Artist: Castrivenian
Title: Reborn From The Ashes
Type: Album
Label: Digital / Wulfhere Productions
Another day, another bit of random listening from one of my go-to labels that made me really sit up and go “oh….cool!”
Castrivenian are Brazilian which in black metal terms brings a certain savage expectation so the atmospheric, forest sounds of the introduction ‘Into The Lost Forest’ were a well deserved slap to my presumptions. But never fear, ‘The Night And Darkness’ slaps me again back into the black metal, except though this has a raw edge, some fantastic howls that remind me of the In The Woods… album ‘Heart Of Ages’ and a darker than dark feel it also has one of those eerie, deep and rich melodic lines riding the raw riff. It’s that sound of yearning somehow, the feel of the darkness reaching for something, or someone. It is black metal in its purest form for me, full of that air of the occult, of mystery. Of the Other.
‘Eternal Damnation’ once more has that melody which reminds me of maybe Finnish bands or some of the UK bands concerned with the landscape, but the feel is totally different. The vocals, superb but raw edged as a winter wind, and the bass lines, the harsh drumming all push this much further into the raw sound. And its that edge that makes the song bit so hard.
‘Through The Cold War’ is a strange, malevolent interlude, whispering vocals and disturbing sounds through some night forest maybe. Something gathering… and ‘The Path Of The Firmament’ opens up wiyth a blazing sound. Direct, bitter and deeper into the raw spirit of this band it seems to spiral further down into the depths as it goes. ‘Triumph Of Evil Blood’ adds a strange, sharper hint of melody far in the background which seems to amplify the malevolence in the darkness here, a beautifully judged arrangement that draws out the best from the song like the perfect pinch of salt…
‘Of The Fallen Warriors’, another interlude, brings the sounds of horses, of dogs, a synth wash that is full of a bleak melancholy. The feeling of the aftermath of something… but then we are ‘Reborn From The Ashes’ with a fantastic rumble of guitar and then an almost DS use of synths. It is a curious song indeed; the sound hypnotic, repetitive and almost hollow until the tempo speeds up and the sound fills out. Unexpected, strange and rather compelling indeed.
They close with ‘Lunar Winter’, a doom laden sound frozen to thhe core. The vocals are sharper, the guitar slices through the atmosphere and rouses a blizzard of a riff to cover our tracks. The use of keyboards here, again, is excellent, layering the winter sounds upon it to settle until the riff stirs up the snows once more.
I really was very taken with this album; it does not reinvent the wheel, no, but quite aside from some excellent raw but still atmospheric black metal the little touches of a DS sound here and there and the manner in which some of the arrangements bring out the light and shade with sharper edges and unnerving sounds is the sign of some keen thought at play.
Really worth a listen if you like your raw but atmospheric black metal with enough desire to draw out a different sound.
Very very promising indeed.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 