Artist: Auspicium
Title: We Will Raze The Firmament And All The Stars Therein
Type: Album
Label: Digital / Fiadh Productions (vinyl)
Despite being formed in 2004 releasing their debut in 2008 I had not heard of Portland, Maine ‘long standing and long suffering’ black metal project Auspicium before the sole mastermind Patrick contacted me. I mean they have been quiet for twelve years (!) but they do have one or two other projects currently active (Dungavenhooter for example) so we can forgive them hehe…
So from the art, with no other clues beyond ‘black metal’ and that long, long title I didn’t bother pondering too much before indulging.
The wonderfully titled ‘ Piss Upon All Creation’ begins with a low, sludge like feel of sparse chords that slowly winds up to mid pace. The vocals fit perfectly; howls dripping saliva or venom, or both. A definite sludge, post black metal feel right up until it lunges at your throat. The speed knocked me off balance and I realised that this was some nasty, aggressive black metal. There sound has touches of real rawness and despite the mix being good it has a live vibe to it. When it doubles down into the drum battery it is simply feral, warlike and furious stuff. And the lyrics? The search for meaning and knowledge is the search for god. To meet him and to grasp his throat and pull the blade across his fucking throat. And piss upon all creation. Near the end, near these lyrics, the music slows a little and this strange, both unearthly yet pseudo-catherdral like echoing melody begins to haunt it.
That subtle shift, almost unnoticed when it came until it was already upon me was so well done, so insidious I cannot help but be impressed.
Violent and intelligent?
‘Evangelism Of The Cosmos’ just cranks up a rolling riff and drills relentlessly into your skull. And you feel the strangest of grooves as it does despite a dark, very old school black metal feel to the slower riff. More monomaniacal than black n roll, the vocals drag you down into something unpleasant and I peer into the lyrics. ‘As the lord commands so shall we do. To spread the gospel to all corners of the world and the myriad worlds beyond. Not to rest until all creation kneels to the cross.’ You read this and suddenly the riff, the repetition becomes nothing short of the feel of the fanatic. Something clicks in my brain and without meaning to conflate different ideas, the spark that sets it off is the Warhammer 40K universe. The idea of a relentless, fanatical crusade of genocide on an unimaginable scale. But this is more than that, this is a howl of anger to me, an extrapolation to the end of where the religious hate and obsessive need for destruction inherent in the human race today, in reality, brings us to.
If that track was the voice of the fanatic, ‘Beyond The Auroras’ is the step back, watching it unfold. A frenetic opening, a brilliant full galloping riff and guitar run. Lyrics locked into observing the obsession of somehow, to me, seeking knowledge and yet deamnding it complies with entrenched ideology and the end result. So prepare for extinctio. No one will save us from ourselves. If we cannot coexist with the vast beyond then we deserve the final end. But the more you listen, the deepr you fall into the song, the almost progressive layering of tune and arrangement in such an unholy racket is frankly just bloody awesome.
‘The Great Violent Ape Of Man’, as well as being another cracking title, is humanity’s plague viewed from yet another civilisations point of view. Bipedal viruses, consuming and multiplying without end, ceaselessly devouring all. The tune is grim and bleak, a look onto the spreading horror of humanity with disgust and hate. ..Their pathetic intellect only seems to shine when they dream of new violence to inflict….Let us be the enemy the desire and deserve. Let us be the Satan they claim… Hypnotic, pulling thoughts from your mind and locking you in to this ghastly, nightmarish view of existence.
‘We Will Raze The Firmament And All The Stars Therein’ itself closes this future history of the cosmos. A scything, mournful melody cuts through this closing epic. It shifts tempos but never intent. Moments of metal lead breaks pierce the black with fluidity and dexterity, glimpses of if not light then a pause to see the void unfold before the destruction lashes out and the feral black metal returns. We have moments of musical beauty and regret that can be heard amidst the rattling biting black metal.
When the engines crack and tear the fuselage asunder we will wail and beat our chests but take solace in knowing that below our quest for knowledge our unquenchable penchant for destruction has for at least one day been kept from the universe beyond…
So it ends.
I was quite taken aback by this album. Firstly the music alone so impressed me with its deeply intelligent use of threading styles together, bringing melody into the raw and the feral and the progressive into the brutal. But when you open up the lyrics it is as though you suddenly see even more of the music; you see through the eyes of the fanatic and the adversary and the observer and the music is their voice.
It’s a strange and wonderful and apocalyptic album that Auspicium have given us. The songs are deceptively easy to open up for you but when the words mix into it, there is so much more power to feel from it.
Damn. This is something.
Gizmo
We Will Raze the Firmament and All the Stars Therein | Auspicium
https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/album/we-will-raze-the-firmament-and-all-the-stars-therein
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