Tag: The Ruins of Beverast

The Ruins of Beverast – The Thule Grimoires

CherylLeave a comment

The Ruins of Beverast – The Thule Grimoires

The land of Thule is one that has long lain forgotten; a faraway place that lies in the dense and abstract regions of the world, a place that is unreachable by modern humanity and one that is used in literary texts and music to describe the unattainable. For The Ruins of Beverast, Thule could be seen to be a mystical and ice-covered land and these songs (Grimoires, or magical texts) are the keys to unlock the horrifying secrets that lie beneath the surface of its crumbling temples. A world in which a civilisation rises up to defeat those who would stand to destroy the Earth for their own gain with the help of hibernating Gods that have been buried in the deepest oceans and under mountains of ice. The spiritual aspect of Alexander von Meilenwald’s creation is wrought through ritual drum patterns and vocals that echo with gothic textures, chants that are dredged from the underworld and an atmosphere that is as cloying as it is fantastical.

Read More »

The Round Up Tapes // Volume XXI

CherylLeave a comment

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.

Read More »

All Must End – 2017

CherylLeave a comment

2017 has been an interesting year for music, for realisations, for speaking out and for making changes. Personally, I made a big move to another country (Switzerland) which has been overwhelming at times. I got a job fairly quickly and I’m still trying to figure this country out but mostly I feel settled here.

I thought I should say something here because it’s been at least one hundred years (four months) since I did and somehow a round-up slipped my mind in 2016. It’s been a busy year for writing and sadly this little blog has suffered due to other commitments. I continue to write for Metal Hammer and recently joined the team at the Quietus. I’ve written for Noisey a number of times this year and Scene Point Blank continues to be a big part of my writing life.

This year I contributed to Metal Hammer’s Top 100, the metal list for tQ and Scene Point Blank’s Top 25 – which will be a more general list that includes things other than metal but here on Bleak Metal I will list a few records that I enjoyed very much this year.

2018 has already begun in the writer’s world and I’ve heard a few records already – Watain’s Trident Wolf Eclipse, Tribulation’s Down Below, Portal’s Ion, Summoning’s With Doom We Come and Erdve’s Vaitojimas – and so far the calibre of music coming out in the first few months of the new year is extremely high. My plans are to do more here on Bleak Metal (which I say every bloody year) and as long as my hands don’t fall off then it should be possible.

Thank you for reading this little blog and for taking an interest.

IMG_5886

Read More »