Spectral Lore - Ετερόφωτος | Review

In so many ways Spectral Lore’s enigmatic Ayloss is the polar opposite of recurring collaborator Jacob Buczarski (Mare Cognitum). Perhaps it’s a disservice to even make this comparison, but the links are plain to see. Both acts are juggernauts of modern atmospheric black metal that have worked together multiple times, most recently on the challenging but exceptional split LP Wanders: Astrology Of The Nine, and now both have released records within only a few short weeks of each other. Despite their clear chemistry when working in tandem, their respective careers are strikingly different. Buczarski’s work has been a consistent, forward-facing development of spacey, melodic black metal. Every record builds and refines the formula of its predecessor, but ultimately the most recent iteration differs little from the first in style. Ayloss’s sound is earthier, yet more abstract. Spectral Lore albums can sound wildly different from each other, so much so that one could wonder if it’s even the same artist at the helm. And yet, amusingly, with Ετερόφωτος it is in the most experimental moments that Ayloss stumbles.

Make no mistake though, there’s a whole lot of solid black metal in the mix here in spite of its missteps. With a hefty 74-minute runtime, there’s a lot of material to sift through. It starts off well, ‘Ατραπός’ tidily stakes out much of the territory Spectral Lore mean to cover across the record. Waves of tremolo riff laden blast beats expertly give way to wonky grooves, clean breaks and post-metal builds to ultimately paint a nuanced, mystical portrait. Five more dense compositions follow that are often challenging to decipher as they dance all across the spectrum of extreme metal. ‘Apocalypse’ is a striking conceptual piece that noticeably gets louder and more chaotic over the course of its eight minutes. The music seems to audibly break apart as mechanical noise is steadily introduced until it’s just the noise itself at the end.

There is a wonderful 54-minute record in Ετερόφωτος. Bizarrely though, the six chief tracks eventually give way to ‘Terean’, a nineteen minute ball of . . . nothing? There’s some unsettling ambience going on, the kind that would suit a brooding arthouse horror film, but it does absolutely nothing for an atmospheric black metal record. It threatens to get interesting with some distant chanting sort of building up in the background near the end, but it amounts to nothing as the track eventually sputters out. An unfitting end to an otherwise great album. (7/10)

Brett Tharp

Band info: https://www.facebook.com/spectral.lorebm
Label info: http://www-i-voidhanger.com