The New Music Thread : The North Edition
Darkspace - Dark Space -II (2024)
Released 16th February
Darkspace is a vehicle for the impressive mind of Tobias Möckl, aka Wroth, aka Wintherr, the man behind Paysage d'Hiver and one of, if not the, premier exponent of frigid, frost-bitten atmospheric black metal, whether it be via the narrative journey of Paysage d'Hiver's Traveller through blizzard-riven forests or Darkspace's exploration of the icy voids of interstellar space.
It has been a decade since Darkspace last released any new material, while Wroth concentrated on Paysage d'Hiver, writing and recording the project's masterpiece Im Wald and then it's follow-up, Geister. Now that he has reached some sort of resolution with Paysage d'Hiver, he has been able to focus on Darkspace and this latest work, Dark Space -II. I think the minus 2 nomenclature is significant and places this latest piece before the very earliest Darkspace releases in the project's overall aesthetic timeline. This makes absolute sense, as it builds on elements from the early days, with Dark -1.0 from the first EP seemingly the base upon which the new album's sole track, Dark -2.-2 is built, the earlier work's ideas being expounded upon here, resulting in an expansive forty-seven minutes reworking of it's icy ambience.
The track begins with an emotionless female voice intoning scientific or philosophical theses over ambient keys, which continues throughout the entirety of the piece, but comes to the fore as an introduction and during an interval between the piece's two major "acts". After a few minutes, this ambient introduction is joined by programmed drums and a chugging, chunky, industrialised guitar riff that is reminiscent of the one used on the track Dark 1.2 from the 2003 debut full-length and which here sounds similar to the riff of Rammstein's Links 1-2-3-4. This industrial-sounding riff and the monotone way the spoken words are delivered sees Wroth exploring a different kind of coldness here, with reference to emotional frigidity in addition to his usual dissection of merely physical iciness, illustrating perfectly how the two can be equally debilitating. Eventually his own desperate shrieks and subdued black metal riffing join the fray, although they are deliberately buried down in the mix so as to merely add a further layer to the already-established ambient texture rather than taking centre stage and leading the way.
Around twenty minutes in, the riff subsides and we are treated to an interval of sorts with the spoken word outpourings of our female companion on this interstellar trip once more moving to centre stage. A portentious piano theme then takes up the reins, joined by droning guitar chords and a deeper, gruffer vocal that is once more buried such that it acts more as a textural addition than any kind of narrative device. This second act does see some slow progression and does feature some slight building of atmosphere, right up to the piece's ultimate release which sees the return of the opening act's chugging industrialised riff for the finale and sees it ending in probably it's most "metal-sounding" section.
The overall effect of Dark Space -II's subjugation of the black metal elements in favour of the more ambient and textural, sees the band using the toolbox of black and industrial metal to produce what is essentially a drone metal album which has more in common with early Earth or Nadja than any resemblance to more traditional atmospheric black metal. Now I'm not sure how this will be received by the usual fans of Darkspace, although Wroth has dabbled in this more textural style before, but for myself as a lover of quality atmospheric drone metal, I can see many analogies between that style and what Darkspace have delivered here with Dark Space -II and I found it to be a rivetting experience with a refreshing approach to drone metal.
4.5/5
Underappreciated Aussie black metallers Pestilential Shadows are releasing their brand new seventh full-length "Devil's Hammer" next month which should be worth a few listens. Their last few releases have been pretty decent but have drifted past the public gaze relatively unnoticed. 2011's "Depths" album is a prime example of an undiscovered gem in my opinion.
I haven't heard of these guys, Daniel, so I will have to put it on my list.
I first discovered French black metallers Merrimack through their 2006 "Of Entropy & Life Denial" sophomore album a few years after in hit the shelves & have kept track of them ever since. I wasn't much of a fan of 2012's "The Acausal Mass" record but they recovered pretty well with their 2017 follow-up "Omegaphilia" so I'll probably check out next month's sixth full-length "Of Grace & Gravity" at some point.
I haven't minded either of Japanese blackgaze artist Asunojokei's two full-lengths to date with their latest "Island" being the stronger of the two. It looks like the band might don't mind it either as they're about to release a live album that sees them performing "Island" in its entirety.
Swedish melodic blackened death metallers Necrophobic's tenth full-length "In the Twilight Grey" is due for release on 15th March. They've managed to pull together a couple of more than decent albums since 2013's disappointing "Womb of Lilithu" so I'm expecting more of the same here without ever threatening to produce anything of the quality of their mid-90's peak.
The new "Apocalyptic Onanism" remixes release from English extreme metallers Anaal Nathrakh hit the streets yesterday. It's been a while since we've heard from them so I'm interested to hear what they've got in store for us.
US War Metallers Antichrist Siege Machine have a new album out on 19th April.
Preview track "Vanquishing Spirit" sounds great:
Canadian black noise solo act La Torture des ténèbres has a brand new album out that's simply called "V". I've enjoyed all three of the releases I've heard from this Jessica Kinney project previously so I'll probably check this one out at some point too.
The brand new fourteenth album "Pro Xristoy" from Greek melodic black metallers Rotting Christ is due for release on 24th May. I think it's fair to say that they've been a little bit hit & miss for me over the years with their last couple of records not doing much for me really. Still... I can't deny my affection for their stronger material like 1994's "Non serviam" sophomore album so I'll no doubt continue on with the ritual of checking out each successive release from them. They were brilliant when I saw them play live many years ago too.
The brand new "Les chants de l’aurore" seventh full-length from French blackgaze/post-metal outfit Alcest is being released on 21st June. Some of Alcest's releases have really grown on me in recent years while others have left me feeling a bit flat but I'll no doubt give this one a run at some stage, particularly given that I enjoyed the promotional video for the opening single recently.
Unfortunately I find an awful lot of Alcest to be sonic wallpaper, which from a drone guy is a bit of a statement, I realise. I've not checked them out since 2016's Kodama and can't say this new one is likely to change that any time soon.
A new Akhlys album called "House of the Black Geminus" is due 5th July... looking forward to this one.
The brand new "Justice" E.P. from Ukrainian black metallers Hate Forest will be released next week & I'll be all over it as all of their recent material has been worth hearing.
The brand new ninth full-length "Heavenly Down" from Hungarian melodic black metallers Sear Bliss hits the streets next week. I've quite liked most of their releases over the years so this will likely be worth checking out at some point.
I really liked Glory and Perdition when it was featured on here, but I haven't gone back to another Sear Bliss album yet. Looks like this one will be the test to see how quickly I go back to their other ones, I have zero clue about their overall consistency given it seems like they bring in a ton of guests for their albums. Looking forward to it.
I really liked Glory and Perdition when it was featured on here, but I haven't gone back to another Sear Bliss album yet. Looks like this one will be the test to see how quickly I go back to their other ones, I have zero clue about their overall consistency given it seems like they bring in a ton of guests for their albums. Looking forward to it.
If you really liked Glory and Perdition, your next stop should definitely be The Arcane Odyssey. That's the most similar in style and quality. Many consider it to be their best.
Here's a few brand new releases that I'll be following in August:
Trhä/Coffret de Bijoux - "di najb tu natálja ibajnma ëct/lämèàen'th" split album
Trhä - "∫um'ad∂ejja cavvaj"
Glorior Belli - "Glorior Belli"
Spectral Wound - "Songs of Blood & Mire"
A new Oranssi Pazuzu album, called Muuntautuja, is due on Oct 11th. There are a couple of preview tracks available now. If these are anything to go by, the band are getting even more trippy in a kind of bad-trip, dystopian, industrial, Neuromancer kind of way.
The better of the two new tracks is called Valotus (needs age verification).
Alternatively, here is the Bandcamp page link:
INCREDIBLY interested to see what they cook up here, especially after hearing "Valotus". The chaos of the climax is kind of insane, and I gotta say I actually like the vocal effects, even if they are a bit overwhelming. I went back to Mestarin kynsi before checking out both tracks since it's been a while, and while the vocals are a big part of what gives that album its amazing and unique flair, I don't hate that they fit them into the mix and doctored them up to fit the atmosphere a bit more than the cutting Black Metal crows do. This new stuff feels way denser, but it may lack some impact compared to Mestarin kynsi's grimy and in your face guitar production. I'm a big fan of these kinds of atmospheres though, especially with how I've been enjoying Krallice's newest synth-heavy album Inorganic Rites, so I'll be waiting impatiently for October 11th it looks like.
Absolutely pumped for this one as their last four releases have been right up my alley.
A few new releases that I'll be checking out over the next month or so:
Agrypnie - "erg" [Melodic black metal from Germany]
Winterfylleth - "The Imperious Horizon" [Atmospheric/melodic black metal from Manchester, England]
Esoctrilihum - "Döth-Derniàlh" [Black metal from France]
1349 - "The Wolf & The King" [Black metal from Oslo, Norway]
Here are two that I'll definitely be checking out over the coming months:
Nachtmystium - "Blight Privilege" [US black metal]
Paysage d'Hiver - "Die Berge" [Swiss atmospheric black metal]