Negative Plane - The Pact... (2022)Release ID: 36216
My first couple of listens to The Pact... were bewildering to say the least. It's unanimously considered a black metal album on RYM, and yet it certainly doesn't feel like one. I get loads of heavy metal vibes from it, regardless of what's technically going on. I think I spent the majority of my concentration during those first listens trying to figure out what I was listening to, instead of actually trying to enjoy what was on offer. A few listens later and I'm still not sure I've completely come to grips with it, but I feel ready to state that I don't really like it.
The album is certainly ambitious, with lengthy tracks filled to the brim with multitudes of riffs, and a storytelling element that isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. I feel like I might be doing the album an injustice by not reading the lyrics and trying to figure out what the inspiration is, but I'm just not enjoying things enough to care. The musicianship on display is generally impressive, but it has to be said that the vocalist (who goes by the moniker Nameless Void) is going to be an obstacle to many listener's enjoyment, mine included. He has a very one dimensional approach, and given he can be heard the vast majority of the album's running time, that becomes a problem real quick!
The Pact... is one of those albums where there are a stack of differing sections to every track, but for me there are always one or two of them that have me gritting my teeth in discomfort. One minute I'm into it and starting to understand why the album is receiving high praise, while the next I'm getting ready to press the skip button and wondering what all the fuss is about. Despite these struggles, I do think metal fans should at least hear what Negative Plane have created. For everyone that doesn't get into it, there will be another that has it in their best of list at the end of the year. I'm genuinely interested to see what other Academy attendees think of it.
I think I share the same sentiment as others when they saw The Pact... by Negative Plane show up on the front page of RYM listed as a black metal album. At least in terms of what we in the 21st century anticipate what black metal is supposed to sound like, Negative Plane are about to throw your expectations out the window. This is more of a straightforward heavy metal album with some heavier elements that may be perceived as the extreme metal grandchild of black metal. But for me, this record feels more like a nostalgic trip back to extreme metal's roots, with the biggest influences being early records by Venom and Slayer.
As for the quality of the record, it does show a lot of ambition to not just be a straight clone of Venom's Welcome to Hell or Slayer's Show No Mercy. The riffage of the guitar is simplistic and does show signs of the early power metal influence on this records bookend tracks "A Work to Stand a Thousand Years" as well as "And so It Came to Pass". When the vocals stand aside, the guitars take their place with melodic leads that are not flashy. Solo's are sparse, which makes the rare transitions into those higher registers alarming and welcoming on an album that is primarily groove centric. The bass is understandably weak as many early extreme albums typically would be and lacking in rhythmic independence. It is the percussion that I find the most interesting, as it does contain an abundance of rhythmic independence from the melodic instruments. While guitars and bass remain stagnant for extended periods of time, the percussion is alternating back and forth between power metal grooves and black metal blast beats. The dynamic is striking and very well executed.
The vocals are not the best, but they do contribute where they need to. The howling fits right in with the very traditional black metal themes of the occult and satanic worship. Unlike Tom Araya, these vocals are given time to resonate with the listener allowing them to comprehend what is being said and with decent enough annunciation of the syllables. They blend well with the instrumental and do not deter from the rest of the compositions.
Structurally the album is quite flawed and right out of the gate you may have already figured out why. As the album is a nostalgic trip back to the early 1980s and the true roots of extreme metal (not the Norwegian 2nd wave of the 1990s), the blending is hit or miss. When the album tries to get a little extreme, it can sometimes be held back by an abundantly cheery guitar lead. The inverse also applies. Furthermore, the album runs quite long, leaving more than half of these seven songs feeling like they run out of steam by the end; five of the seven tracks are over eight minutes, and the bookends of this record both surpass ten. As a result, the album suffers the same issue that many modern progressive metal acts have to deal with; having too much content that isn't focused enough.
But in the end, I can't say that I hated this. The Pact... presents a very different side of the black metal landscape that is seldom discussed or given the time of day because it isn't brutal enough. It's the kind of black metal album that I imagine hundreds of elite music critics would have panned back in the 1980s, but would quickly turn around on once they witnessed first hand its influence. I don't think The Pact... will be influential in the same way that Venom or Darkthrone were, but it is quality and the nostalgia is not just for show.
Best Songs: Poison and the Crucifix, Three Turns to the West, And so It Came to Pass
