I found this gem while browsing the internet. I saw the cover and the album title, thought that it must be something special, as the title is very inspirative. And I thought right, although I was yet unprepared for what was to come. Labelled as atmospheric black metal, I expected some slow, droning and lukewarm hymns of dullness drenched in random noises and electronic ''embellishments'', as many (pseudo)atmospheric bands write. But, fortunately, I was wrong.
This band is all about atmosphere. The production is raw, but this adds to the album's numerous strong points. The guitars are clean and have a thick, full and rich sound; they are clean, unlike other raw albums, the reverb they have brings to the listeners' ears consonant, repetitive, haunting, almost trance-inducing beautiful and highly evocative riffs that create a ''wall of sound'', while keys support the riffs and also play many leading lush and eerie melodies, but they never smother the guitar. As for the drums, it seems it's a drum machine, but the rhythm is varied within each song, so the music is not one-dimensional. They are pretty low in the mix, so that more than often they resound like distant heartbeats, especially cymbals, albeit bass drums are thundering throughout. Vocals sound genuinely evil. They are not very varied, but they are performed with heartfelt conviction, being of the rasping variety, similar to Legion's vocal work. They have also an echoing effect added to them, as everything here has, purveying the grim atmosphere. They are not high in the mix, but rather seem to blend with the instruments, sounding like an additional instrument, while remaining audible. Of special mention are the beautiful and poetic lyrics. They possess a dark and menacing imagery, while retaining poetic beauty, being somewhat hermetic and highly metaphorical, with a mystic and a pagan undertone, evoking man's bounds with nature.
All songs are lengthy, the whole album having a duration of an hour, roughly, but there is no filler and not a single momoent of dullness, as it's very easy to immerse oneself into the music. There are six songs and three instrumental synth pieces: an intro, an interlude and an outro. All these are about three minutes of length. Unlike other such pieces that end being skipped, these are very good. A friend not into metal told me he felt unease while they played, so they are truly full of dread; while they give me goose bumps. The intro is especially haunting. It is eerie and brings haunting fullmoon nights to mind. The interlude is melancholic and full of longing.
The whole atmosphere and ambience of this album is a mystic experience, like really walking in a forest by a fullmoon night in winter; a truly rewarding and enthralling listen, best experienced when listening to it with headphones, as to fully catch every subtlety. I highly recommend this album and Evilfeast in general to every dark soul and urge everyone who did not discover Evilfeast to immerse himself into this true piece of art.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
