This is the second album from US solo black metal band Ushangvagush.
Ushangvagush is an indigenous black metal project that channels a range of influences into a single 46-minute song, (chopped into two tracks for physical media). It’s an album of depth and substance, one that’s richly rewarding for those initiated in the ways of underground black metal.
Pestmo’qon is a record that’s formidable in its presentation Initially seeming to offer little but shades of nightmare to terrify the unwary and unworthy, if you can withstand its murderously malevolent gaze, this is an album that connoisseurs of the blackened style could lose themselves in quite readily.
Pestmo’qon is a dark and uncompromising work. It’s a flailing maelstrom of tooth and claw, delivering savage intensity with a deadly presence. However, the music’s brutal blackened aggression is gracefully shot through with moments of soaring resplendence and spacious mood, making for a more nuanced experience than you might first think.
The style of Pestmo’qon is one that lurks somewhere in the hinterlands between atmospheric and dissonant black metal, with occasional forays into the bordering ambient, melodic, punk, and post- territories. It’s swathed in raw, underground darkness, and has a character that’s as bleak as it is potent.
This is black metal that’s richly atmospheric, but with a harsh, near-chaotic edge. The music’s raw abrasive hostility that stalks with predatory lethality is one that can also be immersive and expansive. The densely fierce music allows for the creation of dark soundscapes that enhance the aggression in unexpected and affecting ways. It is music that can punish and terrorise one moment, only to introduce an emotive quality the next that’s absorbing in its completeness.
Devastatingly venomous, occasionally uplifting, and always compelling, Pestmo’qon is the sort of album that you should absolutely be listening to if you’re a fan of high quality black metal art.
Very highly recommended.
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Wonderbox Metal 