Great Old Ones, The - Cosmicism (2019)^{Release ID: 13519}

This album reminded me a lot of the new Blut aus Nord album, Hallucinogen from earlier this year. But this one seems to be a more traditional (if you can even call it that) atmospheric black metal project; the vocals are cleaner in their production, the percussion is also stronger in the mix and also just in general a much more technical performance. The guitar and bass work is pretty special too. The tracks have a tendency to alternate between different styles, rather than staying in the ABM field for their entire duration, so you may hear an occasional pivot into a death doom inspired breakdown mid song, before returning back to the tremolo picking guitars and pummeling blst beats.

While I believe Hallucinogen is the more unique album and also the better one, Cosmicism is not that far off! This is the more accessible of the two, but a very fun listen nonetheless.

I am a huge fan of these HPL-obsessed Frenchmen, their sludgey atmospheric black metal sound appealing to both my love of all things doom-ridden and of blackened horror. Another fifty minutes spent in their company as they weave their tales of cosmic, lurking terror is one of life's great pleasures. Their songwriting gets better, as does their proficiency and production - this album sounds great, allowing the music to expand, even as it pummels the senses with it's aggressive assault. The vocals sound ragged, as if the singer has damaged his vocal chords from shrieking at the terrors he has been forced to convey to our ears. A great release of cosmic horror most aptly released in the week running up to Hallowe'en - darkened aeons await!