Beats and yelling: Tempestuous Fall

The Descent of Mortals Past
Out 14^th November on I, Voidhanger Records

Following the outpouring of material from the Midnight Odyssey camp in recent years it’s probably about time Dis Pater took his foot off the gas with his flagship project. It’s not so much the amount of releases that was causing a problem but the multiple directions they were taking, seeing a trilogy of high concept ambient, a second trilogy of ambient black metal evolving toward a broader survey of metal forms as it progressed, and an outlying experiment in synthwave ambient via guitar noise in the form of ‘Master of the Nebulous Reach’. But given Dis Pater’s scattergun approach to writing and releasing, slowing down one project simply implies turning to one of his many other outlets in the meantime. In this case it’s the turn of Tempestuous Fall, which hasn’t seen a release in well over a decade.

Dis Pater is essentially an ambient artist with a good ear for melody when it counts. From this angle, a funeral doom side project would seem to fit this mould nicely. But this latest release follows the general brighter contouring of recent Midnight Odyssey material. An attempt to take the icy, dreamy atmospheres of his black metal self into the light of day, with folksy melodies, clean vocals, and a yearning, almost wistful demeanour evoking melancholy as well as catharsis far more than the grandiose, celestial jeopardy of early material.

The mix is clear and crisp. The guitar tone is somewhat restrained, held back for the sake of foregrounding the keyboards that play a much more active role through various stringed instruments, as well as piano and the usual array of synth tones. Programmed drums cut through with vigour. One thing to note about any form of doom metal is the importance of the snare tone, simply because beats are few and far between and utterly transparent given the fact that the listener has more time to prepare for and wrap their head around the mechanics of each passage. Get this wrong and it can either fail to frame the riffs effectively or dominate to the point of distraction. Here they are pitched exactly where they need to be in the mix, announcing their presence without detracting from what is an otherwise rather delicate presentation.

In this regard, the album looks like it was designed as an exploration in fragile, mournful folk music, furnished with a traditional doom metal framing device. The mix is designed to draw attention to the clean vocals, the violins, and the sharp guitar melodies, thus shaping pieces that are clearly written as songs (as opposed to ambient landscapes), albeit played at achingly slow tempos. This represents a continuation of Dis Pater’s departure from his early identity as a master of texture and soundscaping punctuated by the occasional ingenious riff or melody. Here by contrast we see this artist really push themselves toward tighter songwriting, along with more dynamic and active arrangements. This is also borne out in the significantly trimmed down runtime.       

Although the result is knowable, immediate, pedestrian when compared to earlier material, one cannot help but applaud both the effort and the undeniable success of this endeavour. There is no bloat, no inefficiency, and all the elements serve their purpose, in stark contrast to Midnight Odyssey albums whose runtime often competes with feature length films. What remains is a series of captivating, elegant, oddly haunting threnodies that – if cynicism is suspended – one cannot help but be swept away with.