Although this album actually came out last month, which I missed the news of. There has been a sort of fragmented release across formats thankfully bringing it to my attention, which I am very glad of.
1. Woods from Which the Spirits Once so Loudly Howled starts us off with some tormented screams, atmospheric as hell riffs and amazing drum work. The immediately huge soundscape of the band make them appealing from the very top. The melancholic clean guitar sections are beautiful but with the vocals sound really eerie, with the drums adding a level of uncertainty as to what will follow. The bombastic and actually very pleasant atmospherics come back with full force and beauty, the songwriting is absolutely stunning. The lead work is very well executed and the more aggressive later parts of the song tie things up very nicely, with some dissonance and depressive parts all thrown in. Absolutely brilliant opening song.
2. Black Satanic Glamour gives us a more classic Black Metal start with full paced assault, great riff work, blasting drums and killer vocals. The music is sombre but absolutely beautiful in the way walls of sound create impenetrable layers of absolutely gorgeous Black Metal. There is something about the sound that reminds me of Nargaroth, Burzum, and Horna, all bands who I enjoy. The way things are mixed and layered to create more like one soundscape rather than individual instruments sounds amazing.
3. Slaughter of the Medusa kicks straight into catchy old school Black Metal riffs with some lower growled vocals. The fast-tempo attack is marvellous, once again creating an atmosphere somehow both aggressive and peaceful. This has a more Dark Funeral vibe to the vocals, which sound absolutely awesome. The absolutely huge spectrums of sounds occurring regardless of the simplicity of the structures sounds wonderful and really demonstrates how Black Metal really rules when it comes to pulling off massively atmospheric songs. The sheer ferocious nature of this song is rather different to the first 2, adding a fascinating contrast, very nicely done. The slower parts have such punishing force to them, absolutely mesmerising. The final section is full of ambience and beauty, a really unexpected twist from what has so far been the most aggressive song, I am extremely impressed with all the unique twists this album has had to offer so far, I am aware we are only around halfway through, but that puts emphasis on my point more than anything. The very final section has the level of misanthropic attack I’d expect from Anaal Nathrakh, but following the more peaceful sections of this song caught me off guard, excellent stuff.
4. Feral Gates of Flesh uses plenty more melancholic sounding chords but in a really stunning way, creating a fast paced journey with the whole band into their amazing music. This is full of things that should appeal to various types of fans within the Black Metal subgenera from the huge atmospheres, the ambience, the depressive parts and also plenty of classic pure Black Metal assault too. The riffs themselves are really catchy and lovely to listen to, the vocals are absolutely full of passion and the drums cascade with impressive speeds but not obnoxiously over the other parts of the song. The song seems to come to an end, but does not in favour of tons more epic structures creating a phenomenal build up with a really elegance to it.
5. La nuit froide de l’oubli kicks us straight back in with more discordant and absolutely hypnotic riffs, this time much more old school in style but full of beauty all the same. The more upbeat style works very strongly for it, creating a really diverse soundscape and showing how advanced their ability to create atmospheres really is. This is absolutely haunting and chilling to listen to, I am incredibly knocked back by this. Amazing work once again.
6. Imperial Thanatosis is the final masterpiece of the album, it takes a much slower and more depressive approach but some certain underlying malice. Based on the first part, this is definitely more traditional for the genre and may appeal to more people to listen to first, but for me I think the album MUST be listened to as a whole piece for the full effect of the artists intent to work. The song once more kicks into the absolutely bombastic wide range of captivating music, and does so beautifully. The more dreary slow parts are absolutely catatonic and really stunning to listen to, with that the song once more drops into full assault with excellency. A wonderful closing piece.
This album is some of the best Black Metal to be released in 2018 so far, absolutely amazing stuff full of atmosphere and beauty. It has tons to offer and really should not be missed by anyone. -9/10
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