
The sound is dominated by the two cellos which is not a bad thing as their sometimes pretty sharp intonation definitely purveys a lot of darkness that is being enforced by the violin providing a lot of sonorous melodies that lead you onto a path towards the black light. Interestingly, the guitar and the bass are the least-dominant instruments within the ensemble.
Interesting about the three tracks (not including the spoken word bonus track “Outro”) is that they are not boring but able to take on a journey starting with “An Inviting Afterglow” and proceeding with the second track “Grand Darkness Engulfs” as the centerpiece with its five different parts. It takes you on a path through a blizzard and up the snowy mountain to the summit. On the other side the snow is thawing under a warm black sun and finally along the glacier is melting and everything is swimming away showing the muddy, washed-up Winter Green – the namesake of the final part “A Shock of Winter Green”.
Whether we can really call this “black” ritual music remains to be answered individually, however, this is not important at all. This is an instrumental album that is more fun than one could imagine when thinking of its predecessors because it can convince with all its harmonies and flow. A well-conceived composition for bleak rituals.
Thorsten