Reviews list for Fluisteraars - Bloem (2020)

Gorgeously Apathetic

Metal that embraces beauty among the evil and chaos has always intrigued me, with some of my favorite releases of all time having some sort of balance between aggression and elegance. The latest offering in that field appears to be Fluisteraars' latest album Bloem, a short but stunningly sweet Atmospheric Black Metal offering that leans firmly into the idea that Black Metal doesn't have to be raw and evil at every turn. While the best examples of Atmospheric Black Metal achieve beauty through dark and sinister qualities, Bloem challenges that idea with adding ideas and song progressions that simply sound pleasing. While that may be blasphemous for some Black Metal fans, Fluisteraars is able to pull off the concept extremely well, even if the album is a tad underdeveloped in the end.

Since Bloem is such a short album, clocking in at a mere 33 minutes, it needs to be jam packed with moving concepts to leave its mark. Atmospheric Black Metal thrives on lengthy tracks and albums as long as feature films because it gives the album the ample amount of time and space to fully immerse the listener in its world. Concepts like repetition and slow, subtle progression are key in the more classic examples, but Bloem chooses its own path very skillfully as it creates a compact and experimental experience. Each song has something unique and memorable about it, with "Tere Muur" coming right out of the gate with a mesmerizing riff progression that sadly feels like it never reaches its full potential before the track ends. "Nasleep" has one of the most interesting Black Metal sections I've heard in a long time with yelling vocals, muted trumpet, and other disconcerting effects mixed together that eventually transition into a haunting choir of harmonies. "Eeuwige Ram" has some of the most impressive clean vocals I've heard in a while as well, coupled with a great guitar melody that has a very folky tinge to it which adds a ton of emotion overall. "Vlek" and "Maanruine" are definitely the most traditional out of the five tracks, with classic Atmospheric Black Metal foundations transitioning into acoustic based melodies that build extremely well as they progress. "Vlek's" use of strings at the end is gorgeous and "Maanruine" is meant to be a culmination of all the ideas presented as it combines all the prior elements into one cohesive package. Each track is layered in an almost hypnotizing way, with each instrument subtlety peeking out when it needs to as the melody goes along, especially the trumpets.

Although the ideas throughout the album are extremely well executed and fantastically mixed and layered, I can't help but think that Bloem's short run time and inclusion of a few dull Black Metal sections leave it feeling incomplete. The choir section in "Nasleep", while fantastic, goes on for a bit too long with no progression, the traditional Atmospheric Black Metal section in the beginning of "Vlek" drags the track down quite a bit considering they never revisit that theme, and "Maanruine" may cap off the album nicely but it's overall pretty uneventful all things considered. There are so many cool ideas and unique sections that Fluisteraars were able to pull off that when the album ends it feels more incomplete than a full but condensed package. I also was never left with the urge to go back to it either, with the experience being nice but not exactly the most gripping. It seems as though their previous albums are about the same length as well, leaving me wondering if Fluisteraars is best enjoyed with prior knowledge of their discography rather than trying to nail them down to one album. Bloem just left me wanting more of its fantastic ideas, but not necessarily giving me the motivation to return to it, making it a pretty confusing album all in all.