Рожь (Rye) – В​с​ё (Review)

This is the second album from Рожь (otherwise known as Rye), a one-man post-black metal band from Russia.

Across 47 minutes В​с​ё provides a compelling and utterly absorbing journey into dark feelings and blackened emotion. Honestly, this is not one to miss if you enjoy highly emotive blackened immersion.

The music is heavily atmospheric and every second of В​с​ё drips with texture and detail. The music combines atmospheric black metal with elements of drone, ambient, folk, and doom to produce a post-blackened soundscape that’s remarkably well-realised and fully formed. This is not an album of hooks and instant appeal, but rather one of rich immersive atmosphere and entrancing creative worldbuilding.

В​с​ё is the aural equivalent of feeling awe and wonder inspired by the natural world. The artist behind Рожь achieves this via a range of styles and sounds, from aggressive black metal fury through to ambient choral drone. This latter aspect of the music is well-represented across the album, giving it a spacious quality that’s immersive and evocative. Mostly it’s embedded within a blackened framework, but at other times it’s left to roam entirely in its own. A great example of the latter is the purely ambient folk track Трехногая слава, which makes you feel like you’re witnessing something truly incredible that’s rarely seen in the real world. As someone who generally regards tracks like this as filler at best, it’s a striking achievement.

The artist behind Рожь has created a captivating experience for the listener to lose themselves in. В​с​ё is the sort of alluring record that draws the listener in close and envelopes them in rich waves of emotive sound. It’s as impressive as it is affecting.

If you’re a fan of anything black/doom/folk, then В​с​ё is an essential listen.