the song "Abortion light" is one of my favorite moments and as it later turns into verse like riff is wise songwriting in my book and overall makes it one of the albums best songs."Liminal matter corruption" also dabbles in this pace and has a very effective build.

The riffing on hypohanie goes into an apocalyptic gallop in the verse and the vocals begin to feel like more grimly gurgled Tom Warrior, so they have the classics covered with the Celtic Frost and Slayer, though no riff plagiarism , more of a feel thing, though it coud be argued sometimes this feels like a more thrashing Blut Aus Nord.
The only thing I can imagine burning this album out is also one of its strings parts is the hypnotic drone a lot of these songs take on a similar element found in Blut Aus Nord and Urfaust which make them better listens on my desk top while I'm writing late night than one the go metal , though in the winter months I like the drone,along with more Viking based metal.

It might change once my iPod subjects it to the test of time, but playing and melodic creepiness captured in the guitars earn this album an 8 out of ten, if you wanted to smash your Taake and Blut Aus Nord together like a Reese cup it would sound like this and taste pretty good.