Winter is well a truly here and while it's not as bleak as winter in other countries, it's certainly cold enough for me. It's nights like this where all I want is some music to become entrenched in. Something truly enthralling yet disturbing at the same time. That's why I've chosen to dedicate this week to doom and sludge, although with this review I'm not exactly sticking to that by the letter.
My first review features a three-way split from 2012 between Swiss ambient black metal band Profond Barathre, Swiss doom/sludge/metal band Rorcal and fellow Swiss experimental black metal band Malvoisie. This record was released via Rorcal's own label Cal of Ror Records and features three expansive tracks, with the record clocking in at over forty-five minutes.
Tracklist:-
1. Profond Barathre - Illunis
2. Rorcal - Vilavege I
3. Malvoisie - 1291
Proceedings begin with Illunis by Profond Barathre, which begins quietly. It builds with ambience and subtle vocal chanting. Illunis stretches out for over twenty minutes and listening to the opening section, it’s easy to understand why they wanted to take their time. At this point it sounds more like an ambient noise song than a black metal number, but then first impressions aren’t everything. The initial ambience dies away close to the four-minute mark, before guitars pierce the silence and alongside that familiar chanting, helps the noise levels build slowly. Illunis whirs away like a doom song, dragged by those cold screams and the melancholy of the guitar. Their are occasional off-kilter passages, but even these have a tuneful beauty to them. For me it’s still the haunting chanting that sounds scarier. it’s when Profond Barathre reach the second part of Illunis, that their music starts to really touch you. Their ambient side shine through with some great clean guitar melodies. It settles things down after the slow assault earlier in the song.
You can stream this entire split via the Profond Barathre bandcamp page here:-
http://profondbarathre.bandcamp.com (for some reason I can't embed the usual bandcamp player in this post. Probably something to do with my Macbook!).
You can order physical CD copies of this split directly from the bands, as it appears that Cal of Roar Records has ceased trading.
Profond Barathre Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profondbarathre
Rorcal Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Rorcal
Malvoisie Myspace - https://myspace.com/kvltofdarkness
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