Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Scarcity - Aveilut (2022)

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.