ambient black metal
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I remember those early nineties. I was dwelling in music stores far and wide, looking for the most obscure, underrated and brilliant albums in the world of extreme music. I remember Mussorgski, from Poland, or at least, I think I remember. Combining black metal with stellar ambient on the album 'In Harmony with the Universe', they quickly and briefly got my attention. They split up in 1995, only to reform in 2009. By then, I was no longer active in the world of metal and completely missed out on their 2011 album 'Chaos and Paranormal Divinity'. But then I founded this website, eventually resulting in me receiving the latest album by this Polish duo.
When I started playing the album, the whole nineties scene once again flashed in front of my eyes. Opener 'Gaaya - The Planet Of The Dead' and 'God Is In The Neurons' are awesome mid-tempo songs where elementary black metal meets space ambient and some industrial aspects. I'm reminded of acts like The Kovenant, Limbonic Art and Samael, not necessarily identical to what Mussorgski is blasting through my speakers but certainly containing similar elements and a similar atmosphere.
After a short breather in 'Stellar Core', 'Sabbathum In Perpetuum' suddenly comes up with the fierce blast beats and the secant riffing. This song definitely got me hooked, it's brilliantly controlled chaos, loaded with symphonic elements and including some unexplained noises to add to the excitement. 'Key To The Universe' is probably my favorite track, slow, gnawing and eerie, grabbing you by the throat and dragging you to places unseen and unimagined. There's something "gothic" in this song as well, caused by the haunting church organs.
There are three more songs to go through but I'll let you discover those for yourself. Apart from mentioning that these are stunning pieces of work as well (even the intermezzo 'Inverted Aeon' is awesome), I got little else to do but to recommend this gem to all you symphonic, atmospheric black metal fans out there. So check it out, I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Serge
When I started playing the album, the whole nineties scene once again flashed in front of my eyes. Opener 'Gaaya - The Planet Of The Dead' and 'God Is In The Neurons' are awesome mid-tempo songs where elementary black metal meets space ambient and some industrial aspects. I'm reminded of acts like The Kovenant, Limbonic Art and Samael, not necessarily identical to what Mussorgski is blasting through my speakers but certainly containing similar elements and a similar atmosphere.
After a short breather in 'Stellar Core', 'Sabbathum In Perpetuum' suddenly comes up with the fierce blast beats and the secant riffing. This song definitely got me hooked, it's brilliantly controlled chaos, loaded with symphonic elements and including some unexplained noises to add to the excitement. 'Key To The Universe' is probably my favorite track, slow, gnawing and eerie, grabbing you by the throat and dragging you to places unseen and unimagined. There's something "gothic" in this song as well, caused by the haunting church organs.
There are three more songs to go through but I'll let you discover those for yourself. Apart from mentioning that these are stunning pieces of work as well (even the intermezzo 'Inverted Aeon' is awesome), I got little else to do but to recommend this gem to all you symphonic, atmospheric black metal fans out there. So check it out, I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Serge
