Black Vice - The Alchemist's Vision

The Alchemist's Vision - now THAT is an album title. The latest from Black Vice drops on one of my favorite underground American labels, Crown and Throne Ltd. This is a masterful offering, layered and seemingly endlessly bleak. It's a part of this new wave of black metal, where the bands clearly enjoy both some of the prettier evolutions of the genre just as much as they like true second wave black metal. This makes for some compelling listening and a record that will keep you coming back in awe.

Black Vice stun with the emotional power of their work. This is in large part bolstered by the truly excellent ambient moments. These can be either synth or guitar driven and both speak to the bands ability to unveil audio excellence. This is a record that really showcases the strength of the songwriting and which revels in building up deeply emotional layers. It's an offering that acts as a practical tour de force of underground black metal, one that you can get lost in and spend time with for spin after spin. It's a wonderful mix of sonic rises and falls pointing towards a bleaker future for all of us.

I write this in Brooklyn as coronavirus looms. I feel that I have a headache - is this the virus coming down on me? Or is it just stress? I honestly don't know. What I do know is that as I descend into madness, The Alchemist's Vision is guaranteed to be a part of this soundtrack. It's tormented, aggressive, and far too real. If you can't dig in and fall in love with the pale misery of this record then perhaps the newest wave of black metal with all of its dissonance and terror isn't quite right for you. Because this shit? This shit rips.

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