Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Gaerea - Coma (2024)

Following on from the success of Limbo, Portuguese black metallers, Gaerea continued that rich vein of form into Mirage some two years later, with the latter release achieving a full, five-star rating from me in 2022. Pipped to the post of AOTY for that year only by the might Messa with Close, Gaerea continued to show a great panache for performing some richly melodic and yet intensely focused black metal, even landing them the title of my favourite modern black metal band. Somehow during 2024 I lost complete track of the band and I subsequently missed Coma being released altogether. I do recall hearing the single, World Ablaze however and feeling underwhelmed which may have subconsciously thrown me off the trail of the album.

After a few listens through Coma there are a couple of points of note. The riffs sound like they have more bite than on previous releases and the trill factor of the tremolo seems to have increased also. This seems largely due to the addition of Sonia Schuringa on second guitar after Guilherme Henriques added vocal duties on top of his string responsibilities following the departure of original vocalist Ruben Freitas. The melodies seem to resonate stronger throughout the tracks this time around, creating something of a wall of melody that sits behind the pounding percussion and more aggressive vocal sections.

The change of vocalist has beefed up the sound of Gaerea in some regards, with a death metal style complimenting the blackened intensity of the guitar as well as providing a nice juxtapose to the more clean, post-metal elements. Yet in some way, Coma feels tamer than what has gone before it. It is as if this album is an experiment in to just what direction Gaerea will turn next as their career progresses, exploring those “post” elements whilst dialling up their vocal delivery, certainly hints that creativity flows strongly through the band’s veins. In doing so though, the delivery seems to be off this time around. For me at least, Coma is a frontloaded record. Once I get past the title track at the halfway point, I struggle to remember much of what I hear. I only remember Wilted Flower because it feels one of the most overtly “post” tracks here, with its whispered vocal section drifting dangerously close to “gaze” territory.

None of this makes Coma a bad record. I would argue you would struggle to find as creative and ambitious sounding band in black metal as what I hear over the fifty-minutes run time of this record. Whilst it is too early to be crying phrases such as “identity crisis”, Gaerea are evolving, and the direction might not be for all. For now, there is still enough quality on this album that covers black metal, blackened death and post-metal without alienating me.