Beats and yelling: Amorphophallus Titanum

The First Geometry
Out 26^th April, self-released

Somewhere between the arcane mysticism of formative Greek black metal and the barbaric militarism of early Graveland sits this self-released debut. Richly textured keyboard lines dominate the landscape, leaving the guitars to flesh out a more visceral physicality, with ponderous, mid-paced drums furnishing all with a threateningly understated momentum. The solid marching rhythms maintain an almost anthemic quality throughout, an effect offset by the delicate balance found between the thick layers of synth and the cold haze of guitars, resulting in a symphonic effect truer to the spirit of ‘In the Nightside Eclipse’ than its many professed imitators, in that no single instrument adopts a leading role, behaving more like an orchestra moving in unison.

The mix is attuned to the atmospheric equilibrium required to bring this material to light. Guitars work chiefly as a textural entity, chord sequences and sharper riffing acting as mere forms through which to express a meta flow of information that takes an entire track to resolve itself. Keyboard lines work in harmony with this endeavour, their prevalence rising and falling in reliable intervals, grabbing the listener’s attention only to fade into the background. But they maintain their status as the ever present guiding hand and intellect of each piece. Raspy, theatrical vocals provided by Clovenhoof, formally of Judas Goat and Runes of the Evening, add gradations of monstrosity to the, at times, dreamy atmospheres. They find a consistent balance between wild theatre and understatement, bringing a sense of occasion to material that could in another context appear as more static and meditative. The heavy yet underplayed drums bring a commanding purpose to the music, with subtle shifts in emphasis and pacing being all that’s required to hammer home dramatic builds and cascades within the overall flow of the music.

In one sense ‘The First Geometry’ functions like an ambient album that recruits additional muscle through the use of guitars and drums. In another it acts like a more traditional black metal album pulling on the power of Bathory at their most stirring, but updating the format with regal melodrama and a more explicit melodicism. Tension builds through this lackadaisical flair, as the music appears to constantly eschew flexing the full extent of its muscles, a size, scope, and power that draws strength from what is implied behind the immediacy of the instrumentation in the foreground. A swirling mysticism, the magic of which would be lost if it were spelled out too explicitly.

One could almost be taken aback by the briefness of the material. The aesthetic and stylistic reach implies scale and time, but each track seems to bow off the stage prematurely. Closer study reveals that each powerful opening statement is indeed met with significant evolution as the material progresses, alongside a thorough exploration of each idea without sinking into rank repetition, in keeping with a more explicitly ambient impetus. Epic scoping achieved in miniature.