“…Behold the failure of the creator, erroneous axiom …”
For nearly 20 years now, EMBRACE OF THORNS have built a prolific-yet-patient catalog that defies easy categorization. Deeply rooted in ancient black metal and death metal to be sure, these Greek iconoclasts' sound nevertheless has often been "too black metal" for most death metallers and "too death metal" for most black metallers - likewise, they preempted the bestial metal by at least four years, and later on solidified songwriting finesse far "too clean" for most bestial worshipers - and sadly, wider acclaim in the underground has eluded them. For those KNOW, though, the name Embrace of Thorns has come to mean a gold standard in black/death METAL, and while "acclaim" has never been in their lexicon, longtime supporters Iron Bonehead welcomes the band with the riveting Scorn Aesthetics.Whereas earlier Embrace of Thorns recordings - particularly their cult earliest albums, 2007's ...for I See Death in Their Eyes... and 2009's classic Atonement Ritual - melded the swarming, gibbering chaos of bestial black metal with the molten muscle of the most sepulchral death metal, with 2014's largely overlooked Darkness Impenetrable did the band cross a Rubicon, of sorts, into more streamlined and martial territory. It's a move that might've alienated the more underground-dwelling of Embrace of Thorns' potential fanbase, but one that made their name ever more unique, and they continue that upward/onward trajectory with Scorn Aesthetics.Encased in their most powerful and punishing production to date, which amplifies the band's growing clarity without sacrificing an ounce of grit, Scorn Aesthetics sees Embrace of Thorns firing on all cylinders...and then crushing them underfoot. Across the album's generous-yet-concise 43 minutes, each of these seven tracks builds with patience and poise, but somehow elusively convey a sense of explosion, detonation, immolation. The effect is one of vortextural churn 'n' spun, slipstreaming the listener into a roiling, ceaselessly humid mass but offering no hope nor reprieve. More generally, Scorn Aesthetics is built upon walls of RIFFS - be they "death metal," "black metal," or just pure METAL - all coalescing into an occult fury, immediately engaging every step of the way and memorable to the very end.
They are times of transcendence, those during which art truly undertakes the role of conductor/guide of the spirit (of the creators as well as the receivers). Reasonably, there are few artists who can achieve in creating such artifacts on a steady basis. Thus, it a great honor for the hellenic death/black metal scene to hold within its ranks -among others- a band that is the definition of what is described above, by the name of EMBRACE OF THORNS. Consisting of the restless spiritual duo of Archfiend Devilpig and Herald Of Demonic Pestilence and with the contribution of several supreme companions along all these years, EoT never rest assured to any (and there were and still are many) great words and reactions caused by their releases and live shows.In addition, they never tried to catch the eyes of people with big mouthed statements or public relations or generally anything but their Art and maybe this is why they still haven’t received the recognition they deserve. So be it though, the path of integrity is a lonely yet marvelous one… One would expect that after almost 20 years of existence, having crossed countless passages that led them to artistic peaks during the period of “Atonement Ritual” and “Praying Of Absolution”, the times of saturation and repetition would have come for them. Especially as far as “Praying…” was concerned, being one of the most unique manifestations of the occult within the abyssic death metal space, it could be the cornerstone of any subsequent release. Yet, stagnation is the fate of many but not EMBRACE OF THORNS. “Darkness Impenetrable” came soaring with aggressiveness, constituting a call to arms for those inspired from the forces of the nightside, leaving the listener almost breathless until the closing of “Aiwass Arisen”, the final track. And now what? Three years after the assault of “Darkness…” what seems to prevail within the souls of EoT is a deep awareness of the gloomy reality the demiurge conjured around us, which comes together with the affirmation that masses remain blind towards it. The fury and hate that spews out when one becomes aware of the above is the kick-off for “Scorn Aesthetics” with “The Wanderer And His Shadow” moving in frenzied rhythms produced from strings, drums and vocals. A first surprise comes from production perspective, which is more detailed than ever. Like the mist that was present until now, has subsided to give ground to the clarity necessary to perceive the false patterns of mundane every-day routine and, subsequently, to overcome it. In an equivalent tune, comes “Mutter Aller Leiden” (Mother of all Sorrows), which rhetorically wonders: “Are we bound to be led or not? No!”. Moreover, the devious intro of “Reducto Ad Absurdum” passes the torch on to the most anthemic riffs ever produced from the band’s core, with the shifting guitar leads becoming the gate to transcendental ecstasy. I really hope it will not be left out from their next live sets…
“Stoking The Fires Of Resentment” is the closing track of the record’s A side and it intensifies the Nietzsche-an fusion of melancholic solitude and conscious will to power which is omnipresent along the full 40-somehting minutes of the album. Tempo has fallen now to mid-paced states and the high-pitched ominous endings of the riffs become more and more frequent. The time of the counter-attack has come and the title-track, which begins in soundtrack-ish fashion, soon gears up to unleash hell, with its thrashing style and some perfect drum blasts. Slower parts are present here too, as dynamics and bitter melodies are an integral part of this release, which certainly is the most “metallic” moment among the EMBRACE discography; coming in connection to the production perception described earlier in order to achieve the concept behind “Scorn…”. Having reached the penultimate track, which is -in my opinion- the magnum opus of this creation, bearing an almost (if not fully) progressive structure regarding the interchange of rhythms, moods and vocal approached of this -blessed by Lucifer- throat, the feeling of a flame burning insideis impossible to ignore. The moment of Prometheus breaking his chains and bringing again the fire to a new humanity is upon us. Only this time, few will embrace and conquer it;the majority will be consumed by its flames. Within the insurmountable “Wolf Unchained/Prometheus Unbound” that concludes this masterpiece of an album, the “old” (rage, fury, war) and the “new” (solitude, awareness, counterattack) EMBRACE OF THORNS coexist in full harmony. If there’s one conclusion to be left after listening to “Scorn Aesthetics” (and admiring its splendid cover artwork), it would be the awakening of who we are and where we stand within this modern reality. And if we desire to overcome it, we must know that probably our journey on this rugged path will be an (almost) solitary one. But when there is will to power, then there is also no return…
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