Release Date: 2012
Genre: Avant-garde Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Purgatorium (04:49)
2. The Transfiguration Fear (04:51)
3. Lucid Nightmares: I. Opening Theme: Lucid Nightmare (01:59)
4. Lucid Nightmares: II. Somniphobia (07:34)
5. Lucid Nightmares: III. L’Excommunication A Minuit (05:39)
6. Lucid Nightmares: IV. Amnesia (08:10)
7. Lucid Nightmares: V. Far Beneath The In-Between (07:10)
8. Lucid Nightmares: VI. Amongst The Phantoms Of Abandoned Tumbrils (09:31)
9. Lucid Nightmares: VII. Ending Theme: Continuum (01:42)
10. Fall To The Thrall (05:18)
11. Equale
- I. Prelude
II. Fugato
III. Coda (08:01)
Total Length: 01:04:43
Purgatorium is a monster of an opening track. It starts quickly, the chorus is catchy as can be, and all the little variations the song takes are great. Sigh again take a slightly different approach with this album, and this song pretty much shows what you’re getting from this album. The Transfiguration Fear is also quite strong. I love the group vocals on the chorus with the percussion behind it, as well as the synths throughout the track. On top of all that there is a saxophone solo in the song which is just the coolest thing whenever it pops up in black metal. The ending of the track also feels like a black metal western with the whistling and ‘ooh’ed vocals.
The majority of the album is the track Lucid Nightmares, split into seven parts with a running time of nearly 42 minutes. Opening Theme: Lucid Nightmare sounds like a creepy film soundtrack, and the voiceover is the lead singer from Meads Of Asphodel. It’s a decent start to this section of the album. Somniphobia is hard to describe, there is so many neat things happening in it. One of my favorite moments is a bit that sounds like a demented circus. The last few minutes are more of a transition using samples, still a fun song.
L’Excommunication A Minuit has some neat riffs and other strange parts, like a funk guitar going on in the left channel throughout the song. Again the last few minutes are samples. This section isn’t quite as good as the ones surrounding it, but it works fine. Amnesia kind of takes a jazzy tone which is really cool. Basically this whole suite is great. Far Beneath The In-Between is amazing, I love the sense of fun that is in it mixed with the feelings of despair that the whole suite kind of entails. This latest listen was also where I realized that the saxophone player is now a main member of the band, which explains why he’s all over these tracks.
Amongst The Phantoms Of Abandoned Tumbrils is a bit darker overall than the previous track, and the guest singer on this one (same as the narrator from part one) helps drive that point home. I love that the song climaxes with repeated callings of “bring out your dead”. Ending Theme: Continuum again sounds like a film soundtrack, though more modern than the opening. Fall To The Thrall is more like the first two songs way back at the beginning of the album, it’s catchy and fun.
Equale is a larger single song to end everything. The Prelude starts off sounding like Santana or some such, it’s a bit weird. Fugato is very cool, the chorus sticks with me and the use of piano and acoustic guitar with the harsh vocals is really interesting. Coda kind of sounds like the other slower parts of the album, but it’s not bad. Overall this album kicks you in the pants from the word go and still has room to grow as you start to get familiar with it, and it’s always enjoyable to listen through.
Final Rating: 9/10
gazingogazongo 