Ruins of Beverast, The - Exuvia (2017)^{Release ID: 2788}

The Ruins of Beverast are a solo project begun in 2003 by Nagelfar's ex-drummer Alexander von Meilenwald after the band split in 2002. This is his fifth album under that banner, released in 2017 by Ván Records and featuring six tracks with a runtime in excess of 67 minutes (but don't most doom-based albums nowadays?) It is an album that melds several styles into a coherent and natural whole, be it death and funeral doom, atmospheric black metal or ritualistic tribal ambient stylings. The songs aren't of the kind that feature, say, a doom bit here, some ambient there and a bit of black metal tagged on for good measure, but rather, AvM skillfully forges the disparate parts into a single unique entity that flows organically, in interesting directions. The lyrics involve shamanistic exhortations and observations and are emphasized by the paganistic nature of the musical compositions to create an atmosphere redolent with the ritualistic practices of human pre-history, particularly accentuated by the drum patterns and subtle synth work.

As the listener, this album made me genuinely feel that I had been transported to another time and place and witnessed practices no longer remembered by modern man but buried deep within the psyche of all of us, maybe waiting to be reawakened by just such a piece of music. Definitely one of the more interesting and unique albums out there that should appeal to any fan of paganistic black metal or extreme doom metal (or anyone who just enjoys originality in metal music).

The Ruins of Beverast marathon #8 - Exuvia

This is the one moment I've been waiting for, the beloved 2017 Exuvia.  I'll have heard the last of RoB's rawest classics after this.  It really bit me in the ass yesterday when my internet was conking out and I couldn't listen to either Exuvia or the previous EP.  I really wanna know where this man decided to go after everything that's been going down and all the surreal craziness and evil that built his last three studio albums.

The title track out with a new direction for the tribal behavior of the previous EP, Takitum Tootem, applying the chanting spiritual vocals to a funeral doom sound that evolves into black.  The next couple minutesa are taking small but effective shifts into different black metal sounds to keep things original, drawing the listener into a dark netherworld after the chanting ends.  It seems to me that the black metal here is being used for more like a repeating ambient track rather than a melodic track.  Despite the fact that melody has worked out perfectly for RoB in the past, this decision is a perfectly fine one since it WORKS.  The repetitive hypnotism keeps dragging the listener from one surreal plain of reality to another.  By the end of this track, there's a very faint guitar melody drowned out by the repeating riff.  I'd have liked for it to be a little louder as the ending draws itself out a bit.

Surtur Barbaar Martime begins with one of RoB's signature funeral riffs, taking a direct turn into the black metal pretty quickly, relying on more energy than the opener.  The song typically switches between the two for aural effect, oftentimes being instantaneous but eventually being combined with meximum effect during the middle section.  This song is esentially a reorganization of the behavior of the first track with less of the tribal ambient and more of the funeral backdrops.  But since it shares so many similarities with the first track, I was really hoping for something different with Maere.  Starts out more or less the same way with a blacker energy to it.  Any ambient aspects are attributed to ghostly wails, usued for a mysterious Lovecraftian effect.  They're quite cool, but a little drowned out by the black guitars.  At least, this is true for the first half, which cranks up the volume on the vocals.  It seems that despite the shifts in these songs, the exact tone is much moe consistent.  The line between black and doom is much thinner here.

The Pythia's Pale Wolves starts up the second half with bagpipes faintly added to another typical black doom intro, but the percussion is tamer, less active and more focused on a specific slow rhythm.  The vocals are also more fit for doom as they're clear and harmonic.  This helps bring out another spiritual vibe that's much more relaxing.  I didn't expect this to last forever, though, as it eventually combines the funereal guitar tone with this, somehow making both the ambiance of the blackened guitars and the funereal sound much more energetic together rather than separate.  Even when the crystal clear female vocalizing comes into play, it revs the listener up.  The tempo and percussion eventually replicate the energy, pushing it even further as the power becomes too much to handle, leaving the harmonizing to balance it out.  This is a shift I can really appreciate as it keeps making something better out of a sound that, while still great, we've heard before.  This is the densest segment of the album so far.  This track really likes to challenge the perceptions of relaxation and extremities, as it's really the heaviest track on the album at that point but also has some very serene atmospheric moments created through these extremities.  But at this point, I also really need something different no matter how extreme it gets.

Towards Malaika only has about thirty seconds of weird tribal chanting, and I was pretty disappointment that it didn't continue for even longer.  So the most I could do was wait for something totally new to happen.  Although the beginning had a typical sound, the vibes are much more dramatic than the tracks before, thanks to a higher pitched sound-effect driving the background and amplifying the weird rhythm in the front.  After the dramatic intro, there's a switch into pure, uncensored doom, and this doom keeps us going for a while.  This to me qualifies as a difference because it's slow, stomping guitars are more true to doom's roots than anything that's been present so far, relying more on atmospheres such as tribalism or mysticism before.  The third act, starts with the chanting, and I was once again hoping that it would last a while, but instead it goes right back to the black metal, which kind of pissed me off.  This guy makes a tribal ambient EP, releases another album the next year and barely does anything with it.  It begged the question, why bother featuring it on this track at all???  The song ends with it again, but it doesn't have as strong of an effect as it should for me.  I was thinking to myself, this last track had better be phenomenal.

This final track, Takitum Tootem (Trance), goes right into the noisiest black metal guitars present so far.  This doesn't stop a melody from being made out, largely because the percussion is more rooted in dramatic effect and not speed. In this way, I'm given an effective black ambient track performed with metal instruments, like some black noise albums I can name.  This slower, doomier and noiser take on the Exuvia sound has increased the heaviness while still finding that perfect serenity through it.

This is a different type of album for Ruins of Beverast.  The songs each have their differences and their similarities, and because the songs are so long, the similarities kind of tested my faith in his ability to put out other songs.  Maybe this is the best course of action, as black metal and doom metal fans want many more atmospheres.  This is the perfect RoB album for those who favor atmospheres akin to his debut over the wild ever-shifting behavior of his second through fourth albums.  This album is ALL ABOUT the atmospheres.  Unfortunately, this fixation on metal atmos also wanes down the potential of the tribal aspects shown on the Takitum Tootem EP from the year before, even though it still makes short and effective.  So this is another fantastic release by one of Germany's best black metal artists, but also features a slightly missed opportunity that's not quite enough to knock a half-star down, but is enough for me to confirm that IMO this doesn't hold a candle to Sheltered Elite.

One look at the album artwork for "Exuvia" and you will immediately have a perfect visual representation of the music to come. The shamanic, ceremonial and spiritual theme to the cover is exactly what unfolds in the sounds from the off when you spin "Exuvia", which starts superbly with the title track. A blend of synth stabs, tribal drumming, ethereal vocals and rumbling darkness. It clocks in at fifteen minutes plus but never once gets dull or boring. 

If you succumb to the meditative trance of track one you will be jolted back into this realm by the grandiose entrance of "Surtur Barbaar Maritime" for sure. Settling in to dissonant picks over almost industrial rumbling rhythm and cold BM vocals with well timed flourishes of more uptempo, yet still haunting, passages also.

It is clear that after just two tracks, "Exuvia" is a triumph of both design and content. I have but a few albums that are an actual experience beyond the auditory sense. There's a precision to this record, prevalent from the off. There's also a subtlety to proceedings too. Check out the clever build to the big finish of track two and then try and remember predicting it, before enjoying it being paired back ready for the haunting opening of "Maere (On A Stillbirth's Tomb)".

Ploughing along again with those industrial edged riffs and slow picked, haunting strings with the slightest of bend applied is again a mesmerising experience. Track three shifts like some dark matter growing out of the corner of the room, just as you imagine you have it's form registered it changes altogether to take on other shapes not of any earthly form. Here you'll find some of the cleverest use of pace committed to musical form as the ethereal female vocals return to enchant you further. 

The hopeful sounding "The Pythia's Pale Wolves" doesn't disappoint as it starts with some demented, whispered babbling and slow, doomy riffs accompanied by bagpipes - fucking hell! Then there's some strange almost breakbeat run into the opening verse which fits superbly. For all the avant-garde elements to "Exuvia" it never strays to far away from what is at its very core a very sinister black metal album combined with lavish lashings of doom and industrial atmosphere for good measure.

"Towards Malakia" twists and contorts its way from a cacophony of heavy riffs, almost groovy doomy riffs and slow picked menacing strings to an almost plodding yet melodic interlude of muted hope in an otherwise grim and harsh existence.

There's no hiding from album closer "Takitum Tootem (Trance)". It's the culmination of a ritual of dark cinematic proportions. Rarely do albums close as completely as this does. All the parts of the record thus far return for a final assault on your senses as some closing ceremony to a truly unholy and richly dark set of games.

The outer skin (exuvia) that The Ruins Of Beverast cast-off during this six track masterpiece makes me wonder exactly what armour of brilliance and sophistication they are wearing heading into their next release. Shut those curtains, put on some candles and your best sacrificial robes. The Ruins of Beverast are back and your full attention is required.