Yith - Passage (2021)^{Release ID: 27867}

The ability to transcend traditional black metal borders into doom metal (or transcend traditional doom metal borders into black metal as it may just as well be) is still fascinating a concept for me.  Since discovering Yith this past year and becoming instantly enchanted with his genre-crossing exploits I have frequently thought how odd it is that I had never even considered blackened doom to be a thing given how well the two genres seem to fit together.  Part of the allure here is the ability for melancholy and sorrow to take many auditory forms.  The dirge of doom metal makes for a protracted expression of such emotions whereas black metal's wailing tremolos can just as easily turn these feelings into a more confused and angry sounding response.

I think what Yith does best is balance the two styles perfectly so that regardless of the track you are listening to the consistent theme of the album is obvious without becoming overbearing.  The repetitive elements of both genres also play to the strength of this emotional recoil also only here you get double your money as the choice is available to sample that repetition under varied pacing and tempos.  Passage is a crushing experience without ever being overly reliant on the weight of the doom aspects of the instrumentation alone.  It feels like an album with a depth of intensity that outweighs the sum weight of its more monolithic tendencies.  With a fair old smattering of atmospheric black metal it is not long before I find myself with a choice of fathomless pits to hurl myself down to experience a particularly acute sense of darkness.

As a largely non-fan of doom beyond death-doom and the occasional sludge record this mixture bodes well in terms of me thinking that I have found an artist with a solid understanding of black metal as it is still this part of the equation that I find strongest; almost like the doom is asked to fit around the blackened core as opposed to the other way around.  Comparisons with Mizmor are inevitable (Liam Neighbors was my vehicle to getting here folks) but I think by way of that comparison, Passage feels a lot more toned down on both key elements than Cairn was.  If I had to make any criticism then it would be that it is a tad samey across the album but as I keep reminding you, there's a heavy doom influence here so at the end of the day, what do I fucking expect?