Seer of Gallows "Entropy of Holocene" LP vinyl

Black vinyl w/ lyrics sheet. Limited to 300 copies.

After the fantastic debut full length by Chilean black metal underground dwellers Nigredo Schattenkult has come up with the next monstrous release. Seer of Gallows are a new band from Sweden with not much info being available. From what I found out this project is driven by one man and “Entropy of Holocene” is his debut full length. And boy, what a crushing and brilliant first effort this one is. Easily among the very best albums of the year and something that has to be checked out by each fan of the genre. It is that good.
Most of the time whenever the term “black/death” or “blackened death” is used stuff like Behemoth or old Dissection comes to mind. A lot of blast sections, wild tremolo runs and some technical firework. Seer of Gallows might also fall under the same sub-genre, but the approach is a different one. If you have not listened to the music yet the best way to describe it is something along the lines of what Grave would sound if they added some blackish harmonies. Or the other way round it could be argued Seer of Gallows took a classic second wave black metal blueprint and enhanced it by some death metal patterns and hired Martin van Drunen to do the vocals.
That might sound not too spectacular in the first place, but the end result is a sinister masterpiece. The haunting atmosphere and the soul-piercing guitar lines are a constant thread over the whole playing time. This is slithering, dark music that epitomizes the style and uses the tools at its disposal to great effect. These tracks are both melodic and atmospheric without being overly so with shards of melody being used as weapons to grab the listener and don’t let go. These songs are paeans to darkness and evil, manifesting in dark worship and malevolent moods. The cold and raspy vocals are the icing on the cake and while some might have preferred a more traditional approach they work outstandingly well here.
The guitar tone is gritty and raw, adding to the overall brutal sound. The riffs are powerful and remind of some of the big classics that had been released in the nineties. The solo sections are kept short and fresh while never overstaying their welcome, but they are played absolutely on point. The whole record just feels really energetic and scabious and made my blood rushing while listening to the music. Seer of Gallows use a quite traditional way to build up the songs, but the tracks never sound overly simplistic or boring. The combination of the stoic rhythms and the solid instrumental work is presented in a way that one does not stand in the way of the other.
Taking a deeper look at the song structures it becomes clear that there is more to the music than just rawness and aggression. Clever moments like short break-downs or variation of the main riffs and a few rhythm changes put in the right places enhance the sound. Those elements are used in a way to not disturb the flow, and are woven into the walls of brutal sound. Enhanced by atmospheric and slightly dissonant elements and some slower sections the record feels like a sinister trip into the pits of the void. Even as the rippling chords rise like fire, the feelings of delirium they channel are often either cruel or despairing, and in either case are devoid of hope.
“Entropy of Holocene” is a massive release and also comes with a dynamic and powerful production. In case you are mainly into lo-fi black metal with thin guitars and tinny drums you might have come to the wrong place, as the buzzing guitar tone and the brooding bass are absolutely crushing. Otherwise you will probably adore how the light seeps out of your soul for nearly 40 minutes. Thanks to Seer of Gallows for this experience.

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