Gaerea – Coma (Review)

This is the fourth album from Portuguese black metallers Gaerea.

Ever since I first heard 2018’s Unsettling Whispers Gaerea have stood out to me as something pretty special. In 2020 Limbo solidified this opinion, and then in 2022 Mirage cemented this further. In fact, my appreciation of Mirage has only increased since catching the band’s transcendental live experience at this year’s fantastic Fortress Festival. I have high hopes for Coma.

But wait, there’s a potential fly in the ointment. With a promo blurb that essentially seems to be saying that Coma is different in nature to its predecessors, what does this mean for the Gaerea of 2024? Have the band abandoned the very things that made them so good for some newer direction? Let’s find out.

Fear not sweet mortal, for Coma finds Gaerea’s sound still acting as the core of the band’s style, only now it has been expanded to include newer elements. Coma offers up an exquisitely crafted brand of modern black metal, rich in melodic depth, atmospheric presence, and emotive expression. It’s great to have new Gaerea material, especially as it’s so darkly luscious and expansive.

As mentioned, the Gaerea sound has been broadened in scope. There are clean vocals for a start, as well as affecting keyboards, a post-black metal influence, some progressive flourishes, and even a touch of post-hardcore in places. All of which are deployed at key points across the album, making for Gaerea’s most diverse and multifaceted record yet. I like that it all feels like a seamless and natural progression in sound though, rather than anything just tacked on for the sake of it. It works.

On Coma Gaerea’s music is more layered than ever, and boasts a production that really lets the music breathe and shine with dark lustre. The melodies are infectious and impactful, while the distortion is both harsh and inviting. Step into Gaerea’s world, and become embraced in a whirlwind of feeling and aggressive catharsis.

Coma is a furnace of aggression and beauty. Blinding rage and heartfelt melancholy war with furious passion, as sheets of blackened malevolence battle with shimmering rays of resplendent light. It’s a conflict with no resolution, as both aspects balance each other out, resulting in a collection of songs that take strengths from both brutal heaviness and airy fragility.

The promo blurb had me worried, but I shouldn’t have been. Coma is Gaerea, only more so. Bigger, more confident, and with a more varied musical palette, Coma is hideously strong. It’s a contemporary exploration of extreme metal born of black metal’s dark heart. Ranging from the soft and ethereal to the harsh and merciless, throughout it all there’s a rich thread of melancholic emotion that never fails to move. Gaerea’s new record is a triumph.

Essential listening.