Black Metal History Month- Escotrilihum :"Funeral"

 

This one man project from France is diving deeper into darkness. The review I read of this by one of my colleagues stated this to be more like Emperor, and aside from the synths I do not hear that kind of theatrical romanticism, but it does remind me of the Burzum come back albums, in the way it throbs. The second song has more of a black metal drive under it. The string synths are offering an interesting counterpoint to what is going on. I had to put head phones on before I heard the drums. The mix is murky but works for what is going on here. The use of sung vocals is a nice touch that offers more sonic choices.

 The third song is where the blasting begins to reach a fever pitch as the more black metal like intensity picks up. Coming out of the first assault  that hits the ears I can heard the symphonic moments that might bring Emperor comparisons, though Emperor is more complex. The more furious moments are less unique. Some times the vocals are reduced to a crazed gargle. When we delve further into the album there is more of a ritualistic chanted feel to the vocals with the harsher squawked vocals haunting the periphery. The hulk of the songs are over the 12 minute mark, which push the bounds of where the fat could be trimmed. 

"Aithaith" finds him speeding back in the direction of your a-typical black metal, it is not until he slows down and gives the riffs room to breath that it falls in place. He drops down into more death metal like gutturals here as well. The guitar melodies are well layered. Things get more melodic on the last song, which plays to the album's favor. The crazed random vocals  still haunt the the song and at almost 13 minutes there is a great deal of space to feel. They feel even less purposeful here. I do not mind harsh vocals despite preferring actual singing, I think there is a time and a place for them, but most important in pulling them off is the intention. This album goes blends a great mix of unsettling sounds and I would like to hear more metal taking chances like this so despite the spotty harsh vocals I will give this album an 8.5 .