Atmospheric Black Metal – Page 54

Ande – Licht (Review)

Ande is a Black Metal solo project from Belgium. This is his début release.

With each song separated by a short atmospheric interlude, we get three actual songs that evoke the original Black Metal template with a atmospheric and emotive sheen.

The music has good riffs, good atmosphere and tasty screams. It’s a short but enjoyable release that lets the listener wallow in the blackened depths of an atavistic style.

Old-school and obscure, this will likely be overlooked by most fans of the style, which is a real shame as Licht is an extremely satisfying listen. This strikes all of the right notes and moods without feeling stale or done-to-death.

The songs have a relatively good degree of variety between them and the interludes all work well to provide an unusual atmosphere between the blackened abysses that the songs create. I prefer the slower, more atmospheric sections over the faster ones, but the faster ones are still very well done.

The recording is well pitched, with just the right mixture of clarity and rawness that a release like this deserves.

I really enjoyed this.

Morth – Towards the Endless Path (Review)

Morth is a one-man Black Metal band from Bulgaria. This is his début album.

This album has plenty of occult melodies for the listener to enjoy. Sometimes these melodies can seem quite jaunty or folksy, which is a nice touch among the overall darkened vibes that Morth creates.

The long songs have an epic feel and there’s plenty of atmosphere to soak up here. The music is expansive and seems to revel in a certain primitive sophistication that some of the early Black Metal bands found themselves experimenting with. It’s the kind of music that makes me feel nostalgic and never fails to raise a grim smile.

Synths and keyboards are never too far from the action, wrapping the twisting melodies in their dark embrace.

Vocally we get trademark Black Metal croaking screams that fit the music perfectly. These vocals are absolutely of the classic style and go hand in hand with the classic atmospheric music.

This is well-constructed atmospheric Black Metal with a nice line in melodies and uplifting leads and synths.

Very enjoyable.

Frozen Ocean – The Prowess of Dormition (Review)

Frozen Ocean is a one-man Russian Melodic/Atmospheric Black Metal band and this is his latest EP.

Frozen Ocean return with more wonderfully melodic Black Metal that creates plenty of atmosphere. I have previously reviewed The Dyson Swarm, so this new release was most welcome.

This is mellifluous, melodic music that’s enhanced by keyboards to greater heights of atmosphere and mood. The feeling, for me, is very much one of following in the great Windir’s footsteps,

Vocals are deeper screams than are normally associated with the style, giving the polished, shiny music a rougher edge of aggression that suits it.

Grand, epic and richly melodic, (have I mentioned that?), this is a very enjoyable EP that it’s easy to like.

Check it out.

Old Forest – Dagian (Review)

Old Forest are a Black Metal band from the UK and this is their third album.

This album features four long songs and a fair amount of variety across the 48 minute playing time. The band play Atmospheric Black Metal that has a contemporary feel with nods towards the Pagan, Folk, Gothic, Depressive and Progressive sub-genres of Black Metal.

These additional influences make their presence felt during the tracks and manifest in different ways, from exploratory sections, to enhancing cleans, to Folk instrumentation, subtle synths, and more.

It’s a hugely impressive demonstration of musical ability and songwriting skill; even only a couple of minutes into the first track Morwen, with its Doom-laden intro and understated-yet-powerful cleans, you know this is going to be a special release.

The songs have a lot of content, all contained in a modern Black Metal wrapping and serviced by a recording that’s meaty enough to do the material justice without loosing its Blackened lustre.

The emotive guitars do everything requested of them with ease, whether this is playing fast, slow, or even at a good rocking pace. The guitars serve as a bedrock for the other instruments to be built around, both the standard ones such as the drums and bass, and the non-standard ones that serve to add so much additional atmosphere to the tracks.

Vocals are as varied and interesting as the music; Blackened screams, Gothic cleans and lots in the middle.

Old Forest have produced a very gratifying release that manages to successfully combine old and new into a cohesive atmospheric package. Dagian is impressive, emotive and destined for a lot of positive feedback I would imagine.

For any fans of expressive Atmospheric Black Metal.

Mephorash – 1557 – Rites of Nullification (Review)

This is the third album by Swedish Black Metallers Mephorash.

Throughout the four extended tracks on this release Mephorash demonstrate their approach to elite, sophisticated Black Metal art. Theirs is Black Metal that conjures effective atmospheres without neglecting the rest of the music; the band have both heaviness and bite to them when they need it.

Managing to create music that’s both resplendent and uplifting as well as drenched in the occult and mysterious is no mean feat, but this album manages to juxtapose those two aspects of Black Metal quite nicely.

The band fuse the style’s core delivery with influences from Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal to create a contemporary spin on the genre that nonetheless has all of the essential elements in place to produce something both recognisable and special.

Featuring all kinds of additional enhancements, (keyboards, choral singing, guest vocalists), that work well within the music to add layers of depth to it, these songs are strong exemplars of the style of Black Metal that bands like Watain/Deathspell Omega pioneered so well.

There’s a vibrant unlife pulsing through these songs and they bristle with dark energy. It’s a joy to hear and the strong production allows them the space to do what they do unfettered.

Mephorash have created something really impressive with this album and I know I’ll be listening to it and trying to unravel its dark secrets for some time to come.

Dalla Nebbia – Felix Culpa (Review)

Dalla Nebbia are a Progressive Black Metal band from the US. This is their second album.

This is sophisticated Black Metal that incorporates elements of the Progressive and Atmospheric sub-styles into itself, as well as some Doom/Death elements here and there.

Featuring an added violinist on most of the tracks, this is expansive and exploratory music that may have a firm base in Black Metal but refuses to be constrained by its traditional trappings.

The band are clearly talented, imaginative and ambitious, which is a fine combination. Dalla Nebbia are the kind of band that brings influences from some of the best aspects of Emperor, Agalloch, Opeth, Arcturus, Windir and other similarly lofty bands together into one place and then makes them their own.

The songs have a high emotional content that seems to come naturally to the guitars. The tracks aren’t simple, straightforward affairs either, so this rich, emotive quality is even more impressive. Background synths and effects add a further layer to the variety of riffs and melodies used, with the intention of everything being to take the listener on a Blackened journey into the dark places of the world. With Dalla Nebbia as your guide, this is a trip worth taking.

Mainly propelled forwards with traditional Blackened screams; cleans, growls and other vocalisations also appear and reinforce the impression of a varied and interesting band who are happy to do things their own way.

This is a varied release that covers a lot of ground. It’s not something that can easily absorbed in one listen as there’s a lot going on here; each spin brings something else to your attention, and there’s a lot of quality content to notice on Felix Culpa.

Very impressive and very enjoyable. Make sure you look out for this one.

Vision Lunar – Luna Subortus (Review)

This is the début EP from Vision Lunar, a one-man Atmospheric Black Metal project from Canada.

This is minimalistic Black Metal, atmospheric and haunting in its beauty and emanating an aura of darkness that’s softly broken by pale moonlight.

It’s a subtle affair, more interested in setting a scene and encouraging the listener to feel for themselves the primordial power of the night, rather than bluntly stating its intent with crude blasting or ugly vitriol.

The first song leads you in gently, while the last track lets you out slowly. In the middle is the main event; cascading Blackened riffs, producing a veritable sea of darkness that the moon gently glides above.

There are no vocals to sully the purity of this midnight exploration, only the atmospheric mood-setting of the guitars.

It’s a short release; at just under 12 minutes in length it’s a mere introduction to the vision of this particular artist. It’s worth setting aside the time to get to know it though, as its charms are insidious and rich in emotive qualities.

Listen and gaze up at the night sky.

Telerumination – Telerumination I (Review)

Telerumination are from the US and this is their début release. They play Atmospheric Black Metal.

Purely Ambient/Drone/whatever music doesn’t really do it for me most of the time. Sure there are exceptions; I enjoy bands like Haate and Pogrom, as well as Wolves in the Throne Room’s experimentations. From a non-Black Metal perspective, you also have releases such as those from IIVII and Aires, which I have also taken to quite nicely. For the most part though, it’s not for me.

So, what’s this got to do with Telerumination? Well, over the years it’s occurred to me that one of the main things, (although not the only thing), that is missing from the style is drums. I’m a percussion man. I love drums, beats and everything associated with them. This rather long-winded introduction is essentially a way of saying that Telerumination is, at heart, a Dark Ambient release, only with percussion.

Hmm. Maybe I should have just said that at the start, brevity being the soul of wit, and all that…

Anyway, low-key drums, creepy, understated screams and the odd bit of guitar is added to a strong synth-based core to create music that takes the best of Dark Ambient and, in my mind at least, improves upon it.

One of the brains behind Telerumination is the guy who does Natanas, so in a way you can view this as a less evil, more atmospheric version of his work with his main project. Telerumination does have a restrained malevolence to it, but nothing like the overt nightmare sounds that Natanas fosters so well. If Natanas is a portal into the underworld, a vision of Hell and all damnation, then Telerumination is a mirror that shows what’s behind the suffering; the subtle torments that lie underneath.

This is an oddly relaxing release. I mean, it probably isn’t if you’re just Joe Public and you had to listen to it. God knows what they’d make of it. I imagine it would probably give them nightmares. For us seasoned music fans though, it’s as if a swathe of sentient darkness has been filtered through a lens so that only the finest and most subtle of horrors were allowed through, creating textured explorations of distilled Black Metal that can comfort and amiably disturb those who have the will to succumb to its soothing terror.

This is an impressive collection of music that succeeds in its task of spawning a Blackened Ambience that improves upon the purestrain parent style to become something greater.

Turn off the lights and enter the world of Telerumination.

Wilt – Moving Monoliths (Review)

Wilt are a Canadian Black Metal band and this is their début album.

Wilt play Atmospheric Black Metal that takes its time, fleshing out its expansive vision with Doom-drenched splendour and releasing negative vibes for all to feel and react to.

Despondent and glorious, Wilt play music that doesn’t lack for bite or venom, despite the fact that they know how to foster mood and atmosphere. Here, the two go hand in hand with a Blackened spite that seems to coast along the seas of guitars like a predator looking for prey.

The main bulk of this album is taken up by three long songs that are textured soundscapes writ large in considered, resplendent Black Metal. The riffs and melodies used are subtle and overpowering at the same time, creating songs that know when to use a splash of colour, and when to use shades of darkness.

Blast beats appear on occasion, underscoring the band’s Blackened core, but the majority of the material is slower and devoted to dark auras. Mind you, this is not too different a situation when the drums are going fast, as the main intention is not one of brutality, merely a dramatic emphasis on the shadowy feelings that the band evoke.

A Post-Metal influence can be heard in some of the guitar melodies, although this is only an aspect of their songwriting and is subsumed by the general Blackness and atmosphere of the music; Wilt can’t really be described as a Post-Black Metal band.

And the vocals? Despairing screams that stop short of the Depressive style, but not by much. Needless to say, you can’t go wrong with vocals like this and the singer’s performance works as a focal point for the ever-expanding atmospheres of the music. Creeping whispers also appear on The Elder, working gently to soothe the listener before the darkness closes in once more.

In the spirit of Epic Black Metal and the Cascadian style, Wilt have crafted a worthy addition to the sub-genre for anyone who likes this kind of music.

Fluisteraars – Luwte (Review)

Fluisteraars are a Black Metal band from the Netherlands and this is their second album.

Fluisteraars forge their windswept Black Metal from a core of the harsh, razor-sharp second-wave sound and build on this with expansive and emotive qualities to produce the Atmospheric Black Metal that we have on Luwte.

As noted above; their approach to lengthy Atmospheric Black Metal is a sharper and more dangerous proposition than most. Luwte shares more in common with the darker, more epic side of Burzum and Darkthrone than it does with Atmospheric Black Metal bands that incorporate Progressive and Post-Black Metal sounds into their music.

Icy, Blackened riffs tear out from the music like a blizzard, but this harshness is restrained by more melodic passages. These sections still have an affinity with the biting frost, but it’s a more insidious, creeping cold, and all the more deadly for it.

The music has a tendency to blow like a storm, interrupted by moments of calmer beauty that are still dark and foreboding, warning of what’s to come. The songs are punctuated violently by howling screams, although these are relatively few and far between, with the music remaining the focal point of the band.

Fluisteraars have created a deeply engaging album with Luwte. Rather than relying on keyboards, additional instruments or elements of different sub-genres, it’s nice to see Atmospheric Black Metal that takes its cues from the original, raw, frozen style.

Highly recommended.