Labels: Death Kvlt Productions/Inferna Profundus Records/Les Fleurs Du Mal Productions
Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 20 Jan 2020
Tracklist:
1. Menstruation
2. Ephebiphobia
3. Ephebophilic Wraith
4. Grave Lit Transmogrification
5. Ysgol
6. The Blood Of Lady Tasker
7. The Bones Of Lady Tasker
8. Taskermilward
9. The Incorporeal Hallways
10. Propagator Of An Unspeakable Incestuous Coven
In a recent review I said that I don't receive many submissions featuring Welsh bands. What I didn't account for was that I'd received an e-mail about Welsh raw black metal band Revenant Marquis and their new album Youth In Ribbons previously. The album was released back in January and has been made available on multiple formats via Death Kvlt Productions, Inferna Profundus Records and Les Fleurs Du Mal Productions respectively. It's the fourth full-length release from the mysterious project in just two years.
Venturing into raw black metal at the moment seems apt given our collective anguish. Revenant Marquis promises to be more than just another bedroom act though and with the haunting bars of opening instrumental ‘Menstruation’, you can tell that there’s more to this. The dramatic production and sound of the opener is quickly quashed by ‘Ephebiphobia’, which is as raw and hellish as you’d expect. Blasting drums, rumbling bass, weirdly melodic guitar work and rasping screams nestling deeper in the mix lead to something altogether more bewildering,
Despite the seemingly noisy and chaotic approach, there’s plenty of musicality within this album. ‘Ephebophilic Wraith’ has a symphonic feel to it that’s subtly delivered by the guitar playing. It’s not an easy listen in spite of that so don’t be fooled. It is remarkably upbeat though (or maybe I’m just strange!). The trvest black metal comes in the form of ‘Grave Lit Transmogrification’. Okay, so it’s probably still a bit to out-there for some connoisseurs of the genre but it’s hypnotic, anti-music quality is engrossing. It’s repeating riffs and constant tempo create a feeling of helplessness and loss that’s hard to replicate and it’s ambient ending doesn’t do much to eradicate that feeling.
One bit of Welsh I do know having lived there for a few years is ‘Ysgol’, though I’m not sure of it’s connotations here. That aside, if you want to be schooled in how to write and perform truly despairing extreme music, look no further than this. The second-half of the album starts with ‘The Blood Of Lady Tasker’, which forms a two-parter of sorts. It’s an instrumental break of about two minutes and it shows once again how adept Revenant Marquis is at writing quality music. Immediately followed by ‘The Bones Of Lady Tasker’, you’re once again treated to another twisted hymn that’s so tortured that it’ll keep you up long into the night.
Things take a slightly catchier turn on ‘Taskermilward’ but only due to it’s infectiously rhythmic percussion during the opening sixty-seconds. Revenant Marquis switches between that beat and the now familiar blasting throughout, while feedback and dissonance reign supreme over the rest of the song. The album’s penultimate song ‘The Incorporeal Hallways’ is the very definition of maddening. Musically, it’s a mix of the familiar and the avant-garde while the vocals tread that line between controlled and psychopathic, the latter being the more prevalent.
Before you know it, final song ‘Propagator Of An Unspeakable Incestuous Coven’ brings everything to a relieving close. Not relieving in the fact that Youth in Ribbons is a bad album (because it definitely isn’t) but because it’s a journey that’s hard to take in in one full sitting, The vision and the musicianship really makes this record.
You can stream the full album below via Death Kvlt Productions, where you can also purchase it digitally:-
Physical copies are available from the links below:-
Inferna Profundus Records (CD) - https://www.ipr666shop.com/
Vinyl and tape copies are sold out from Death Kvlt Productions and Les Fleurs Du Mal Productions respectively.
Death Kvlt Productions - https://www.instagram.com/deathkvltproductions/
Inferna Profundus Records - https://www.facebook.com/ipr666/
Les Fleurs Du Mal Productions - https://www.facebook.com/lesfleursdumalproductions/
No comments:
Post a Comment