Eigenlicht – Self-Annihilating Consciousness (Review)

This is the debut album from US black metal band Eigenlicht.

Majestic and ethereal, esoteric and occult, expansive and exploratory…all of these words and many more can easily be used to describe the music on Self-Annihilating Consciousness. This is atmospheric black metal that truly is all of those things and so much more.

Richly endowed with a texture and depth that many bands would kill for, this is a multifaceted and finely-realised musical journey down lesser travelled paths. The grand, epic songs unfold with stately grace and detailed substance. This is a band that mixes black, doom, avant-garde, and post-metal together easily and without any form of compunction. It should be noted, however, that those genre tags don’t do justice to the material on Self-Annihilating Consciousness at all. It’s shocking how effortless and outright exceptional this album simply is.

The songs on this release are very well-composed heavy-hitters, designed to wring out every last drop of emotional engagement form the listener. Each one is a mini-epic, painting a very individual blackened tapestry that qualifies as a minor masterpiece in its own right.

This is not casual music, recorded for transitory listeners to consume hurriedly and then move on to the next newest thing. No, this is long-lasting music, recorded for people who love to become enthralled by a quality piece of work, one which reveals itself slowly over the course of a long span of time, shedding its secrets gradually and with much reward.

A piece of black metal art.