Back to Bandcamp: January 15, 2016

Ghost Witch - demo
(http://ghostwitchdoom.bandcamp.com/album/demo)

Beginning your first demo with an ominous rumble is pretty ballsy, but for Ghost Witch it works brilliantly. By the time the heavy riffs kick in on "Lunar Hymn," the anticipation is at the breaking point, and the soaring, distant vocals make it clear exactly what Ghost Witch are up to. This is beautiful doom, the kind made famous in recent years by Windhand or Pallbearer. The wonderful tension between the ethereal vocals and the stomping, booming guitar riffs makes this style of doom work, and Ghost Witch maintain that tension masterfully throughout this frustratingly short demo. Somebody sign this California doom foursome. We need more of this stuff.

Highly Recommended.

Witte Wieven - Silhouettes of an Imprisoned Mind
(http://wittewieven.bandcamp.com/album/silhouettes-of-an-imprisoned-mind)

Female-fronted North Sea black metal is apparently a thing now. Blame Myrkur. Actually, thank her. The more bands that jump on the Myrkur-pastiche bandwagon (as Witte Wieven clearly have), the better. Ethereal female choral vocals and atmospheric black metal was a union long overdue, and the more bands that flesh out that idea the better.

Witte Wieven take a grimmer and darker approach to Myrkur's musical writing prompt. There's more traditional black metal riffing and less beautiful melodies on tracks like "Faces of Unreality" and "Silhouettes of an Imprisoned Mind." Those who felt Myrkur's debut wasn't grim enough will probably like Witte Wieven better, but those of us who felt that M worked best when the folk and black metal elements were equal partners will probably find Silhouettes of an Imprisoned Mind a little uninspiring at times. Average black metal combined with a good gimmick can make a great black metal record, but Witte Wieven don't use their gimmick to its full potential. However, it's a interesting enough debut, and scratches at a musical itch it's usually hard to remedy.

Recommended.

Elagabalus - _
(http://elagabalus.bandcamp.com/album/-)

To call Elagabalus even experimental black metal doesn't do this Baltimore duo justice. On this unpronounceable EP, Elagabalus play a confused jumble of black metal, progressive metal, hardcore, sludge, and experimental metal, complete with the requisite tempo shuffles, style shifts, and dissonant riffs. Oh, and no guitars. "They Know Nothing Else" alternates doomy plodding and manic blast beats, while "Recede in Light" and "Pure Light Society" throw synth solos into an already cacophonous mix of riffs and shouts. _ is punkier than I like my metal, but the band's aggressive tone fits their frantic, transgressive style, and its rare that an EP feels this raw and lively.

Recommended.

The Thurible Reviews: Spectral Lore - "Gnosis"

When a black metal band announces a couple of experimental projects before their next album, the fans usually start sweating. Not that anyone thinks that Greece's Spectral Lore, one of the most revered and beloved artists in the scene, is going to go full Mortiis, but fans of Wolves in the Throne Room are still nervous after Celestite, and as Alcest's recent transformation into pure shoegaze demonstrates, there's always the risk that a black metal band flirting with cross-genre influences will fall in love with them.

Fortunately, despite being experimental in concept, Gnosis isn't particularly avant-garde or conceited in execution.

In fact, as a flirtation with eastern folk influences and melodic black metal of the Obsequiae variety (may the gods of metal ever bless their harpstrings), Gnosis holds up exceptionally well. It's very different music from the cold, atmospheric progressive black metal of Spectral Lore's last studio album, and even more different from the instrumental space ambiance of Voyager, the band's last experimental project, yet it lacks the amateurish quality of a band merely "trying on" another style. According the bandcamp blurb, Ayloss deliberately avoided looking too deeply into the eastern influences he channels on Gnosis, hoping to leave himself unencumbered to organically blend black metal and the transcendental quality of oriental spirituality. Or something like that. The songwriting tools Ayloss uses on Gnosis are his own, and while he borrows a few eastern instruments and scales, there's no attempt at cultural authenticity getting in the way of his musical instincts, even on acoustic folk numbers "Averroes' Search" and "For Aleppo."

On the more straightforward black metal tracks, Ayloss builds complex melodies around intertwining guitar and bass riffing, mesmerizing the listener as the various elements dance around each other, fading in and out. While tracks like "Gnosis' Voyage Through the Ages" do include shredding, the melodies on Gnosis are usually subtle and difficult to isolate, partially because of Ayloss' prominent use of dynamic bass guitar harmonies. The drumming, on the other hand, tends to the unobtrusive. Even the more lively drums in the opening of "A God Made Flesh and Consciousness," arguably the heaviest track, remain solidly in the background.

Ayloss made a deliberate decision to bury his screams deep in the mix on Gnosis. For a less meticulous artist and a less competent producer, this decision could have sabotaged the whole record. But Gnosis' dense layers of interweaving guitars, light orchestral elements, traditional eastern instruments, and distant screams are perfectly balanced throughout the record, thanks in part to excellent mastering by Krallice's Collin Marston. The solid production and delicate mix brings Ayloss' mastery as a composer to the forefront, allowing the progressive leanings of the record to shine.

If the record has a weakness, it's closer "For Aleppo," which lacks the engaging quality found on the other tracks. While the song isn't a bad piece of folk ambient, it tests the listener's patience with nine minutes of meandering tanbur arpeggios over an unvarying synth pad. Perhaps the same concept should have been executed in half the time. Overall, however, Gnosis is an excellent piece of melodic black metal that should please Spectral Lore fans and leave them pleasantly engaged until the arrival of Ayloss' next full length release.

But seriously, hurry up.

Highly Recommended.