Tag: atmospheric black metal

Panopticon – …And Again Into the Light

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Panopticon – …And Again Into the Light

Heightened emotion has long been a staple of Austin Lunn’s music — Panopticon have traversed the world of black metal using personal struggle, social awareness and economic disparity to build a view of a creator who is using their music as a tool to navigate the hardships that they face. Whether that is in reflection or in solidarity with others at the edge, Lunn uses Panopticon to organise feelings of despair and hope in a way that feels organic and true. Previous records have touched on these subjects either directly – Social Disservices and Kentucky, for example – or wrapped their meanings in metaphors that Lunn holds close to his heart as is the case in Autumn Eternal.

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The Round Up Tapes // Submission Edition Volume VII

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Firstly, I would like to apologise to all of the artists who feature in this edition of The Round Up Tapes. My desire to write has been tempered by life of late and finding the time or even the energy to sit down and form coherent thoughts on music has been something that has been lacking over the last six months or so. I listen to everything that people send me, but I often forget to reply or even miss emails as they fall in the spam folder only to be found several weeks later. I try extremely hard to not be rude but my memory is not the best.

Without further ado, here is the seventh volume of record submissions that have found their way to me.

Asenath Blake – Zoëtic Songs

Zoëtic Songs marks the second foray into the underground of Welsh artist Asenath Blake, who creates a sound that lies where the occult and black metal intersect. Taking inspiration from Austin Osman Spare and Arthur Machen, as well as others well versed in magick, Blake uses her music to channel another world which dances on the fringes of the fire that makes up much of this second EP.

Opening on “Yelda Paterson’s Teachings,” Blake immediately presents a sound that is raw and primeval. Her voice is mixed into synthesised lines and radiant textures that call to mind the sound of post-black metal, yet the music is somewhat removed from that sub-genre in its manic vocal delivery that is affected by unknown power, possessed by the other that has been evoked by the spells and witchcraft that lie at the heart of Zoëtic Songs.

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The Round Up Tapes // Submission Edition Volume VI

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Burden – Burden

Burden

There is something quite charming about Burden and their atmospheric and doomed black metal. It could be the intriguing use of accordion which gives the music that rustic, old world aura that many medieval style bands lean towards. It could be the spooky synthesisers that add dimension and soaring notes to songs that are otherwise dark and doomy and it could also be the rough production that shows that this is a band still finding their way and trying to make their music heard is more important that it sounding shiny and clean. It all adds up to a record that is a captivating debut and one that shows enough promise to keep you engaged. 

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The Round Up Tapes // Submission Edition Volume V

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Dawnwalker – Ages

The rich, grandiose opening of “Melekh” sets Ages on a journey of discovery as the initial steps of the record move in rising waves of sound that ushers in visons of dark clouds stretching across the horizon to bring forth a storm. Of course, there is a calm that precedes the tumult and “The Wheel” does much to settle the nerves for what the future may bring with its gentle progressive melodies and beautiful clean vocal lines. However, as the song progresses through its eleven-minute runtime, the vocals become darker and jagged and the music turns into a foreboding weight. This is a theme which runs throughout the record and enables Dawnwalker to structure their songs as singular narratives that speak of change and memories lost to time, while the record contains an overarching story that pays homage to long forgotten rites and the descent of the world into darkness.

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The Round Up Tapes // Volume XXIII

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Annihilus – Ghanima

Annihilus are, for all intents and purposes, a black metal band, however this project from Luca Cimarusti takes in much more than the usual traits of the genre to create an interesting debut with Ghanima. With influences ranging from Frank Herbert’s Dune to grunge and noise rock, Annihilus is much more than the sum of its parts. Opening on “Epilogue,” Ghanima sets out its manifesto and overloaded, fuzzy vocals that Cimarusti screeches out from behind guitars that hold melody but only if you’re actively searching for it in amongst the debris of the noise.

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The Round Up Tapes // Volume XXI

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AARA – En Ergô Einai

Switzerland’s black metal scene may be small but it has outgrown the spectres of its past to produce quality black metal that looks to the future. With AARA, the country has a project that takes the core elements of black metal and pushes the composition and emotional clarity to its peak. En Ergô Einai is a masterful display of musical knowledge – classical elements, ecclesiastical tones, synthesised projections, harsh shrieks – that all come together to create a work that belies the relative newness of the band. It speaks of a band who are completely in sync and after only two years as a project it is impressive that such fully realised works are already being made. Although, with just how small the local scene is, it wouldn’t be surprising if the people behind the band were already established in other known acts (those in the band prefer to use pseudonyms and cover their faces with extravagant, Venetian masks).

“Arkanum” is a deliciously rich opening with Vindsval of Blut Aus Nord contributing guitars in the initial moments and creating a base that feeds into the bands textures beautifully – these first steps are the calm before the storm and when “Arkanum” reveals its full self it is in a whirlwind of sound.  The melodic channels of the album are divine and each song is laden with clear harmonics that give the listener something tangible to hold onto, something to guide them on the pathway towards revelation.

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Looking Towards The End // 2019

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It’s the end of the year and the end of a decade that was driven by change. A lot changed for me, personally, over the last ten years and I can only hope that it led to my becoming a better person. But that is subjective, as is choosing a list of records that I super enjoyed over the last ten months. There was a lot of music released in 2019 and a lot of music I just didn’t hear. There was a lot of music I did hear and never wanted to listen to again. There was music I couldn’t get enough of and listened to constantly. I listened to a handful of non-metal records that I really loved – these records can be seen on a list that will soon be published on Scene Point Blank. I also wrote a list for Metal Hammer but due to deadlines this was required to be finalised at the beginning of October and so my “final” list of albums I really liked has changed a little since then.

For those two lists I had to rank my choices and here I will rank only my top three – these are the records that really made a huge impact on me this year. The remaining records are all excellent, too, of course. If there’s a review of the album then you can find it by clicking on the band name and if you navigate to the record label then you’ll find the bandcamp page for the album (where available) in order to show your own support to these artists.

If you read anything that I wrote this year, then thank you. I hope to continue in 2020.

Mizmor – Cairn (Gilead Media)

Alcest – Spiritual Instinct (Nuclear Blast Records)

Schammasch – Hearts Of No Light (Prosthetic Records)

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The Round Up Tapes // Volume XX

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Imber Luminis – Same Old Silences

Imber Luminis is one of many projects from Belgian artist Déhà and while his output is incredibly prolific, the work doesn’t seem to suffer so much as become elevated through his preternatural drive to create. Of course, such efforts will sap the energy of the person behind them and so it seems that Imber Luminis, while dwelling somewhere between depressive black metal, atmospheric black metal and doom, deals with feelings of being overwhelmed and of suffering on a more human level. Same Old Silences moves through its horror via two songs that are split into sections, each giving weight and desolation to the next and it’s through these movements that Imber Luminis creates waves of sadness and depression that are so tangible it almost becomes your own.

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The Round Up Tapes // Volume XVI

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Barshasketh – Barshasketh

Originally a one-man band from New Zealand, founding member Krigeist’s relocation to Scotland brought new opportunities to enhance his music and after session members and live line-ups were solidified, Barshasketh began to take the form that we see today on their fourth full-length, Barshasketh. Stripping back their sound to that of their early days, Barshasketh are reclaiming the essence of black metal and while their music isn’t breaking down barriers or smashing genre lines, the expertise and musicianship on display here is more than solid and definitely worth multiple listens.

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The Round Up Tapes // Volume XV

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Devouring Star – The Arteries of Heresy

Finland’s Devouring Star plays with evil as theme but does so in less Satanic ways and rather explains that mankind itself is the ultimate embodiment of sin, that humans are the scourge and that religion is not the hopeful tenet that we have been led to believe.

The Arteries of Heresy is Devouring Star’s second full length and the person behind it all, JL, is using the band as a vessel of deliverance for personal enlightenment. There’s a sense that the evil that lurks within is one of primal matter and on “Procreation of Blood” the chaos is laid bare for all to see. Within the maelstrom are subtle grooves that can be latched on to in order to orientate oneself but for the most part the song, and the album as a whole, is an ode to embracing sin and taking it into yourself in order to fulfil your purpose on this earth.

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