Häxenzijrkell – photo by Sophia W
(written by Islander)
Two days ago I woke up with a burst blood vessel in one eye. The entire space in the sclera between the iris and the inner corner of the eye had turned a deep and solid red, as if some devil-worshiping artist had figured out how to photoshop the real me.
It doesn’t hurt, nor has it affected my vision, but it looks hideous. The Mayo Clinic’s website says this condition (a “subconjunctival hemorrhage”) will heal itself in a couple of weeks, as the conjunctiva slowly absorbs the blood over time. The same site lists potential causes, but none of them seem to fit my situation, unless I rubbed that eye really hard in my sleep.
For the sake of symmetry, I’ve wondered if there is a non-painful way to burst a blood vessel in the other eye. I thought if I played today’s selections of black metal extra-loud, that might do the trick. So far, no luck; a blown-out eardrum is more likely, but blood draining from the ear canal would also create a kind of symmetry, yes?
HÄXENZIJRKELL (Germany)
There’s never enough time to do everything I’d like to do in these columns. In terms of how I parcel out the words, the main tradeoff is between new singles and complete new albums or EPs. I can cover more of the former if I cover fewer of the latter. This week I decided on something of a middle way through, with a handful of advance tracks to start and one complete new record at the end.
The first single here is from the always interesting Häxenzijrkell. The name of the song is “Atziluth“. That name rang a faint bell, but I had to Google for it to ring louder. It is one of the Four Worlds of the Kabbalah, this one meaning the World of Emanation, a level in which “the light of the Ein Sof radiates, but is still united with its source”. (Well, that’s what it says here.)
In the music, Häxenzijrkell succeed in creating an unearthly atmosphere through wavering radiations of sound, but then set loose a vicious swarm of abrasion, coupled with the rapid pumping of drum-pistons. Reverent chants rise up; the riffing roils; within the scathing turbulence, wrenching screams howl from some distant plane.
The drums tumble and boom; the bass hums; the music soars and expands, haunting and dangerous, ethereal and agonized, even as the lead guitar continues flickering like flames. The all-consuming sonic Armageddon returns, though the song closes as it begins, but with a woman speaking this time.
“Atziluth” is taken from Häxenzijrkell‘s new album Portal, to be released on October 4th on CD and vinyl formats by Amor Fati Productions.
https://shop.amor-fati-productions.de
https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com
https://haexenzijrkell.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/haexenzijrkell
BONJOUR TRISTESSE (Germany)
Next comes “Running on Emptiness“, the first advance song from a new album by Bonjour Tristesse, the solo work of Nathanael, who is also in Heretoir, and has been in King Apathy, Thränenkind, Agrypnie, and ClearXcut.
With a bit of ethereal eeriness of its own at the outset, the song begins racing in an exhilarating blaze of sound, drums clattering and detonating at a furious clip, and the vocals shrieking in displays of shattering torment or fury.
Those incendiary chords and vibrantly trilling leads rise and fall, as if a wildfire had discovered how to roll like waves, channeling moods of despair and sorrow, wistfulness and regret. It’s the kind of mood-moving black metal that’s wholly immersive, suffusing the senses and creating panoramic sweep.
There’s one point in the song where the music briefly becomes much softer and reflective, but it’s a very quick break. Afterward, the music races again, and the fires swell to even more glorious and frightening heights, though the lead guitar slowly rings sounds of mourning through the maelstrom.
The name of the new album is The World Without Us (one can only imagine), to be released by Supreme Chaos Records (CD/LP/MC/Digital) on October 18th.
https://supremechaos.com/artists/bonjour-tristesse/
https://scr-bonjour-tristesse.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-without-us
https://bonjourtristesse.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-without-us
https://www.facebook.com/bonjourtristesseofficial
TOUR D’IVOIRE (France)
Tour d’Ivoire grabbed attention because it’s a new project that unites the talents of Hyver (from Véhémence, Grylle, and Hanternoz) and La Griesche (Joanna Maeyens) (from Grylle and Cercle du Chêne) performing vocals, accompanied by Erroiak on bass.
The first music revealed from their debut self-titled album is described as an excerpt from a song called “La Tour“, which opens the album. Like the last song featured above, this excerpt is also panoramic in its expanse; like the image on the cover, it towers and gleams; and (to mix the metaphors), it also rolls like immense oceanic tides.
But the emotional quotient of the music is one of deep grief, a feeling amplified by soaring singing, which rings like the laments of angels. Speaking selfishly, it’s a shame this is only an excerpt, artificially cut short. But as a teaser, it definitely works.
Tour d’Ivoire will be released by Antiq Records on September 6th.
https://antiqofficial.bandcamp.com/album/tour-divoire
https://www.facebook.com/antiq.label/
HYVER (France)
Tour d’Ivoire isn’t the only album coming our way which features the talents of Hyver. Hyver has his own EP (Fonds de Terroir) set for release by his Antiq label on September 17th, in which Summum Algor (of Anguis Dei) joins in as drummer and Konstantin Korolev (of Passéisme) performs the bass.
The first song disclosed from the EP is the closing track, “Terroir Terreur “. The English translation of the French lyrics probably misses some meanings, but they seem to be a reflection about ruined rural areas, littered with the detritus of failed agricultural enterprises, transformed into a terroir of terror.
Whatever you might imagine from the words, what you’ll get in the music is a full-blown storming assault, albeit one in which the tones of ancient instruments muse and whistle through the percussive tumult and the hurricane-strength riffing.
The rhythm of the music and its whirling tones also amble and swing around furious, strangled snarls, grizzled growls, and extravagant cries, and the bass viscerally throbs below them. Voices elevate and sway, adding to the music’s other folk ingredients, which collectively reach into the past and wipe away the years.
All in all, it’s a stirring and time-traveling experience. Speaking of journeying, Hyver describes the EP as one that’s “[a]bout muddy landscapes and souvenirs when you travel in your car listening to BM”.
https://antiqofficial.bandcamp.com/album/fonds-de-terroir
https://www.facebook.com/antiq.label/
HORNS & HOOVES (U.S.)
Now it’s time to turn to the complete new record I promised. Entitled Spectral Voyeurism, it’s a five-track EP by Brooklyn-based Horns & Hooves that was released on August 16th by Stygian Black Hand.
The linguistic previews of the EP emphasize its blasphemies and perversions, its “nightmares of pleasure and pain become one in the same”. All that was enticing, but all I really needed as a come-on was my riotous memory of the band’s 2022 debut album I Am The Skel Messiah.
Like that album, the new EP is fucking wild, in many more ways than one. Once you get past the mysterious and moody ambience of the intro track (though it has hints of what’s to come), the music starts romping and reveling, whirling and elevating, like a celebration of demons.
The vocals themselves come off like demon chants and excoriations, but the music has more facets in it than you might expect (at least if you haven’t heard this band before). They change what’s happening constantly, and interweave a multitude of tones and textures, including tiny pinging tones and organ-like chords, gloriously magical soloing, the abrupt wash of sonic waves, sulphurous and sizzling riffage, and a whole lot more.
Along with all the changing tones and textures, the band also whipsaw the moods, moving from orgiastic excess to moonlit hauntings, and from there to episodes of prog-minded instrumental exuberance, broad cascades of beleaguered yearning and hopeless grief, or elegant medieval-set duets of harpsichord and acoustic guitar.
And with all that, I’m still just scratching the surface of what happens (for example, I haven’t mentioned how the vocals change). It’s a marvelous musical whirligig, remarkably inventive and adventurous, and you won’t see what’s coming as it spins, but I bet you won’t want to let go either.
https://stygianblackhand.bandcamp.com/album/spectral-voyeurism
https://www.facebook.com/HHworship/