In Dante’s Inferno, the second circle begins the proper punishment of Hell, a place where “no thing gleams.” It is reserved for those overcome with Lust, where carnal appetites hold sway over reason. In Nine Circles, it’s where we do shorter reviews of new (ish) albums that share a common theme.
For this edition of Second Circle we’ll dive into two atmospheric black metal albums that share in some lovely soundscapes and linguistic ambitions; one utilizing constructed languages and the other taking inspiration from a classic short story from Edgar Allan Poe. Let’s descend and see what Forgotten Winter and Sepulchre by the Sea have to offer us.
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Pioneered by Summoning and reaching its peak with Caladan Brood’s Echoes of Battle, “epic black metal” is a subgenre oft replicated but rarely comes close to the aforementioned greats. Portuguese duo Forgotten Winter present a highly choral and orchestral version of the style on fourth full-length Lucífugo. Compositionally there’s too much that differs from the genre leaders, with tremolo-picked guitar lines and blackened rasps weaving between pillars of synths and choir vocals. Keeping with the genre’s thematic foundations in the works of conlang master J.R.R. Tolkien, the duo employ the invented languages of Velmaer and Ertzakwy to tell a tale of an underground race of people who leave their cavernous domain, the gods they worship, and the building of a tower of corpses known as Ascralt.
Aiding in the storytelling aspect of the album, after a serene instrumental “Noite” the album really picks up the pace with “Sentinela Na Masmorra”; an ascending/descending symphonic melody carries the song through a number of different sections. At this point in the album the guitars tend to have more going on in terms of melody, akin to the change in sound Summoning underwent on Stronghold and Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame. If you’re someone who finds epic black metal to be too repetitive and samey in sound there’s a bountiful display of synth textures on Lucífugo, with strings, horns, harpsichord, and piano (along with numerous clean vocal styles) rounding out one of the more ambitious takes on the genre I’ve heard in recent memory.
Lucífugo will be available July 31 on Loudriver Records. For more information on Forgotten Winter, check out their Facebook page.
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Seven Chambers is a 45-minute song split into seven tracks representing the colors of the seven rooms featured in Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic horror short story “The Masque of the Red Death”; three longer tracks showcasing the black metal elements of the project’s sound, and four tracks implementing a number of sounds including piano, ambient, and an acoustic/clean vocal closer. The metal tracks are characterized by a heavily blackgaze-influenced sound of indie rock leads and shimmering clean guitars crescendoing into blast beats, chugging riffs, and more. “Orange Opulence” for example has a piano and strings break with sounds of revelry in the background, a clear reference to the isolated masquerade held in the castellated abbey of Prince Prospero… soon to be fatally interrupted by the Red Death. The finale of this track also features horns, something I can’t recall ever hearing in a blackgaze song before.
Ambitious as the concept of Seven Chambers is, the heavy sections of the album do suffer from a pretty rough mix in the guitars and especially the drum machine — I’m not going to fault the artist too much for this though (finding drummers ain’t easy!). With more time and a dedicated pair of hands on the mixing board, this album could go from bedroom blackgaze to something truly special. In the meantime there’s at least enough non-metal sections to keep your ears satisfied, and I hope to see bigger and better things from this project going forward.
Seven Chambers will be available August 2. For more information on Sepulchre by the Sea, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.
— Colin
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