I am now listening to L'Adieu by Alcest #Alcest
https://www.last.fm/music/Alcest/_/L%27Adieu
#Alcest
I swear this will be the last one
I can't stop help these aren't even funny
Sylvanshine – The Offering Review
By Killjoy
The contrast of opposites is fundamentally important in art, and Sylvanshine is an apt name to illustrate this principle. As I just learned from Wikipedia, “Sylvanshine is an optical phenomenon in which dew-covered foliage with wax-coated leaves retroreflect beams of light, as from a vehicle’s headlights. This effect sometimes makes trees appear snow-covered at night during summer.” Fittingly, Ion Ureche’s blackgaze project from Bucharest, Romania, deals with opposing themes, specifically “love and loss, hope and desperation.” Not exactly uncommon themes in blackgaze, but how clearly does Sylvanshine’s debut full-length album portray them?
The Offering oscillates fluidly between the “black” and the “gaze” at a moment’s notice. Crystalline post-black tremolo riffs shimmer and dance to and fro, intertwined with distorted guitar chords and blast beats. The dreamier guitarwork is not unlike that of Alcest’s debut Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde, with plenty of Shelter-era influence also thrown in the mix. What sets Sylvanshine apart from many of its blackgaze peers is the heavy reliance on delicate acoustic guitar plucking and strumming in the vein of early Slowdive. There are three tracks entirely dedicated to this instrument, and it features prominently in the bridges of several others to counterbalance the moody aggression with an intimate touch.
It’s clear that Ureche is a guitarist first and foremost.1 The Offering’s crisp, clear, and poignant lead guitar lines are where the emotional duality alluded to in the promo material shines. The ringing, sorrowful melodies in “Cri de Coeur” and “Rebirth” grow more hopeful as the songs progress, like sunlight breaking through cloudy fissures. If the vocals were similarly expressive, Sylvanshine would be onto something special. They remind me of Sergio Catalán’s deep growls in Winds of Tragedy, but, unfortunately, with more croak than roar. At best, they sound flat (“The Moon and Stars Above,” “Cri de Coeur”) and, at worst, they clash with the guitars (“The Offering”). To his credit, Ureche plays to his strengths by allocating the majority—if not entirety—of each song to instrumental performances.
However, this songwriting decision could have benefited from further refinement in execution. This is particularly true of the tracks that are solely instrumental. It would have been fine to start the album with one acoustic track (“Dirge for a Love”), but the placement of another (“Nothing Will Ever Be the Same”) immediately after the first proper song, “Cri de Coeur,” causes a major pacing stumble. The acoustic guitar bouquet “Reverie” that later follows is gorgeous, but repeats for too long and should have either been fleshed out or trimmed. By the time 5-minute closer “Rebirth” rolls around, instrumental fatigue has set in. Some of the other short songs, “Running from Myself” and “The Offering,” show promise but feel disjointed and underdeveloped. The latter briefly dips into gothic territory midway through, with darker riffs and a haunting organ which sounds slightly out of context here, but the style could fit Sylvanshine very well given more time and attention.
Sylvanshine has all the makings of a young artist in the process of finding his voice, both figuratively and literally. Ion Ureche has a natural talent for composing and performing guitar melodies that mirror the ever-changing spectrum of human emotion. That said, further vocal training—or the addition of a more practiced vocalist—would do wonders for the project. He also has room to grow as a songwriter, and I get the sense that his skill ceiling is high. The Offering is a respectable debut album, but improvement in these main areas will help Sylvanshine to truly stand out amongst the crowd.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Release
Websites: sylvanshine.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sylvanshineMusic
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025
#25 #2025 #Alcest #BlackMetal #Blackgaze #May25 #PostBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #RomanianMetal #SelfRelease #Shoegaze #Slowdive #Sylvanshine #TheOffering #WindsOfTragedy
10 Most Essential French Rock + Metal Bands, Chosen by Novelists
#Novelists #France #Metalcore #Gojira #Landmvrks #TSS #Alcest #ChunkNoCaptainChunk #Kadinja #Sal3m
By Thus Spoke
Pikes—the genus Esox—are perfect predators whose size and ferocity have made them somewhat legendary. However, as an emblem, they are somewhat understated and powerful but unobvious: literally hidden under the surface of the water, part of the sempiternal and vital river ecosystem. This lends weight to the already evident fact that Esox is an incredibly personal project for its creator, Federico Sturiale. 5 years in the making, Watery Grave tells the story of a suicidal drowning, with the drowner’s final reflections making up the album’s acts. It’s a tale that feels every bit as organic and raw as it ought to.
Watery Grave is atmoblack in the same way The Mantle-era Agalloch and Pursuit of the Sun-era Woods of Ypres were: unpolished, warm, and vaguely folky. It’s also somewhat gazey at times, channeling a little Alcest, albeit through a less glossy production. Coarse growls resonate over the blurred mélange of washing tremolos and pattering drumbeats, and cleans murmur softly over keyboard chords. There is little aggression beyond the harsh vocals and the odd fracas of blastbeats. A linear approach to songwriting, which yet maintains consistent themes, means tracks flow on with only subtle melodic reprises, if any. And on they do run, with half extending past ten minutes, and the closer grazing twenty. This fits with the overall river imagery, and complements the musical style as something to drift off to, as Esox indulges in many a meandering melodic tangent of mellow strums and dreamy synth.
Watery Grave is rough around the edges, but in a charming and organic way confined to its resonant, raw production and unshowy, deceptive simplicity of arrangements. Esox demonstrate a proficiency to craft truly beautiful little worlds of introspection, where gentle melodies weave between washes of tremolo, the harsh and soft styles blending brilliantly in builds and releases (“As I Descend Below the Water,” “Esox Lucius” “The River Nihilist”); it’s amazing how calming it can feel. Sometimes, it’s pure post, gazey, synthy peace (“Walden”); sometimes, more dynamic. Comparatively intense blackened passages give way to gentle ambience and plucking (“As I Descend…” “Livyatan Melvillei”), or melancholic post-metal (“The River Nihilist”), or a solemn, hazy section bursts into a colourful solo (“Esox Lucius,” “The River Nihilist”). The sounds of water, bubbles, and whale song amplify the insulation created by the unpolished master and peaceful themes, and the undulating current between the claustrophobically dense and the meditative spacious is felt dramatically, which deepens immersion. Emotion is tangible at such apexes, and this, in tandem with the sense of serenity, evokes well the notion of our protagonist sinking downwards, coming to peace with the world.
As pleasant to listen to as Watery Grave generally is, it hits a few snags that harm its flow. It seems a tad unfocused, mainly due to an apparent reluctance to edit. Synth-led “The Unbearable Cry of the Sea,” feels like an unnecessary interlude that flattens the impact of brilliant opener “As I Descend…”; continuing directly into “Livyatan Melvillei” would strengthen things substantially. Comparing this track to the other instrumental, “Walden,” it is clear from the latter that Esox can write a beautiful and moving interlude without sacrificing movement and mood. The longer cuts could all stand to lose a few minutes, but in particular, it is closer “The River Nihilist,” that suffers the most for its length. It goes through so many evolutions, via bridges of ambience and samples, that it seems to lose its way. The song’s potent and beautiful segments, which in isolation might be highlights—lose some of their shine, and the progress it does develop is awkwardly obscured. In a similar vein, “Livytan Melvillei” can strike the ears awkwardly in its more aggressive, organ-synth-accented first act, which is all but forgotten by its melodious second; again, it feels like coherence was an afterthought. This all makes Watery Grave a little frustrating, given other stirring and ethereal movements.1
And yet any imperfections Watery Grave may possess are easily forgivable, because of its poignancy and charm. This is a daydreamer album, and its blurred edges suit that perfectly. What it lacks in immediacy and strikingness, it makes up for in heart. There’s promise in here that I look forward to seeing developed next time Esox pull us underwater.
Rating: Good
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: wav
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 9th, 2025
#2025 #30 #Agalloch #Alcest #Ambient #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #Blackgaze #Esox #ItalianMetal #May25 #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #Shoegaze #WateryGrave #WoodsOfYpres
GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2025
By GardensTale
The story of Easter, detailing the gruesome death and supernatural resurrection of a cult leader, is pretty fucking metal, all things considered. So it’s fitting that the cream of the crop among underground heavy music festivals, Roadburn, coincides with the religious holiday this year. Not that it makes much difference to me, my partner, or the slew of friends we drag across the Tilburg city centre to enjoy some of the heaviest, strangest, and most envelope-pushing music that music has to offer. We’d murder our feet and livers for this fest any time of the year.
For the last few editions, Roadburn has spread its venues over several locations within a few hundred-meter radius. The 013 is the main venue, hosting the large Main stage with its signature staircase (a brilliant way to rest your feet while watching a show!) and the smaller NEXT. A 5-10 minute walk away, depending on your state of mind and soundness of body, is the old industrial hall known as Koepelhal, split for the occasion into the larger Terminal and smaller Engine Room. Attached is the diminutive Hall of Fame, where the smallest artists get to do their thing, with the ever-popular skate park next door regularly hosting secret shows, which are often announced only a few hours beforehand. Finally, the local jazz club Paradox is the place to be for the more unconventional material, which is saying something in this place.
What follows is a cleaned-up live thread I tapped out in hasty bursts between and during sets, my word-vomit witnessed in real time by my colleagues who gave frequent and often unhelpful commentary. Where applicable, I saw fit to include their remarks and any response I had to their tomfoolery. I can not promise this will result in a sane article, but I hope it can sketch a glimpse of what the greatest festival in the world is like.
Day 1 (Thursday, 17th of April)
2:51 PM — As usual, the larger sizes of the merch sell out lightning fast, and so I walk away with a single patch and disappointment. Let’s hope Glassing can obliterate the letdown.
Cherd of Doom: Surely they restock merch through the festival?
HAHAHA no
Everyone knows merch goes fast so everyone goes to merch first so merch goes fast
And they always underproduce the large sizes
sentynel: You’d think if the merch consistently sold out really quickly they might print more next time
3:12 PM — Yep, Glassing is fucking killing it. Pushing an almost Spartan setup to its limit. The drummer is just bonkers!
4:11 PM — Listening to Oranssi Pazuzu outside the main stage because we could no longer get inside. It sounds impressively oppressive. Wish we could have seen more of it, but I would not have wanted to miss Glassing. Choices choices.
4:24 PM — The electronics and psychedelics of Oranssi Pazuzu are really cool. I should have paid more attention to this band.
4:48 PM — Slowing things down a bit with Toby Driver’s new age project Alora Crucible. It’s pretty enough, but 10 minutes in, I am still waiting for it to develop into something more than a yoga class background music jam.
5:17 PM — It did not.
5:31 PM — Listened most of Alora Crucible from the lounge where they pipe down the music from that stage. Very relaxing, better way to experience it than the venue!
5:33 PM — Then sludge legends Kylesa reformed on the main stage. No second drummer sadly, but what a treat to see this band live again! Last time was at Graspop in 2011.
6:44 PM — Waiting for Faetooth to start. Their first European gig!
Dolphin Whisperer: love Faetooth, they got a new album on the horizon I believe
7:10 PM — Faetooth is decent but not amazing, the vocals are a bit one-note at least on stage. Some nice riffs and I wouldn’t have minded finishing the gig but my feet are too dead to settle for decent right now. At least we can still listen to them for a bit outside the venue.
9:20 PM — After a good big meal we went to the main stage for envy.
And it’s already entrancing just a few minutes in.
9:31 PM — I am in love, this is the greatest thing I discovered today. The intense and concentrated emotion divided between melancholic post-rock and colossal outbursts of post-metal-hardcore is divine.
This is their 2003 album, tomorrow they will play a modern era set.
Dolphin Whisperer: envy good
well WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME
Cherd of Doom: See, bands playing multiple themed sets is exactly why I’d love to go to Roadburn. The Inter Arma sets last year for instance
10:29 PM — Envy was my favorite show of the day easily. So intense, so emotional.
10:39 PM — Black Curse is apparently overrun, so instead we decided to wait for Concrete Winds. Dame Area was still playing in that venue, so we thought we’d check it out. We walked in and walked back out like Grandpa Simpson.
Dolphin Whisperer: CONCRETE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDS
11:30 PM — Concrete Winds sounds good for dense death metal but I am honestly too tired for death metal this dense.
12:42 AM — But I stuck it out! It was intense, but pretty cool. Sadly my phone died halfway through.
Day 2 (Friday, 18th of April)
12:49 PM — Heading in for the first performance on the bill today, a collab of Throwing Bricks and Ontaard. They’ve collaborated successfully before on record, but this is a new commissioned piece.
1:19 PM — It’s fucking awesome! 8 musicians on stage, massive sound, but the balance is great and it’s emotionally devastating.
The sound quality is also much better than most Engine Room performances.
Between the two bands you also have a lot of variety. Male and female vocals, synths, violin, two drummers. Gorgeous.
1:49 PM — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of ‘beautiful serene passage, suddenly interrupted by the most devastating wall of noise.’
2:54 PM — Midwife was very pretty, very demure, and very much not what I was looking for right now. Sort of a shoegaze, dreampop, slowcore thing that feels more appropriate for a summer sunset than a dark crowded hall and foot pain. Will check again later!
3:20 PM — Now for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival: Messa playing their new album The Spin in full!
3:41 PM — Their stage presence is a bit static, but the album and execution thereof are so good it’s easy to forgive.
Dolphin Whisperer: They don’t typically have a big stage presence from what I gather. They didn’t when I saw em in a small club
5:11 PM — After Messa we intended to see CHVE, the solo project of Colin [van Eeckhout] from Amenra. The line was pretty long, so we declined to join it. But it was all speed 0 soundscapes and were even boring when listening from the lounge.
Dolphin Whisperer: why go fast when you can go sloooooooooooooooooooooow
5:13 PM — But now it’s time for round 2 of envy! Loved em so much yesterday, we wanted seconds. Today is the modern set, including all of Eunoia, their 2024 album.
6:36 PM — Envy was once again beautiful and crushing.
6:39 PM — After envy we went to queue for 40 Watt Sun. Patrick Walker is doing a solo show in Paradox, the jazz club, and it’s bound to be jam-packed. Thankfully we got in! Now having another beer and waiting for the man to make us weep.
7:02 PM — Walker surveying the crowd: “That does not look comfortable.”
7:34 PM — Between songs this man is the funniest fucker alive, then he starts playing again and instantly it’s misty eyes and goosebumps. What a character, what a musician.
8:52 PM — Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Korean fried chicken.
9:22 PM — Now waiting for Genital Shame.
10:20 PM — Genital Shame was decent, but couldn’t hold our attention. Also I was much too close to the speakers and the kick drums were overpowering the guitars. Caught a friend heading out and decided to follow her to Gnod Drop Out with White Hills.
11:04 PM — Gnod was very particular music for a very particular audience under a particularly large amount of drugs. Endlessly spooling 70’s space rock psychedelics. We didn’t stay long. Instead we opted for Thou, playing Umbilical on the main stage.
Dolphin Whisperer: THOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU
11:19 PM
I always kind of skirted around Thou, but they put on a good show. Unforgivingly harsh and unstoppably heavy, with the biggest riffs I’ve heard today. I don’t feel the amount of heart I got from the best performances today, but it’s a fun and filthy way to end the day.
Day 3 (Saturday, 19th of April)
1:54 PM — Scarfed down a fresh stroopwafel, brought my ebook for breaks and waits, and shuffled into the Terminal for Dødheimsgard!
They’re playing Black Medium Current front to back.
2:05 PM — It’s more of a sardine pressure vat than a sardine can in here.
2:11 PM — But the show is great! The big hall works for the expansive spacy black metal and the band is performing with fire
2:38 PM — We escaped the crowd to join a different one and check out Haatdrager, a project from students at the Metal Factory in Eindhoven. Claustrophobic electro-laden sludge. It’s fucking awesome!
2:44 PM — The vocalist is a very talented young woman. Throat ripping screams, but she also focuses on flow and rhythm in a more hip-hop fashion which gives the music an urban fusion flair akin to Backxwash and dälek.
Dolphin Whisperer: Like and subscribe
3:42 PM — We left for ice cream, then headed back to catch the off-kilter hardcore punk of Gillian Carter.
3:49 PM — Instrumentation is cool, sharp riffs with unexpected turns and skronks. Vocals are very one-note though. Will try to get into Grey Aura instead.
3:52 PM — Samantha compared the vocals [of Gillian Carter] to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit sinking into the Dip and it is 100% accurate.
4:29 PM — Grey Aura was worse though. Embarrassing vocals honestly. Yelling like he wanted the kids to get off his lawn.
Tyme: Boooo! Too bad. I dig Grey Aura.
Dolphin Whisperer: That’s really sad to hear :(
5:09 PM — We grabbed a drink and intended to get in line for Uniform. And so we did, but the Terminal filled to capacity before we got there. Not willing to face another sardine pressure vat, we went with plan B: a collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother. Now waiting for that while giving our feet a rest on the main stage steps.
Tyme: Sumac?? Hmmmmmm. Interesting
Dolphin Whisperer: Sumac + Moor Mother sounds the kinda collab that is so high art it may be impossible to sniff it. Hope it’s enjoyable
You’re not far off. It doesn’t feel like they managed to glue freeform activist hiphop and sludge doom together cohesively. More like switching between the Moor Mother bits with heavy guitars, then Sumac bits where they play actual riffs.
6:23 PM — We left to see Coilguns instead. That turned out to be the right decision. Frantic hardcore punk with ketamine energy and acidic left field swerves; it’s not always sane but it’s highly entertaining!
6:25 PM — The vocalist is especially all over the place, pulling himself across the stage by the afro and using 5 different styles and inflections in the same song
6:29 PM — Also met one of our Discord users, inkster.
Dolphin Whisperer: inky is very social + nice
She was! We left before the end because it was a long set and our feet are so fucked, but Sammy and I had fun watching Coilguns with her for a bit
8:52 PM — Caught a couple songs from Denisa after dinner. A sort of raw post-punk meets Emma Ruth Rundle from Indonesia. Not extraordinary, but solid, sung and played with heart.
9:38 PM — Also a few songs from Doodseskader’s set. First saw them opening for Alcest, and their stark, raw nu-sludge, with intense visuals synced to the music, hasn’t lost its potency.
9:43 PM — Altın Gün is a big change of pace, though. They play a mixture of psychedelic rock and Turkish traditional music. It’s very danceable, but for me it lacks a little oomph, a bit of grit.
11:21 PM — Bidding the day goodnight with Chat Pile. They play their music well, but I was hoping that’d be enough to make me enjoy their music more, and it isn’t. Still, it’s an effective, brusque brand of spasmodic aggression. The frontman pacing back and forth barefoot in shorts like he’s in the Ministry of Funny Walks is quite the choice.
11:38 PM — Okay, “Why” was a hoot, fair is fair
Tyme: Still sounds like you’re having a blast tho!
I gotta admit it, that was a pretty fucking fun show yeah
Day 4 (Sunday, April 20th)
10:04 AM — Mild hangover. Went to the local metal dive bar last night with some of our festival pals. Partied til 3:30 am. I am getting too old for this shit. Except fuck that, it was a ton of fun and I’ll fucking do it again!
2:01 PM — Dragged my husk to the Terminal to see Vuur & Zijde play Boezem, which I gave a very positive review a few months ago. Curious to see how it plays on stage!
2:53 PM — Though the music was performed perfectly well, a giant industrial hall is probably not the ideal venue for Vuur & Zijde. I think they’d do better in a more intimate setting. But some minor sound issues aside, it was a pretty good show overall.
2:56 PM — Halfway through we decided to move to the smaller Hall of Fame to check out Bacht’n de Vulle Moane, a band that’s only a year old and supposedly plays some intense black metal festuring analog electronics.
3:05 PM — “Good evening Roadburn!” Dude it’s 3 pm.
3:14 PM — This sounds less like black metal with electronics and more like someone yelling over muddy hardstyle.
3:26 PM — It didn’t annoy me, but it did bore me. I didn’t come here for techno.
Dolphin Whisperer: Every time is the evening if you’re playing black metal
That’s great, maybe they should have tried that instead of playing techno haha
4:01 PM — Just watched an animated short movie called The Hunter made by Costin Chioreanu. Quite cool, though the plot was lost on me. Pretty imagery though!
4:32 PM — Frente Abierto plays flamenco, but a dark and heavy variation thereof. Interesting, but not really to my tastes.
6:11 PM — Michael Gira’s set with Kristof Hahn (both from Swans) was an exercise in patience. Slow droning soundscapes, eventually joined by slow droning vocals. At some point I could no longer stand the slow droning.
6:13 PM — Turns out Sumac has quite a lot of slow droning soundscapes as well. I don’t need to like everything Roadburn has to offer, but gee golly, I hope I’ll enjoy at least one thing more than Vuur & Zijde today.
7:37 PM — With a belly full of noodles we plowed on back to the Terminal to catch a slice of Big|Brave. More slow droning soundscapes, but the vocals help give it a slightly better sense of progression. Still, when the song devolves into crash cymbal taps and nothing else for a few minutes, I do get a bit restless.
7:41 PM — When the buildup is more noticeable the music is much more enjoyable, thankfully, and the vocals are powerful.
7:48 PM — All in all a good performance that requires a bit more patience than my exhaustion has left me with.
9:03 PM — Bo Ningen, heavy psych rock from Japan, is a lot of fun and the first thing with this much energy today. Quite diverse, exploring different moods and textures.
9:25 PM — They manage both heartfelt space-outs and extended high-octane jams. Exciting show and excellent musicians!
9:35 PM — “This will be our last song!”
They still had 15 minutes.
They still went over time.
10:58 PM — Closing out the festival for us is Haunted Plasma. The glitzy darkwave with an edge reminds me of that scene in Blade with the vampire nightclub. The woman on the mic has a sweet spectral presence. A bit one-note, but otherwise very enjoyable and a worthy festival finale.
Even though the line-up was a bit frontloaded this year, it still resulted in some of the most hardest-hitting and affecting live music I’ve yet experienced, even from bands I’d never heard of in the first place. Both envy shows and the Throwing Bricks collaboration with Ontaard were the stuff of legends, and this kind of discovery is what makes Roadburn such a joy to return to, year after year. And it’s all the sweeter having a great group of friends to experience it with, as my partner and I attended few shows without at least one other friend by our side. So dear reader… same time next year?
#40WattSun #Alcest #AloraCrucible #AltınGün #Amenra #BachtNDeVulleMoane #Backxwash #BigBrave #BlogPost #BlogPosts #BoNingen #ChatPile #CHVE #Coilguns #ConcreteWinds #Dälek #DameArea #Denisa #Dödheimsgard #Doodseskader #EmmaRuthRundle #Envy #Faetooth #FrenteAbierto #GenitalShame #GillianCarter #Glassing #Gnod #GreyAura #Haatdrager #HauntedPlasma #InterArma #Kylesa #Messa #Midwife #MoorMother #Ontaard #OranssiPazuzu #Sumac #Swans #Thou #ThrowingBricks #Uniform #VuurZijde #WhiteHills
bless whoever told neige from alcest in the mid-2000s that the metal album he recorded in his mom's basement sounds like my bloody valentine
One more I gotta recommend. This was actually where I started when I first found out about this aspect #Alcest
This one is like that too and it’s amazing. And there’s quite a few more, seems like at least a track or two on almost every album. #Alcest
Wow, today I learned that there are a bunch of #Alcest songs where Neige’s vocals have no lyrics, it’s just improvised nonsense gibberish, series of syllables that fit the music. Like Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteaux, or Jónsi in Sigur Rós, — and now I love them more than ever
Alcest
05.06.2025 Bremen / Schlachthof
Happy Birthday to Neige #Alcest . Merci, Neige 💜 💫
https://open.spotify.com/track/1RGLGeg5LK73GeZDSYYnEy?si=806fabb121f2437b
#sundaySoundtrack has me back to making my way through #Alcest ‘s discography, and I’m up to _Shelter_ which although I wouldn’t mind if it had a higher doom quotient, I love that it was recorded at @sigurros ’s old converted swimming-pool studio in Iceland, and the (English!) lyrics on “Away” are all-time
By Thus Spoke
We tend to underestimate how great a role knowledge of the artist plays when experiencing their art. Even if unfamiliar with their work, the awareness of them as a person (or group of people) whose intentions are either plain or discoverable through interviews, notes, or academic consensus informs our opinions insidiously but inevitably. In an age when self-promotion is easier than ever thanks to the internet, a musician choosing to remain anonymous speaks to a desire to center their music in as absolute a way as possible. Who comprises Blood Abscission, and how many of them are there? That may never be known.1 All that exists is their art. This too eschews identity beyond numbers: sophomore II following in inevitability debut I, and all tracks bearing only the numerals of their album position. We must listen to II exactly as it is, with only Blood Abscission’s solemn proclamation as potential guide: “United in pain, we step into the abyss – not as mere individuals, but as a collective force seeking meaning within the chaos, finding a voice in the silence between the stars.”
Though I discovered it in retrospect—the debut having been dropped via self-release with zero fanfare—II continues exactly as I began. Blistering, raw-adjacent atmospheric black metal, relentless beyond the occasional lapses into dreamy gaziness where the keyboards shine and feedback hums (“III,” “IV”), not unlike a synth-obsessed Alcest. Its intensity, the desperate, unintelligible screams of the vocalist, and the grand melodic themes see-sawing between melancholy beauty and eerie dissonance bring to mind Aara on one face (“I,” “V”), Decoherence the other (“II”). II feels like an exercise in pure catharsis, the repeated climaxes of ever-fiercer roars and ascending tremolos communicating only unfiltered emotion, and the contrastive stillness a cleansing indifference. With no identifiable words, and even the muffled samples dampened beyond comprehension, II’s features are solely confined to this ebb and flow, amplifying once more the facelessness and pure aesthetic centrality that Blood Abscission impose by not naming it, or themself. It is a musical black hole, both in atmosphere and sparseness of properties, and is appropriately powerful.
Unlike an actual black hole, II is something we can escape from, though Blood Abscission do a good job of holding you in place. At its most ardent peaks, when beauty pitches fearsomely into urgency, it is hard to ignore, let alone switch off (“II,” “V”). The moves from one state of being to another are smooth, regardless of their speed—whether neo-second-wave and assured to a vulnerable undulation between sorrowfulness and heartenedness (“I”), or gentle contentment to grieving resolution (“III”). “IV”‘s emanation out of the chiming whine of “III,” and procession into the torrent that opens “V,” is not just an obvious example of this compositional fluidity, but itself proves to be a thoroughly absorbing interlude that belies its length. II repeatedly invites introspection, and does so through its rawness that reaches beyond the way the vocals and instruments are mastered, a corollary of the necessary focus on the sweep of its melodies, interplay between airy keys and darker riffing, and the tides dictated by pleasingly crisp percussion. The echoing croon of an escaped tremolo, the escalation of a minor refrain into devastation, and the torture of a conclusive shriek—with the closing act of “V” standing as the album’s crowning glory in this regard—are notably affecting.
Yet II’s consistency in perdurance is a double-edged sword. While full immersion grants the listener an undoubtedly intense and emotional experience, less conscious enjoyment threatens to leave them a little cold, outside of standout apexes at least. Perhaps this is always a danger with atmo-black, particularly of this more unrestrained and unstructured variety. I can testify that after spending some time with it, its magnitude seems greater than it did initially, thanks to deeper appreciation of its nuances, but even the influence of II’s potency doesn’t eliminate flaws entirely. II could stand to be a shade shorter, to give every moment more impact; something not needed so much by its peaks, but from which some of its lingering passages would gain better standing as transitions of beneficial steadiness between outbursts.
With so much atmospheric and raw black metal out there that might as well be anonymous for all its uniformity and ironic placidity, Blood Abscission stand out not only with real anonymity, but music that speaks for itself. In form resisting memorability, in actuality quite impactful and resilient, II shows what the genre is capable of. Even if it lacks the concrete immediacy to solidify it into long-standing greatness, its noise is not meaningless, and its meaning is not lost, however imprecise it might seem.
Rating: Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Debemur Morti
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: April 11th, 2025
#2025 #30 #Aara #Alcest #AmbientBlackMetal #Apr25 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #BloodAbscission #DebemurMortiProductions #Decoherence #II #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews
both the latest deafheaven and alcest albums have songs named "amethyst" (in either english or french, respectively) and honestly I think that's funny
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