August 2022 Feature Release - The North Edition
So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.
This month's feature for The North has been nominated by myself and is Thy Darkened Shade's 2014 album Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet, an album that impressed me greatly at the time but that I haven't heard for quite a while, despite owning a CD copy. So I'm looking forward to revisiting it to see if it still holds up and hearing what the rest of you think of it.
I quite liked this album although it hasn't really realized its full potential in my opinion. It's a classic case of style over substance with great emphasis being placed on the strong level of musicianship that each band member possesses, especially session drummer Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist/Eternity's End/Hate Eternal/Obscura/Triptykon) who I've always admired. Grossmann's blast beats are nothing short of exceptional here & are the clear highlight of the album, despite some wonderfully inventive & quite melodic black metal guitar work. I don't know where the links to death metal are coming from as this is quite clearly a black metal release however I'd be happy enough with a progressive black metal tag as it's clearly a more ambitious record than your average tremolo-picked Satanfest. Perhaps the deeper vocal delivery is where people are drawing the death metal reference from but if that's the case then they're perhaps not all that familiar with the Greek black metal scene. I do think that Thy Darkened Shade were pushing the friendship a little with the 76 minute run time but admittedly they maintain a consistent quality throughout. The songs do tend to sound a little samey after a while though & I can't but feel that a bit of quality control might have resulted in a much stronger product. Still... there's a lot to like about "Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet". I'm just not sure I can see myself returning to it all that often.
For fans of Acrimonious, Abigor & Dissection.
3.5/5
It'd be great if you can keep this Hall of Judgement submission in mind while checking out this month's feature release guys:
I am going to come right out and say it. It is criminal that I have been unaware of this record for the last eight years. Given I already went in for a vinyl purchase within two weeks of hearing it for the first time, this should be evidence enough of my desire to rectify this wrong. First off, although I get the Mayhem, Abigor, Dissection and even Deathspell Omega vibes, I do think this is one of the most refreshing and unique black metal albums I have ever heard.
It flirts with the progressive elements throughout the experience without ever showing full on commitment to them in the long term. The always audible bass casts some aspersions about the progressive tendencies of the record in that I do not think that it always intends to sound progressive. Unlike with Onirik (another one of my unique favourite finds from recent years) this bass is not always climbing or expanding the ether of the music intentionally. In short, it is just well played and well placed in the arrangements and overall mix.
Of course, there is a lot more to Lvcifer Liber… than just the bass. The guitars fill the very air around them with their (again) progressive melodicism and warm Hellenic style. When combined with the passages of chant and mantras they work well together to build a lush and uncomfortable cosiness to the two short instrumental tracks that open sides A and B of the record. Early in the record it becomes clear that Thy Darkened Shade can be rhythmic machine when the tendency takes them. With an almost black ‘n roll catchiness they can move from occult driven atmospheres to infectiously memorable passages with adhesive-like qualities.
Drummer Hannes Grossman (credited only in a “guest” capacity) gives a great performance, varying between blastbeats and more measured elements he shows a real array of skills over an hour and near twenty minutes. This is not a rampant display by any means – his impact is much more subtle and considered in comparison to the rest of the instrumentation. With Semjaza handling everything else barring vocals, it is left to the mysterious The A to add a very Mayhemesque influence to the construct. I did find the vocals to be the weaker part of the machine initially, largely because they were so predictable, but they are well balanced with the cleaner mantras from Semjaza that I soon concluded that overall, they work without them necessarily needing to be on a par with everything else that is going on.
This is an album that rewards with repeated visits, subtly pushing your experience of the boundary expansion with each return listen. For me at first it just sounded like a melodic bm record with some clever parts but it is a lot more calculated than that and it has taken me seven or eight listens to truly get my head around what I have now proudly adorning the shelves of my vinyl collection.
4.5/5