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

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No pretentious narrative-seeking introduction can precede a record like Interstice. The debut record from Tennessee’ newest experimental deathgrind outfit Knoll has its share of existential ponderings in the lyric department, but executes musically as a caustic, rabid twelve-track juggernaut with minimal nonsense. The Memphis underground just got a hell of a lot heavier.

A snarling blend of thundering grindcore, dirty cavern death and noxious noise, Interstice is at once straightforward and unusual. It advances with a serrated knife edge and cuts to the bone just as quickly, hissing through four furious tracks within five or six minutes. The vocals are the most immediately grabbing, a rapid dance between bulky gutturals and some of the most piercing shrieks in contemporary metal. The guitars are a happy balance between dissonant fingerwork and frill-less stompers while the drums pound away tirelessly. The bass work falls through the cracks both in terms of the mix and songcraft somewhat, unfortunately not an uncommon feature of extreme metal. Between the vocals and some of the more pummeling riffs, Venom Prison arise as an easy comparison but Knoll invest more into high tempo blasts and discordant riffing than Venom Prison’s fare.

That’s not to say that Knoll are stuck in one gear the whole time. ‘Grasp’ comes along quickly with a dual guitar harmony that intentionally clashes one against the other melodically to lead into a hellish progression of low tempo chaos. ‘Door To Moil’ and ‘Myr’ are feedback-soaked experimentations into power electronics while ‘Inherent of Life’ settles into a sludgy groove for most of its runtime. But ultimately Interstice tends to stick to fast tempos and pure, unfiltered fury throughout its short length.

Knoll seem to know what they’re about on their debut. There’s experimentation and variety, but not an over-investment into either. They’re certainly not the finished picture, but this kind of confident delivery meeting head-on with great, dynamic songwriting so early on means it’s likely to be a great one when it is.(8/10)

Brett Tharp

Band info: www.facebook.com/KnollVHS

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It begins softly, with the somber plucking of strings as many hundreds of folk records have begun before. Über den Sternen’s opening guitar line is understated and gorgeous, bolstered by subtle violins after several measures. Immediately a comparison to folk/doom legends Agalloch springs to mind, but it doesn’t last. Whereas Agalloch have always maintained an earthy human edge to their folk passages, Empyrium build layer after layer atop what could have been conventional German folk tunes until they blossom as bombastic neofolk meets heavy metal. Über den Sternen evokes nature aplenty, but compositionally this is a work of style and flourish and flair. Perhaps that’s antithetical to the purpose of folk music in some way, but when it’s done with this much aplomb no one can say it isn’t at least fun.

Thankfully, it’s more than fun. Über den Sternen is, start to finish, an album of expert, layered songwriting that never seems to fold up into a single dimension. Soft acoustic guitars effortlessly give way to apocalyptic climaxes and they to dense instrumental dances. The vocals are an operatic baritone, sometimes drifting into a husky higher pitch or even a snarly growl over the most metallic portions, but always the perfect complement to the music.

Opening cut ‘The Three Flames Sapphire’ is classic neofolk played to its fullest, but it swiftly gives way to ‘A Lucid Tower Beckons on the Hills Afar’, which spends its first half on anthemic epic metal. ‘The Oaken Throne’ is neofolk at its most cinematic and vocally driven, a track that could easily underpin a scene in many an epic fantasy flick. By the time the title track closes out the record we’re deep in a ten minute dark doom behemoth and we’re none the wiser to what should be the absurdity in such a stylistic shift. Empyrium effortlessly compose all eight tracks with a profound eclectic consistency that we can arrive at such disparate places without even noticing.

Empyrium are not newcomers and the prowess they show on Über den Sternen can only have come from a band that’s been honing their craft since the mid nineties. To be sure, it’s a far cry from the more metal-centric fare of those days, but the wild, spreading roots of their career is plain to see in these songs. This is a record that can only have been made by a band either near or at the apex of their artistry. Woe be to thee who would follow in their footsteps. (9/10)

Brett Tharp

Band info: www.facebook.com/Empyriumfans


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