Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean (Review)

Schammasch are a black metal band from Switzerland and this is their fifth album.

I have been really excited to hear this one. I’ve been a big fan of everything I’ve heard from Schammasch; make sure you check out 2016’s Triangle and 2019’s Hearts of No Light, both of which are top tier records, and both of which placed on my end of year lists for 2016 and 2019. Interestingly though, The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is the spiritual follow up to Schammasch’s 2017 avant-garde EP The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite, making me even more interested to find out what this new opus had to offer.

Containing 51 minutes of music, The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is one of the shorter Schammasch albums. During this time though the band create worlds so detailed and immersive that most others seem barren and lifeless by comparison, no matter the length. Schammasch have undertaken their worldbuilding with skill and patience. Nothing feels rushed, and everything feels considered. It’s an avant-garde and progressive form of music that’s arisen from the ashes of black metal, complete with classical influences and Gothic touches. Post-black metal is an accurate term, but misleading, as The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean has a sound of its own.

The primary goal of this sort of music is atmosphere, and The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is awash with it. The songs are vast and melancholic. They are infused with power and weight of emotion, yet are also deft and graceful enough to provide the immense soundscapes with the depth of delivery and layered intricacies that they need to be as fully formed as they are. Each song is a collection of different musical elements, given shape and structure by a band with a very specific vision. Schammasch aren’t interested in playing music that is of the norm for the style, or even adhering to any particular style in its entirety. Indeed, they have always been adept at forging their own stylistic boundaries, and The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean does this more comprehensively than ever. Schammasch have crafted an album that sounds like little else around at the moment, and they are to be commended for this.

The vocals, always well-performed, are diverse and potently delivered. Like the rest of the music, they refuse to be just one thing. There is an increasingly Gothic edge to some of the clean singing too, which works well, and accompanies a similar development in some of the melodies. In addition to this, the very capable artist behind Sylvaine appears on two songs, enriching them considerably with her ethereal presence.

Once again, Schammasch have unleashed something creative, enduring, and special on the world. Few bands have albums that are adorned with such richness as Schammasch, but by now it should almost be expected. The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is not a record that you should miss out on, so make sure you spend a good amount of time with this gem of an album.

Essential listening.