Cold icewinds sweep my weightless body over the bridge to unknown lands. The fog was thick before me as I fell into the unknown realms. The darkness had fallen before me, as I saw my body fall into the ground. I am far away, I am far away from the sun… Beyond All Horizons features shorter reviews dedicated solely to black metal: a new release, an older album (a month, a year, a decade, or perhaps even longer), concluded with a hand-picked track of the week.
Time to get back into the swing of things with this column… new black metal releases never stop, and neither should we. On the docket today is a mishmash of black metal subgenres: new depressive from Dysthymia, a folk-laden throwback with Sort Storm, and lastly a track from ’10s Enslaved that I’ve taken to more than normal recently… no, the coverage of my favorite band will not cease as long as I still breathe.
New & Trve: Dysthymia — The Morning Darkness
Depressive black metal is a subgenre that I’ve never latched on to. Perhaps it’s the inspiration from the gothic side of doom which I’m also not a fan of, or maybe I’ve just never quite felt the despair necessary for the intended catharsis. Thankfully New Englanders Dysthymia present a much more enjoyable take with their second full-length The Morning Darkness, largely due in part to the power and rawness of the production. Crushingly heavy guitars are far closer to the doom side of things than I would’ve expected… whether plodding riffs suited for the tones used, or your standard blackened walls of chords. Vocalist Grushenka Ødegård’s tortured howls clash with muted cleans that tend to stay in the back of the mix, each contributing equally to the overwhelming melancholia of Dysthymia’s sound. The real star though, are the warm and prominent basslines that cut through like a solitary ray of light amongst an unbearable gloom of clouds, shining right away on opener “I Live With What You Created.”
The mix is definitely primitive and a bit unpolished — pick scrapes abound and there’s a degree of emptiness to it, yet that is to The Morning Darkness‘ benefit — but the mixing/mastering job of Jori Apedaile (Eneferens) delicately balances the line between unfinished and passionate with a raw beauty. Compositionally, Dysthymia do a great job of switching up between slow, doom-inspired riffs and blast beat fare across the album’s five tracks. All but the middle track “To Choose Life Is to Choose Grief” are around the 8-10 minute mark, giving the band plenty of time to explore and wallow in despair; said track ends perhaps before it should have as a result, so maybe it could’ve been explored a bit further. “We Can Never Go Back” is a definite standout with its gorgeous clean guitar intro, soaring leads, and extended sections of faster tempos that provide a respite from the doom felt throughout the album. As raw and gut-wrenchingly cathartic as the band no doubt envisioned it to be, The Morning Darkness will hopefully serve the same purpose for all of its listeners, whether cautious rookies like myself or seasoned DSBM veterans.
The Morning Darkness will be available August 21 through Red Nebula (USA) and Hypnotic Dirge Records (Europe). For more information on Dysthymia, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.
(Slightly) Old & Cold: Sort Storm – I Vinternatt
I listened to I Vinternatt — the debut full-length from Norwegian duo Sort Storm — just after its release back in June, but at the time it didn’t really grab me. Revisiting the album has helped to teach a lesson that we can easily forget in our internet-forward world of endless accessibility to music. Simply put, it sometimes pays to dig in and listen to things multiple times; don’t instantly move on to the next album you bought during Bandcamp Friday or whatever is recommended by your streaming service of choice! Back in the physical-only days an album was a more concrete investment of your time and money, so even if it didn’t hook you immediately there was a good chance you’d listen to it again. But enough yapping, you’re reading this for black metal recommendations… so what does the album actually have in store? It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but is a great showcase of one of the best tendencies to come out of second wave Norway. On I Vinternatt Sort Storm present a pastoral form of black metal that draws from the early days of folk elements woven into the genre, notably the early works of Ulver and Satyricon.
Incessant trem-picking in the vein of Nattens Madrigal and the first trio of Taake albums make way for “pagan” moments which take shape in the form of prominent acoustic guitar melodies and echoing, ethereal clean vocals (more than a slight nod to the masterwork that is Bergtatt, of course). The switch up from blistering black metal to these dreamlike sections can be quite jarring, particularly on opening tracks “Svartsinn” and “Jorden skal meg fortære”; this is black metal after all, and such bluntness is likely what the band were going for. At the very least Sort Storm do not overstay their welcome, with I Vinternatt‘s runtime only reaching just over 30 minutes. Closer “Denne vinternatt” is notable for any fellow Bergtatt lovers, as it unleashes some soaring leads that recall the iconic “Capitel I: I troldskog faren vild” from that album. Just raw enough without losing any of its forested qualities, Sort Storm present a fantastic throwback to some of the best of the 90s with this release.
I Vinternatt is available now through Sonorous Night. For more information on Sort Storm, check out their Bandcamp page.
Twilight Hour: Enslaved — “Daylight”
While it’s rare that I go any length of time without listening to Enslaved, I’ve really been drawn to this track as of late. The closer of 2015’s In Times, “Daylight” is a pretty special song within the greater Enslaved discography, and one that would hint at things to come on later albums. The doomy riff that bookends the song is crushing and apocalyptic, in addition to the harsh/clean interplay between Grutle Kjellson and Herbrand Larsen during the verses… but the heart of this song lies in its bridge section. Grutle’s ferocious roars of “The instigation of doom / All united in timelessness” suddenly give way to a cloud break of soft chords, and a beautiful sunbeam in the form of Larsen’s “Dawning marks the new battle / The wounds can heal or mark the end / All times in a single heartbeat.”
I thought his melody here was already one of his best contributions to Enslaved at the time of release, but given that In Times was his last recording with the band it makes the section extra moving; like a sort of pre-farewell to the band and their fans. It also hints at the calmness and beauty that would later appear on tracks like “Feathers of Eolh” and “Distant Seasons.” And as if the song couldn’t get any better, Ice Dale next unleashes what is easily one of his best guitar solos, channeling David Gilmour in an epic, bombastic, “Comfortably Numb”-esque fashion. Something about the lyrics concerning both the vastness and insignificance of time, space, and our own part in it, the circular nature of all these things, beginnings and endings… it hits harder than normal right now for whatever reason. Darkness and light, heaviness and beauty, “Daylight” is an incredible closer to a fantastic album and one of the best tracks that Ivar Bjørnson and company have ever recorded.
In Times is available now through Nuclear Blast Records. For more information on Enslaved, check out their official website.
— Colin
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