More gorgeousness from the Ukraine here with the bard that is Astaroth delivering his fourth release in four years; nobody can accuse him of resting on his laurels that’s for sure. This as with his previous release ‘After’ has a lot of ideas and emotions going through the music, there is plenty of depth within the forty minute album and it really does take you off to places and enchants whilst doing so. As the title suggests there is a certain amount of sorrow being portrayed within this but with every desolate breath there is also a rich and lush feel that can only be listened to and felt as uplifting too, so musically this is far from being a total downer.
Divided into two chapters each with four numbers it is as though the musician is presenting things as a book and it is a real page turner keeping you gripped throughout its duration. Things sound very true to form as far as location is concerned as the instrumental flow of ‘Anything Is Void’ unravels, with a progressive sound that is certainly reminiscent of the might of Drudkh. It is very dreamy until the guitar work pitches up into a scything fury augmented by hefty drumming and gravid rasps from guest vocalist Morthvarg.
On reviewing 2009 album ‘Mortal Aspirations’ I said that it owed a lot more to atmospheric doom genre wise than black metal, now this notion is completely different as this is blackened to the very core. Having said that it is black with a huge concentration on presenting memorable melody rather than simply battering the listener into submission, it is all about majesty and atmosphere which is admirably enhanced by sparkling keyboards tinkling away in the background. Of course with titles like ‘Twilight, The Vernal Dusk’ it is easy to close your eyes and dream of nature in all its glorious colours and a musical landscape is very much being painted here by the sombre tones within. A glorious guitar solo unravels and breezes out the speakers, long and dextrous really adding to the song and illustrating the skill of the player, thankfully without being too clever and unwieldy it knows when to stop and allow the gravid vocals to clamour away again.
Songs are long and allowed plenty of time to breathe making them sound quite epic as they unwind with furious blast heavy passages interspersed with a more grandiose mid-pace. There are some really gorgeous harmonies such as the film sounding keyboard rapture leading into ‘Breathing The Scent Of Death’ destined for a horror film prior to the sudden reappearance of the vocals.
The gentle sound of waves greets us as we ebb into chapter II and the acoustic guitar caress of its prologue ‘Sailing To Further.’ It’s suddenly very stormy at sea as we are battered into choppy waters of ‘The Last Afterglow Burned.’ You have no idea where this voyage will take you or even if you will make it through to the end. Again the music works cleverly almost as a well plotted novel. But enough, this is a journey with a sense of mystery that needs to be experienced rather than spoiled, after all you would not give away the end of a good story would you?
‘Bringer Of Heartsore’ is a mature work that has been really painstakingly composed. If anything it shows that Raventale and Astaroth need much more wider recognition as compared to some others from the Ukraine they are to many an unknown entity. I await the next chapter eagerly and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be written for a 2012 release.
http://www.myspace.com/raventale
Pete Woods
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