Scarcity - Aveilut (2022)^{Release ID: 38447}

I must admit that I generally fear seeing avant-garde metal connected to albums I plan to dive into. Just last week I was struggling to come to grips with Imperial Triumphant's highly praised latest release, recognising its qualities while having to admit that a fair portion of it just isn't enjoyable to me. This week it's Scarcity, who dared to provide me with an avant-garde black metal release just when I was feeling vulnerable. I needn't have worried! Composer Brendan Randall-Myers and vocalist Doug Moore have crafted a genuinely unique and jaw-dropping album, that rarely departs my precious black metal genre while still managing to sound both refreshing and important. This is an album to get lost in! An album filled with hypnotic tremolo riffs and drone-drenched soundscapes, with Moore's fantastic vocals piercing the atmosphere in just the right ways. Aveilut is a technical masterpiece that still manages to be an enthralling metal album, and I wouldn't be surprised if I push this up to 5 stars some time in the future. Everyone in the North should go listen to this. I have it as the best black metal release of the year to date. If you want to dip your toe in before committing, the 13 minute closing track V is a definite highlight.

2022 RANKING (64 releases so far)

1. Shape of Despair - Return to the Void - 5 stars

2. Scarcity - Aveilut - 4.5 stars

3. Immolation - Acts of God - 4.5 stars

2022 BLACK RANKING (29 releases so far)

1. Scarcity - Aveilut - 4.5 stars

2. White Ward - False Light - 4.5 stars

3. Ultha - All That Has Never Been True - 4.5 stars

The taster-track I heard on The North playlist this past month turned out to be more of curved ball when I sat and listened to the whole record.  My levels of intrigue soon dropped after the frankly boring opening track.  I don't mind drone metal in all honesty if it sets up something interesting, however here it just seems to set up the scene for a Jute Gyte record.  In all seriousness, the Jute Gyte reference is probably the most relevant one I can apply here.  The problem with Scarcity is that they flirt with extremity as opposed to settling upon pursuing it.  Yes, there is a wall of noise and scathing vocals that essentially sticks in the head for all the wrong reasons but the more droning passages are actually much better structured than the "kitchen sink" style musings of II (for example).

I cannot knock them for the effort behind the album as its introduction of psychedelic elements is novel if not all that intriguing for me.  The softer use of tremolos feels a gimmick as well though, like we are teeing up a post-metal record that never comes and so we just drop into form references to black metal for the sake of it.  I would actually admire the album more if it further distanced itself from black metal as it would feel like it was a more honest representation of what it was trying to do.

Aveilut is not challenging to my ears, it is just boring and bloated and constantly suffers from a lack of identity.  Push away at the boundaries of extreme metal all you like but sometimes a bit of reflection wouldn't go amiss to ensure you at least maintain some sense of direction.

Fucking hell! This album absolutely slays! The dual tagging of Atmospheric Black Metal & Avant-Garde Metal isn't particularly accurate as I don't think "Aveilut" feels all that avant-garde & it doesn't have much to do with the classic atmospheric black metal sound either. To my ears it's an experimental take on your more conventional black metal sound which incorporates strong post-metal & drone metal influences at times. The way this duo have used the tools of black metal in a very different way but still maintained all of the menace & blasphemy is phenomenal. There is a little bit of dissonance on offer but I wouldn't suggest that it's anything out of the ordinary for modern black metal. The unusual part is the way they've layered the different tremolo-picked guitar lines & tied the psychedelic synths & effects into the wall of sound so tightly. I can't say I've ever heard anything like it but it reminds me a lot of the approach that some post-rock artists take. Those vocals are as grim & frostbitten as you'll find too. They're right up my alley. Interestingly, my two highlight tracks are also the furthest from black metal with "I" being a post-metal affair & "IV" being a wonderful builder of a drone metal piece. This is easily the best record I've heard from 2022 so far.

For fans of Krallice, Blut aus Nord & Bríi.

After requesting recommendations from what so far feels like an underachieving year in black metal, Ben kindly offered up his top ten list, #1 on which was this debut from Brooklyn avant-garde black metallers Scarcity. So, I must admit upfront that this was a massive struggle for me, especially during the first five minutes or so when I almost had to turn it off. But first I'd better explain some background. I am one of those people who is occasionally subject to sensory overload when subjected to overly busy sounds or visuals. When this happens it manifests as an almost physical discomfort and I tend to have to get away or block out the offending sensory input. This is why I struggle so badly with especially dissonant or avant-garde music and probably explains my love of more atmospheric and monolithic metal like funeral doom, drone or atmo-black. Anyway the opening minutes of Aveilut really triggered those feelings and I truly struggled to get through them. But persist I did and although there was a few passages that I did enjoy, on the whole I didn't really get a lot out of this I'm afraid. The whole thing is just too dissonant and unconventional sounding for me I think and whilst I understand that there are loads of people to whom this more challenging music provides huge satisfaction, I am sorry, but I just can't relate. This is a release I can't see myself returning to and yes, I realise that the fault is mine, but sometimes we just have to admit that something is not for us and move on. Sorry, it's not much of a review, but it's what I feel.