Tag Archives: blackgaze

Review

An Autumn For Crippled Children – All fell silent, everything went quiet

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I’ve always found An Autumn For Crippled Children an odd formation, ever since they were introduced to me. Their music feels different, yet clicks with the essential vibes of black metal. Some outlets have described them as a pure proponent of blackgaze, which is a term that not everyone is equally excited about it seems. On ‘All fell silent, everything went quiet’, the band pushes further into the regions in which only a few bands dare venture. 

The new album is the eighth full-length release by the Dutch trio in their 10-year run, making them a very productive collective. The warm tones on this release make me think a bit more of Alcest than the scorned Deafheaven. The music flows like a warm bath, particularly the second track ‘Water’s Edge’ tells you everything you need to know about the sound An Autumn For Crippled Children is going for. The mellow vibe, the major key and gentle jamming contrast sharply with the raspy vocals. There’s an element of rawk and roll with that scrappy sound of the guitars as the two collide, but eventually, all flows together like a stream of sonic honey. 

I wouldn’t call the music joyous, but there is an exuberance in the sound of songs like ‘Silver’—a drivenness and burning energy. It struggles for release that never really comes. I find myself longing to the moments of release when the blast beats fall away, and the melody soars freely. The vocals are frequently buried in the sound frequency, allowing it to merge together. Check out, for example, the track ‘None More Pale’, which is what black metal sounds like when all sounds are clean. Or maybe I just imagine that. It has a certain pop-sensibility to it, but still carries the epic, dramatic movements I love so much. 

What may be an issue for those listening, is that its smooth sound may lack the fire that keeps you ‘onboard’ while listening to a record. To me, songs like ‘The Falling Senses’ work well, due to their relentless pace and energy, but others, like the title track, become hazy summer days. Where your vision becomes blurred, the heat plays tricks on your eyes and you slowly drift off. I think that’s the bridge with postrock, in a very complete and fully immersive manner, but it’s something you have to like and I happen to do. Which is why this is a great album in my book.

Band: An Autumn For Crippled Children
Origin: Netherlands
Label: Prosthetic Records

Review

Underground Sounds: Bosse-de-Nage – Further Still

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Label: The Flenser
Band: Bosse-de-Nage
Origin: United States

Taking their name from an Alfred Jarry novel, Bosse-de-Nage is a group that follows along in the wake of renewers for one of the most conservative music styles in the galaxy. Their new album ‘Further Still’ does retain a pretty recognizable sound and hardly does harm to black metal’s integrity. Others will say different.

The previous record ‘All Fours’ had a bit of a dadaist cover and literature references are hidden in plain sight with the Californian band. Blending a feisty bit of hardcore into their sound, this is a continuous show of force by the band, who clearly know how to play a tune on their third record.

The wave of riffing is like a sudden gale of wind you have to work against as listener, but as soon as you find its harmony you are set. The music contains a mellow melody, woven through all aspects of their sound. Yet, notable are the barked, hardcore-style vocals by Bryan Manning. It’s as in a flash that ‘The Trench’ and ‘Down Here’ surge past you with their fury and despair in delivery, but it’s some tight stuff too! Certainly, the cleanliness still fits the blackgaze label, but an artistic vibe molds it to a more clean-cut black metal vibe.

The production is spotless, creating that harmonious flow in the sound with a bit of that driven postrock effect on a tune like ‘Crux’ (check the intro). The most grabbing thing about Bosse-de-Nage is the level of emotion in the music. Combining in your face vocals with blackgazy guitars works like a charm on this fascinating album. Perhaps it’s singularity becomes a bit of a grey unity in its completion, but that just depends on your attention span. Anyways, when you reach ‘A Faraway Place’, a fiery blast hits you with full energy and vitality. This is where we have a full taste of what this band can offer, which might be more forceful than the Deafheavens of this world, leaning to Harakiri for the Sky.

 

Review

Underground Sounds: Trees, Clouds & Silence – Let me die on your roots

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Label: The Moon on a String Productions
Band: Trees, Clouds & Silence
Origin: Spain

It’s pretty great if your name can tell it all about your sound and inspiration. I suppose that this is why Trees, Clouds & Silence chose theirs back in 2015. This one man project by Ocram is an ambient/post-black band with a focus on the natural realm (don’t we call this blackgaze now?). This is the second record by the band, titled ‘Let me die on your roots’.

The appraisal of nature has tempered the eerie fire of black metal in many occasions. The sound of bands like Winterfylleth, Grima or many other bands who draw upon that verdant realm, have a sound that is milder and more harmonic than anything inspired by the more human resources. The climate in the south of Spain, around Andalusia, definitely has that effect even stronger. Musically, however, this act may drift more towards the postrock sound.

The sound is mellow and flows like a cool breeze in the warm summer sun. Lyrically, the songs by Trees, Clouds & Silence, are personal, full of craving and hints to the majesty of nature. Clean guitars guide the listener onwards, like one of those appealing forest paths that invite you down further into the woods. Gently meandering keys provide a soothing path through the tremolo guitar sounds as the sound envelops you.

When vocals come in, like they do on ‘Echo’, I would not call them the strength of the record. Not a perfect singer, the voice is more a proclamation or an expressive dirge. The lady who adds chanting here does a bit of a better job. The screams of Ocram do a much better job in their biting and bitter tones on the same tune. The music is a continuous flow, a harmonious whole, but cut into various parts. A joy to listen to, regardless if simmering heat warps your vision or the cold hurts your face. It captures tranquility in sound.

Review

Underground Sounds: møl – JORD

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Label: Holy Roar Records
Band: møl 
Origin: Danmark

Blackgaze is an interesting phenomenon. Relinquishing the claim for black metal heritage, it’s rapidly become the outcast child, from a scene that refuses any forward movement. This is more and more reflected in the artwork and overall aesthetic of the bands involved. I have no idea how the gents from møl feel about that, but as I see their work they are in no way showing their desire to get their music lumped into that.

This is a shame in my perception, but regardless of my personal divulgences on what black metal is in 2018, let’s not bother these Danes with it. Their album ‘JORD’ is a masterpiece, whichever way you want to turn it. The band has been doing their own thing for a while, creating two EP’s and finally their debut album this year. With a distinct feel and aesthetic, they are one of the stand-out acts for this year, pushing this sound into new realms in their very own way.

Bands have often explored the cleaner and more grand realms that black metal can move towards. From the epic, symphonic stuff in the 90’s and industrial endeavors following what has been dubbed ‘The Matrix’-effect onwards. Creating densely atmospheric music is what møl does, with utmost polished sound and striking tremolo parts that pluck at the heartstrings on a track like ‘Bruma’ or the beautiful, tranquil tunes of ‘Lambda’. This track is an oasis after the onslaught of some previous tracks, with the all shattering vocals and melodic power of every song, which are extremely well constructed.
The production really does the trick here. The band clearly is not going for the good ‘ol necrosound, but maximizes their melodic and harmonious sound, giving it raw edges where it actually hurts with vocals and razor-sharp riffing. A particular example is the track ‘Ligament’, that opens with a flurry of cuts and piercing vocals, yet such tight sound. By the end, we get to the gentle parts of the title track, møl already completely captured you with their smooth, yet intense sounding tunes and beautiful soundscapes.
Review

Underground Sounds: Trna – Earthcult

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Label: Elusive Sound
Band: Trna
Origin: Russia

Russian band Trna have not made things easy for themselves and after their well-received ‘Lose Yourself To find Peace’, they’ve adopted the genre indication blackgaze. A style indicator usually associated with those bands black metallers are eager to avoid. Nonetheless, it seems fitting in the navel-gazing haze that is Trna to use this term.

‘Earthcult’ is a more verdant record, that takes you into the splendor of nature. Not sure if that’s intended, yet it is the effect the music has on me. It is the third release from the Saint-Petersburg trio in a relatively short period of time and like the previous ones it is well worth to give a listen.
The blast beats immediately call you to attention as the record opens with the title track. A brief burst of brutality soon melts away in the lush realm of the dense atmosphere, like that of a great forest. The black metal elements are there, but soaring above is an almost ethereal melody, more akin to postrock bands in both energy and soothing beauty. The music truly flows, even more so on the rhythm driven ‘Everywhere and Nowhere’, which is a great track to just ride along with.
What I find most peculiar and fascinating about Trna, is how they blend that postrock feeling with black metal ferocity, to create something truly strong and condensed. As an everflowing stream, their music rolls ever onward, like a river through the forests, in violent turmoil but with a natural harmony on ‘The Heart of Time’. On ‘Thaw’, the band truly opens the floodgates and I feel like I’m listening to Amusement Parks on Fire or Red Sparowes. A magnificent outpouring that touches the heart through the ear. Trna have truly moved on to greatness on this record.
Review

Underground Sounds: VVilderness – Devouring The Sun

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Label: Casus Belli Musica/Independent
Band: VVilderness
Origin: Hungary

It took me a while to really explore who VVilderness is, but I felt little surprise to see that Ferenc Kapiller, operating under the name vvilder, was operating this band. The previous project of Kapiller was Release The Longships. As much as a continuation, this is also a break with the previous sound, to create something new within the same context of northern mythology.

‘Devour The Sun’ imagines Ragnarok from an ecological perspective, as a cleansing of the world. A rebirth aftwerwards without the human infestation that has been slowly killing it. The sound is firmly lodged into the blackgaze niche, thanks to the shoegaze that is embedded in the soothing sound on ‘Devouring The Sun’.

The peculiarity of VVilderness is that the sound really is, as they describe it, akin to Alcest. Perhaps with a bit more brawn and postrock sensibilities, which come forward in the gradual build-up and conscientious craftsmanship that goes into creating an album so solidly connected. ‘Starless Dark’ is a slow ascent to the heights where the band operates, with sonorous tones and emotion-evoking strings. When it launches into the track ‘Sól’, this is where we get the black metal influences. Though I get the comparison with Harakiri For The Sky, I imagine a bit of Lantlôs too in there.

Though the music holds an intensity, that overwhelms the casual listener, the darkness eludes you. VVilderness offers tranquility, soothing beauty, like hazy rain on a sunny day. The sound is optimistic, warm and beautiful. On ‘Devour The Sun’, the guttural vocals disturb that peace and a slightly melancholic tone hits home. Well, it’s the end of the world so that makes sense. The undeniable majesty and force of the event takes over and dilutes this human emotion though, which fits the theme. From there we move to more acoustic music. ‘Life’ introduces the rebirth, with the sweeping ‘New Earth’, that simply offers a pure, meandering sound with high notes that sound like little bells heralding a new, beautiful age.

We leave with the glowing sounds of ‘Afterglow’. A bright ray of hope perhaps, though not for humanity.