This is the third album from Рожь (otherwise known as Rye), a one-man blackened doom band from Russia.
2023’s Всё was a record that made a strong impression, so it’s good to now have 40 minutes of new material from the artist behind Рожь. Знание contains just three tracks, but each is worth spending time with, as we’ll see.
Знание takes the listener on a journey into Рожь’s dark and evocative world. The music takes elements of doom, drone, ambient, and black metal, delivering tracks that are rich in atmospheric presence.
The songs are epic and vast, like malevolent entities they crawl through their running time extinguishing the light as they do so. There is beauty to be found in the sorrow, as the artist crafts immense structures that flow between delicate fragility and crushing menace. There’s introspective despondent grace to be found in the lighter moments, while the heavier ones are steeped in the underground extremity of the deepest underworld.
The music is awash with gradually unfolding funeral doom, layered with ambient moodscapes, and is in possession of a fierce blackened heart. The melodies are despondent and grim, portraying feeling with minimal effort, (Гало). The synths are spectral and ethereal throughout, and frequently extremely effective and affecting. Каждого ждёт in particular offers a masterclass in this regard. Faster sections are deployed strategically, (Ходдмимир), but these are less about aggression, and more about the artist’s ability to wield a different tool when needed, drawing from the atmospheric black metal toolbox.
Vocally, we get different styles at different points, all geared around maximising the overall impact of the music. Clean vocals frequently act like just another instrumental texture, static-like screams offer piercing detailing, (Ходдмимир), and deep abyssal growls swallow all hope, (Гало).
Знание is all about atmosphere and immersion. It’s not a record for casual listening, but an album that offers an experience that’s holistic in its scope. It transports the listener into absorbing and well-rendered doom-drenched soundscapes, rich in emotional depth.
The artist behind Рожь has once again impressed. For when you’re in the mood for music that drags you down into the filth, but also shines with radiant beauty, Знание is essential.
Wonderbox Metal 