SVNTH : "Spring in Blue"

Going into this album I though this Italian band was just going to be riding the Deafheaven band wagon as the post part what given the emphasis. Normally I am a hard sell on instrumentals , but the first song here is one and I liked it . When vocals do come in on the second song , it feels like a mix of sludge and black metal. It is not until mid wya into the song that the fera exposion of a more blackened sound erupts. They are very dynamic and have shifted the mood three times in this song. The doomy sounds returning. Variations of doom open "Parallel Layers" before ebbing down into the most surreal sounds of what most might cal post rock, though there is very little in common with Deafheaven until the speed up coming out of this space. The vocals are more organic it their rasp and these guys have a dirtier sound. I normally do not like long songs, but these guys use their 11 minutes wisely.

Just like the other songs there is a lot going on with " Wings of  the Ark" . Jazz inflected guitar and some really beautifully nuanced playing  that is captured very organically considering the raw edge to this mix. At over fourteen minutes " Chaos Spiral in Reverse" is the albunm's longest song. It starts off very noisy. In fact the first minute cut have been edited out. They get more feral in the black metal attack on this one. I think the fact many of the tones they use are not conventional black metal sounds making them not fit neatly into the expectations of mainstream metal. They ony stay in this black metal mode maybe a few minutes in before exploring clean tones. The guitars are well layered. The guitar solo on this song is really great as it balances melody and shred. Bt the end of the song they have descended more into what you expect from black metal sonically.

The last song is 13 minute. It has more tremolo tension. While I feel they make a more honest stab in the direction of black metal due to the raw nature of what they do, I doubt they are going to be winning over your average fan of black metal. I like the tension in the riffs of the last song, but by the time you get to the end they have shown you all their cards and no surprises to be had. The only unexpected moment is the 80s guitar sound when they go into a Police like riff. The vocals also drop down into a more death metal like growl.  I will give this album a 9, rounding it down due to the fact I can see where the length of some of the songs might keep me from listening to it as much as if they were half the length.