If I told you that Grisatre was the French word for ‘greyish’ then you’d probably expect this album to be a colourless, joyless vacuum designed to suck all happiness from your soul…and you’d be right. Just like its cover, this music plays out entirely in greyscale – it’s definitely not for you if you’re looking for the soundtrack to skipping through the meadows on a warm summer day...but then if that’s the sort of thing you’re after you’d probably have skipped this and searched for something more in the vein of Ram-a-Gay (oops, slip of the tongue), wouldn’t you? Given that I’ve been on a mission of late to hunt down as much depressive black metal as blogspots and Spotify will allow, this wasn’t one I was likely to pass up.
This one man project has previously put out 2 demos and 2 splits with other artists, before signing with the seemingly new Dusktone Records, who given the quality of the two albums I’ve received from them (also look up Cold Body Radiation reviewed this month) are going to be a label well worth keeping an eye on. Intriguingly, the tracks on this album are back to front – with track one entitled ‘V’ going through to track five which is called ‘I’ – confusing, huh? A depressive piano piece sets the mood for the album beautifully on opening track ‘V,’ while the overlying keyboards are sprinkled lightly as fairydust before everything sweeps forward in a colourless maelstrom of sound while a distant series of bangs thump out of the speakers.
The album is balanced evenly, with three relatively short tracks placed around two sprawling numbers, ‘IV’ and ‘II’ that each clock in around the 15 minute mark. ‘IV’ instantly rises up with an unyielding backdrop of distortion that gives the feeling that beneath everything lies a pit of utter emptiness and despair. The guitar plays out with a rather entrancing melody that lulls you into a disconsolate trance, while the drums sound absolutely massive and rumble along fearsomely. Given the length of this track, it doesn’t seem to drag, perhaps largely because Rokkr, the man behind the music, is rather successful in drawing the listener in to his cold, grey world and making one want to stay there. At times the intensity really builds up and the guitar sound becomes more threatening than it does entrancing, although this, you soon discover, is echoed by a more restrained, mellow line that sounds rather haunting, and this kind of takes you round and round in a circle for a while before letting go and dragging you into the incredibly mournful intro of ‘III.’ I really like the pronounced piano sound on this one, which is bashed away at maniacally striking a balance between apocalyptic and wondrous.
‘II’ (er…that’s track four now, we’re counting down remember) returns to a full on blackened attack which incorporates the expected serotonin-sapping melodies while raging ahead. The vocals sound anguished and intense throughout, while the guitars seem to unravel slowly around the middle distortion. While this album doesn't really offer anything that fans of Xasthur won't already be familiar with, it paints an honest and reflective picture of despair and desperation with an atmosphere that one can really get lost within. Good stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/grisatre
http://www.myspace.com/dusktonelabel
