So you want a complicated metal review eh? How about this review of Blut Aus Nord's
The Work That Transforms God. It's a pretty freaky album in its own right and definitely an acquired taste, but see for yourself. ( Hey Mav, I wasn't lying when I said that there was great French black metal [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"
\" border=\"0\" alt=\"wink.gif\" /] )
Abstractions Of A Natural Kind (rewrite) - 91%
Written by Thamuz on August 23rd, 2004
A vast and silent darkness waits as the lone source of somethingness - life has not yet been realised, nor in fact has death. Into the inexplicable void came a faint howling, an unearthly humming, resonating from beyond the veil of darkness. Suddenly lattices upon lattices of ghastly matter encapsulated the emptiness of the void, filling it with a sullen, alienated sense of supreme beauty – an abstract far surpassing human cognition. This spawn of unknowable origin soon sprouted iridescence, giving birth to Life, yet still veiled its inner mysterious with complex irrationality. In such a way God was transformed into Nature and beyond, a part of all of us and none of us.
Whilst previously Blut Aus Nord with such works as “Ultima Thulee” took us through the reflections of the magnificence of an icy wonderland with neo-classical keyboard driven compositions, they try a much different avenue on this offering. “The Work That Transforms God” explores the alienation of Nature as an irrational being with all its feral meaninglessness. This task is undertaken by forging unearthly dissonance with industrial overtones to create a mechanical, inhumane and unforgiving soundscape that contemplates the supreme efficiency of Nature as an entity. The meticulous production invites us into an abstract world via the layers upon layers of otherworldly sounds – the deranged voices of ghouls bearing the messages of Life itself. It is not by accident that this sounds more akin to reality than anything does in modern society.
The instrumentation is largely minimalist and plods along at a pace that doesn’t go beyond a gallop, at oft times visiting droning tempos. This combined with the many layers of ghoulish background voices, and abyssal atmospheric presences that are virtually buried underneath the surface create a vortex of utter dislocation from the world. From this the song structures meander in and out of flowing “unmusical” dissonant passages, at times making use of more conventional melodic techniques to streamline into a different mood. The guitar sequences entwine together in the most subtle of ways - twisted in despondency, they howl like hellish winds. The vocals, low shrieks bathed in sufferance, act as another layer to the sound, blending in with subtle poise with the awkward style of the guitars. The result in a masterful song writing ploy that cannot be broken down into separate pieces, or even separate songs, but can only be viewed as a complete package – a journey of epic proportions.
The presence of a drum machine usually creates the feeling that the music isn’t natural, but it works perfectly here, fitting into the dark industrial laced theme with selective use of blast beats and a lot of slower beats that accentuate the mood. This artificiality is the perfect way of capturing the meticulously efficient alien being that is Nature. This concept is also conveyed with a few short atmospheric interludes that range from eerie wind tunnel effects to strange keyboard pieces. These barren wanderings take the listener to the void, after staring into such an abyss one cannot help but admire the imagination of this recording. We are here reminded that no matter how well we try to hide the darkness in our lives Death is always lurking with his ice cold touch.
The result of this sonic exploration is ambience in abundance. The industrial influences assimilated into the Black Metal palette create an atmosphere that is chilling, evil, yet beautiful at the same time. This is an artwork that is the celebration of esotericism, about self-exploration and transcending the social normality that prevents us from seeing beauty in Life and Nature. It is stunning artistic feats such as this that render claims that Black Metal is dead as outlandish. Blut Aus Nord, replete with imagination and a flowing spirit, are one of the leading members of a group that will see the next evolution of Black Metal as a worthy art form.
What do you make of that review? [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"
\" border=\"0\" alt=\"wink.gif\" /]
This isn't being very on-topic is it? :: *prepares for the infernal pagan flames of the moderators*
\" border=\"0\" alt=\"cool.gif\" /]
\" border=\"0\" alt=\"tongue.gif\" /]
\" border=\"0\" alt=\"smile.gif\" /]