What a perfectly strange and yet pleasant dark metal album. This reminds me of those obscure one-person black metal or something-close-to-it bands I used to listen to on Metaladies. Something pretty cool, if you’re open-minded enough for it.
This is where a long description might be needed. This album is an odd mixture of black, gothic, symphonic and industrial metal, with raspy screamed vocals that sound like they were recorded underwater, some pretty cool black metal drumming and a lot of strange keyboards. Most songs are around 5 minutes long, taking their time to explore their strange blend of styles and letting their strange atmosphere settle in.
Some tracks like Caterina 1667 are practically “normal” angry black metal rockers, but Everlasting Dreams is more like a long, slightly dark and melancholic industrial track with spoken-growled lyrics. Others are halfway between those two styles. They often have long endings, with repeating words and music. Winter Night has a sort of power/symphonic metal sound to it, but the vocals are just slightly distorted and almost growled spoken words. Princess of a Dead Land is like a mix of all the styles on the album, being rather fast-paced and heavy, but also more melancholic and symphonic-inspired, with distorted spoken-growled vocals. Or that would be The Silent Storm, a heart-breaking black metal ballad with violins, flutes and something that sounds like a jaw harp, and the same distorted vocals. But be prepared for the title track, one of the most impressive and strangest on this album, and that’s saying a lot: this dark take on The NeverEnding Story starts off as an industrial track with distorted and barely audible growls, then starts repeating the title before letting out the big guitars.
As for how this album works, well, yes, it does work pretty well. I’d describe it as more of a keyboards, violins and industrial sounds album with black metal flourishes than a black metal record with symphonic and industrial influences, but that’s what gives it such a unique sound. There is something here for everybody: fans of black metal, gothic and industrial music, symphonic metal, fantasy-inspired metal, or simply those who want something different and creative. Yes, this album is creative, not just weird. This isn’t just the work of one musician having strange ideas we don’t understand, but also an experiment in styles and a showcase of a very unique identity made of ideas borrowed here and there but turned into something special. It blends various styles to create its own sound, and it wonderfully succeeds in creating the melancholic and dark atmosphere that’s so great about this genre. A very enjoyable album, that showcases a lot of potential and personality. Check this one out.
Release date: January 11th, 2021
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