Review by Rexorcist for Ruins of Beverast, The - Enchanted By Gravemould (2011)
The Ruins of Beverast marathon #4 - Enchanted By Gravemould
Wasn't really expecting a demos album, but I had to know what the rejects from the first three albums sounded like. Ruins of Beverast is a project that's shown me a whole new world of black metal, one that I hope is much more thoroughly explored by the masses. I REALLY do think it's possible. Did you know that you can get 1000 new black metal studio albums every year? I checked the RYM charts and multiple year charts for this. It's fucking true. On top of that, Darkthrone's updating the doom influence in their modern albums, so I really hope this becomes a thing: blackened doom metal, and not just a small time blanket term for a select few bands like "Philly Club Rap." So I'm going to keep exploring Beverast and the world he created, and that includes demos and rejects like this.
Desert Lair does show some kind of a difference. Maybe the occasional slightly higher timbres don't allow it to feel as dark as what was called for on the albums at first? Maybe the production was wrong because it's a bit more clear? I have no idea, but otherwise, I don't find anything wrong with in. The variations in rhythm, tempo and instrumentation are abundant, but they all flow together perfectly. If anything, this is one of his finest performances. In fact, I checked some reviews to see what people thought, and apparently I'm not off the mark here: this is basically a highlight of RoB's career. It kinda pains me that he left this off his official albums.
The Moselle Enigma goes right into the noisier black metal production, and is a bit off. The noise-factor of the instrumentation is properly messy, but it gets in the way of hearing the vocals properly. Real shame because the rhythms are fantastic. Despite how maniacal this song is, it's surprisingly catchy and intriguing. The second half starts off with rain recordings and more choral vocals, giving us a very bleak imagery that's just PERFECT for the vibe of the song. Part of me wanted this segment to last the remainder of the song, but when it ended I still had a minute left, and it was used on the format of the first half, which I think is perfectly fine this time considering its short length in comparison to the average length of an RoB song.
Hours of the Aequinox is next, and we go into it with a black noise focus and a slower, doomier violin intro just totally chilling me out. A serene song was the perfect way to follow up the last one, and the black noise is the perfect way to follow up the rainy effects. We don't have very many slow-going atmo-black songs that mirror the winter aesthetic, as up to this point, the tones and timbres were a bit deeper.
Those were the originals. Apparently, the last three songs are all covers, starting with Enigma of the Absolute, originally present on Dead Can Dance's Spleen and Ideal. Now Spleen and Ideal is one of the best darkwave albums in the world, so covering it is a daunting task. You'd think a master of black metal would pull it off, and it might've been done had the production been better. The rhythms of the guitars can barely be made out, the percussion's week, and the effects are almost entirely drowned out. It's a real shame. This could've stood with the original.
Next, believe it or not, is a cover of To Have and to Hold off of Music for the Masses, as in DEPECHE MODE. I guess it can be done, as Depeche Mode have dabbled with darkwave instrumentation before. It's a pretty creepy track with its own personality, and I guess it's a slight improvement because the atmosphere and production are improved. But this song doesn't even reach the creative heights of Unlock the Shrine's segues.
The final cover is Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium by My Dying Bride. Now I've never heard the original EP with this song, but I'm more than aware of what MDB sounds like. I've got several of their albums under my belt. This version uses neoclassical synths to help with the atmospheres, steering into symphonic black metal akin to Summoning. And it really does capture the epic vibes very well, but the problem is that a 16-minute Ruins of Beverast song needs to keep evolving. Thankfully this gets around to that at around the five-minute mark, but I think the pitch of the synths is a bit too high for the deeper timbres of the black metal instrumentation, so I can't really say that RoB rocks symphonic black as well as he does atmo-black, despite this being a pretty cover.
OK, the first three tracks work perfectly well on their own, and even in order, whether or not they were intended that way. The three covers in the second half, however, felt lacking and in need of polishing in order to be great. So if you're a Beverast fan already, I really do recommend this album if not only for the first half. But if you're not, you'll probably hate the covers.