It seems odd to release a black metal album this late in the year, but here we are. This Atmospheric project from Australia is a one-man band not unlike Burzum. Sonically different than Burzum, though perhaps more in ocmmon with Burzum's earlier work as it shares a similar anger. Though not as chilling or cold as what Varg used to do. There is a shimmer in the buzzing wall of tremolo picking that hints at black gaze leanings, though the overall mood is more rage motivated. That is even with the theme of this album being an exploration of death, this wall of buzzsaw shimmer worked for me on the first song, but when they try to go to the same well twice it is not as effective. It begins to sound like the same song, even though marginally more symphonic in scope. You can hear the guitars shift chords slightly, but it is more a opaque wall of sound.
Going into the third song I am going to need more in the way of dynamics. There is more of a change here, but it still works off the same feel, making this begin to become a one trick pony. Why the time we get to the title track this uniform sounds is really making things just run together and hard to tell the songs, apart. You will have some cvltists , who are going to say "What you can't here the changes, how into black metal are you. And yes, the title track does change once you get to the midway point then it is back to more of the same. I would say the title track finds the songwriting beginning to move in a direction I want it to, over all this seems to be more of a matter of sound over songs. Writing melodic, dynamic songs is the bare minimum you need to create lasting music that matter. Then the question becomes what is being done to separate yourself from other artists who are also doing that within the same genre, which is a talk many of these bands are not ready to have.,
"the Passing" is the first song that is really successful in stepping away from the buzz of guitars to do this. Not sure why he had to wait five songs in to do it, but we made it here, so I am thankful for that. The last song finds a more traditional black metal path being raged into. There are some great sounds being captured here, but as far as the overall depth of mood and dynamics go it often falls short so I will give this album an 8. Very proficient and good and what he does, what he does just happens to be shining of one star. This was released on Seasons of Mist.
Leap day makes this the last day of Black Metal History Month. It is sad that is has to end, even though after 29 days of black metal all blast beats were beginning to sound the same to me. So to ease your sadness I am posting the Top 10 Depressive Suicidal Black Metal albums. Of all time...I can't speak to that since all time has not come to an end yet, but I can say these are albums that I have listened to a lot and I find have the qualities I want out of the sub-genre, which is my favorite black metal sub-genre. It's low on the corpse paint and high on emotion.
10- Nocturnal Depression - Near to the Stars
I was hopeful when I came across the new one by France's Nocturnal Depression. France normally makes some pretty quality metal. This band has been around for ten years and this album is it's 6th full length. Two of the three members of this project preformed live with Make a Change Kill Yourself.. which is high pedigree when it comes to this sub genre.The production is why it's at the bottom of the heap. This album is a very dynamic addition to the genre and it hits all the marks you need from this sort of thing.
9-Woods of Desolation - "Torn Beyond Reason"
Australia was once killing it when it came to depressive metal. This is not our first time with these guys as I reviewed there last album "As the Stars" , but in looking back in anger at some older depressive suicidal releases, this one is often thought of as the band at their peak. The screams paved the way for similar patterns that Deafheaven would later follow.
8-Wedard"Wo die Ewigkeit die Zeit berührt"
This might come closer to being a post-rock album, if it was not for the weird vocals that sounds like they were recorded from beneath a sheet of ice while the screams of agony bubbled up, as the singer drowned.Has sounds of nature to back up this theory. The clean guitar tone is center stage and they do not go to blast beats as their default mode. They do pick up the pace as the album progresses and this is sometimes done with double bass and almost punkish beats.
7-Xasthur - Portal of Sorrow"
The final album by this project, which might paint frowns on some as it's not the first album of the most overlooked album, but it is more fully realized and sounds better production wise than the bulk of the Xasthur catalogue which goes a long way in my book because it means you care about the songs. It's more like listening to a symphonic work that plays of themes rather than an album of songs, but the sound captured here are pretty incredible.
6-Weakling -"Dead As Dreams"
A band out of San Francisco that is one American black metal band that really got it right in a big way. Dispirit is really the only active metal band of note that bears former members though one of these guys have also played with the Fucking Champs.They are one of the most straight up metal bands on this list but I believe they still earn their spot here by the mood this album captures.
5-Coldworld - "Melancholie"
This album came out in 2008 and has the thundering momentum you want from more traditional black metal coupled with more atmospheric elements like clean vocals and odd little electronic flourishes. The guitar might fly with a metallic buzz when they are going full blast, but when the songs break down into the more melodic sections the tone is pretty chilling. Vocally you can hear where this influenced Deafheaven's singer, who name drops this band often. Though the vocals here are more varied than what Deafheaven does sometimes going into more of a croak.
4-Lifelover- "Sjukdom"
The final album by a band that didn't play by the traditional black metal rules and sometimes made me wonder if they were black metal at all. However they still earned their place to be thought of as legends when it comes to this genre and this album is next to perfect with a wide dynamic range.
3- An Autumn For Crippled Children- "Everything"
These guys are now off in some other dark post-rock thing, this album still had post- rock elements but was more firmly rooted in this genre they beat out Lifelover on the basis that I still listen to the album more than Lifelover and it really has stood up to the test of time even if that test has so far only
been five years
.
2-Totalselfhatred - "Apocalypse In Your Heart" -
It was hard to pick between this one and their first album. This 2011 album might not be as depressive, it is one of the heaviest on here and also sounds but it sounds better than the self titled. The guitar playing rules pretty hard on this one, so hard until It's hard to argue against these guys, I wish they would put out another album.
1-Shining: "the Eerie Cold"
There last two albums don't even seem like they are from the same band since they began getting into death and roll, still one of my favorite bands ever and the guitar playing on this album is the only soulful shred that can stand up to Totalselfhatred when it comes to this genre. These guys won out because I think this album just defines the genre better.
Australia was once killing it when it came to depressive metal. This is not our first time with these guys as I reviewed there last album "As the Stars" , but in looking back in anger at some older depressive suicidal releases, this one is often thought of as the band at their peak. These guys have a very sonic tone that races off right out of the gate. While clean singing gets a lot of flack from the modern metal community , but it is the saving grace of the second song, as it helps offer a guide post to set it aside from the title track that opens this album. These guys are great at what they do and the drummer gets props for not relying on blast beats. The clean vocals are executed in a manner much like Agalloch. They keep things brisk and not unlike other Australian bands of this ilk are not afraid to let the drummer just run with it. By the fourth song I found myself getting a little lost and some of this has to do with the pacing and how they let this album runaway. This almost creates one massive wall of sound they songs are all slapped against. They are wise to start slowing things down on the"Inevitable End" to draw some clearer lines between the songs.
"November" finds them touching the shoe gaze heavens way before Deafheaven. The acoustic guitar strum leading into the big build really helps to put the song on its own two feet. The albums best song " Somehow " closes the album. The Agalloch like clean vocals lead into the song. They are somber where the chord structure is brighter. The screams paved the way for similar patterns that Deafheaven would later follow. This ends with a emotive sonic sweet spot that the band hits.I'll round this one up to a 9 since that is what their last album got and I think this one is comparable.
The colder it gets out side the more black metal I want to listen, so its surprisings this rather frosty blast of cascadian black metal comes from Australia, On their third full length the project has matured to achieve a much fuller sound.They are not merely trying to recapture Transylvanian Hunger here, but have captured a hypnotic drone, more like Deafheaven, but carrying more majesty in their metal mesmerism.
The album still retains the raw sound of their early work, but they have expanded the dynamic range of the guitar which reaches for more of a shimmer on songs like "Unfold". At times this more expansive focus on the guitar comes with the sacrifice of the vocals, that in turn get buried into the music. The vocals when they become audible sometimes take on more of a Bathory or Mayhem like quality falling somewhere between a gurgle and a drunken roar, which is a needed change of pace to keep them from becoming Deafheaven clones.
The sonic growth this project has made sometimes requires furthering listening to soak in. "And if All the Stars Faded Away" the pace slows and the guitar takes on a jangle of delay and octave chords before throwing the songs final minutes in a bath of blasty mcnasty. They charge forward with a heavier attack on "This Autumn Light" , which is more straight forward and less apologetic to being metal.
There is surprising groove to "Anamnesis" that is not unlike some of the more recent Enslaved, though without the prog leanings.The album's greatest strength the is range of moods presented and sonic colors these songs are painted with.Even the vocals vary their harsh approach slightly from song to song, taking on a more desperate snarl on "Withering Field".
The albums closes out on the triumphant blast beats that swell up at the end of "Withering Field" but this seems a well earned outburst after the journey this album has taken us on. I'll give this album a 9, it was a pleasant surprise and provided a perfect balance of being heavy sonically as well as being heavy metal.
