They are back to hammer your ears as the defenders of what true Norweigan Black Metal should be. This lineup has been intact since 2001, so they've had nothing but time to perfect their purist definition of black metal that benefits from hooky songwriting without compromising the grimness. There are more deliberate moments on this album that succeed in being aggressive and dark without hitting you with a wall of blast beats.'"Ash of Ages" works off more of a gallop than a throb like an opener. People whine about sub-genres, but I do not think anyone could classify what these guys do as anything aside from black metal. This does not mean that I am not open to bands deviating from what is done here, I think what these guys do is just very clearly defined, almost like being the AC/DC of black metal.
The vocals sit at the front of the mix and drums thunder from the background. I appreciate the darker tones lurking within "Shadow Point", I was about to comment on how impressive it is that this album is not driven by blast beasts and carried by very deliberate riffs, and then they bring the obligatory blasty mc nasty for "Inferior Pathways" . It feels just as rushed as any other band that does this sort of thing. While it sounds better when I re-listen to it through headphones where it is more apparent you are being hit by a denser wall of sound. The fact is after the first three songs it sounds like they are taking the easy way out. They remedy this on the "Inner Portal", as a more powerful riff pushes this song forward.
They hammer your ears pretty hard on "The Vessel and the Storm", but it is almost too pummelling for the hooks to catch you on first listen as they are subtle. There is more technical prowess displayed in "Obscura" but the vocals do not seem to be as purposeful as they were earlier in the album. Some of this is because their syncopation seems chaotic against the main riff. They find a better balance to create a majestic groove on 'Fatalist' to close out the album. They continue to expand their sound which is something to be celebrated, I will give this album a 9. This is going to drop October 4th
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