Noite - A Cor Do Fogo

 

And herein lies a soundtrack to lost souls. Though this record does not sound like conventional black metal, its creator, Gonius Rex of Onirik has referred to it as an experimental black metal venture. It's a unique offering full of clean neo-classically inspired guitars and cryptic chants (All done in Portuguese) that outline tales of witchcraft, devil worship and damnation. The bands ability to conjure up images of some sort of twisted religious ceremony through the music is potent and it makes for a truly mesmerizing listen through and through. 

There is something almost Lovecraftian about this record. Though the orchestrations are fairly sparse and the instrumentation minimal you sense that you are on the precipice of something that operates just beyond the fringes of human understanding. The off-kilter compositions and inhuman elegance of a track like 'No Inferno E Na Terra will claw at your mind and leave you wondering where you are going to go next. There is so much misery and torment that revels its way through this record, the Dante's Inferno of sound they conjure up here is not one that seeks to horrify with harsh sounds, but one that instead relies on demented atmospheres to drive the listener beyond the brink of madness. 

As a general rule the performances on this record are truly excellent. Few bands can really execute with this level of tenebrous alacrity. While at first the concept behind the record didn't quite click, after multiple listens I came to terms with the fact that Gonius Rex has done it again. Once more he has left us in awe of his execution and clear minded compositions, it is simply that it sometimes takes the listener a little while to catch up with where he's at. For those in the loop, this is a thrilling offering and one that deserves spin after spin. 

 Pre-order on Bandcamp!

https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-cor-do-fogo

Sigh - Heir To Despair

It would be hard to find a black metal band who are weirder, more out there and more influential than Sigh. A group who have for nearly thirty years now been the last word on experimental black metal, their latest effort Heir To Despair marks their eleventh(!) studio album and promises so much more to come. The art black metal pioneers have constantly been able to craft ever more exciting and weird works and the radical and insane approach that Sigh has brought to the table here brings in all sorts of ideas and shows us that twenty eight years in the band is as bizarre as ever.

I think that with Sigh what fascinates me is the sheer breadth of the sound and the way that these guys are able to sort of fuse it with all sorts of other unique ideas and soundworlds. The folky melodies and vintage keyboards and flutes have a huge influence here. You can find a lot of strange prog influences here too, ranging from the mroe mundane like Gentle Giant and Genesis all the way to the works of occult rock masters Black Widow. Sigh have managed to capture all of these sounds and more on Heir To Despair and inspire the twisted legions to delve ever deeper into the bands maddening approach.

Heir To Despair is a truly weird and different record, even by Sigh's obviously broken standards. This is an album that showcases a lot of unique elements and allows us to dive into aspects of the band that I don't think were really given their due consideration in the past. It makes for some thrilling listening and perhaps the most exotic Sigh record to date. These Japanese black metal visionaries are nothing if not constantly evolving and Heir To Despair is just another thrilling step in that visceral direction.

Find them on Facebook! 
https://www.facebook.com/SIGH-official-page-227550909275/

Spectral Lore/Jute Gyte - Helian

Man - this isn't a split that I ever thought would happen or that I would even get to hear. Jute Gyte and Spectral Lore are both incredily unique bands with prominent [places in their respective scenes as leaders of the genre. Jute Gyte has a place as one of the most interesting acts in the avant garde metal world, bringing in all sorts of weird outer influences to create truly unsettling black metal. Meanwhile, Spectral Lore are getting to a point where they need no introduction. Theyt are the sort of band who have a divine poetry defined by Ayloss's masterful playing.

Right off the bat it becomes clear that Helian s something that you are meant to get lost in. you find yourself immediately falling head over heels into the twisted world that Jute Gyte paints for us with powerful soundscapes capped with all sorts of weird ambient frills. It makes for an A side that you can't help but feel a little bit terrified by. Meanwhile, Spectral Lore's contribution is a step removed from stuff he has worked on previously, or at least his recent material. While it's certainly still got that magical vibe this is some of his doomiest work to date and touches on a sense of heaviness not seen in his music since III came out a little while back.

Helian is a powerful release focused on expressionist poetry and concepts of death and man (Embodied by the cover art, whose title, translated is of course "Death and Man") It means that this record has the same sort of sublime twisted majesty that only your favorite acts are going to really be able to call up. Helian is an album that inspires and encourages you to dig deeper, to explore bold futures and sink your teeth into the world of black metal. You can't help but to be fascinated, and though this is a dense listen, it's an extremely rewarding one. 

Find the bands on Bandcamp!

Spectral Lore: https://spectrallore.bandcamp.com/

Jute Gyte: https://jutegyte.bandcamp.com/