Evil Dead, Evilspeak, Blood Feast, was the name of this project inspired by our favourite video nasties? Possibly but then again quite unlikely as we are off to Poland for our encounter with GrimSpirit, the sole muse behind this blackened symphonic mass. This is perfect as the cold winter nights draw in. Just a quick listen to opening synthesized movement ‘Open The Mysteries From Beyond’ will have you drawing extra layers around you and shivering as you are transported into a cold frosty wonderland where the ground is crisp beneath the feet and the moon shines between lugubrious, windswept, tortured thickets.
This would appear to be the fourth full length album from Evilfeast and it puts me in no uncertainty that I have been missing out on earlier material. This feels like it has come from the past, over 15 years ago as black metal was emerging from the stygian underground in all its dank, ghastly glory. This is partly due to the production. When the guitars scythe in you realise it is lacking, nod your head as you did many a year ago and go and turn the volume up a bit. That said it matches the mood and does not hamper the enjoyment in the slightest. This is heavily orchestrated stuff with the keyboard really prolific as it conjures a ghostly atmosphere amidst the instrumentation and throat-shredding vocals. There is a violent cleaving to be found amidst this and the tracks do batter you senseless at times, something of which there is plenty of as they are often happy to hit anything up to the 13 minute mark. The icy majesty takes me back to the infamous and defining Emperor / Enslaved ‘Hordanes Land’ split of 93 and I can hear elements of both bands within this but thankfully this is just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended) as Evilfeast have plenty of ideas making them unique too.
I love the tinkling keyboard refrain that perpetuates ‘The Wind And The Old Willows’ a song I assure you has nothing to do with the works of Kenneth Grahame although it does fly dangerously as fast as a toad in a sports car down a very slippery lane, crashing and skidding along. The icy tones do here remind at times of older Dimmu Borgir when they had a sense of majesty before they became overwhelmed in their own pomp. The 5 minute or so instrumental interludes such as ‘Passing The Meadows In Woe’ work very effectively and bring out a mood of desolation and sorrow admirably before the next long track bites back and festers with vocals and full instrumentation cascading back in.
At 68 minutes there is a lot of music to digest here but this is great to settle down with and chill out with a good book as the weather rages away outside. I think it would be a great soundtrack for an MP3 listening session when it snows too, in fact when it does I may well go and do just that. No official website exists for the artist but search and you will find music easily enough.
http://www.nykta.gr
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