lista zespołów Atmospheric Black Annorkoth The Last Days

Playing a similar style to Australians Austere and Woods of Desolation, Annorkoth play a very beautiful and melancholic form of black metal with light levels of distortion, repetitious melodious riffs and subdued vocals. The resulting sound being an album full of introspective beauty and melancholy, with a high level of atmospheric brilliance.

Atmospheric black metal can be a hard genre to digest, the music is often structured similarly to ambient music, a high focus on repetitious song writing in favour of variation and dynamics to create a hypnotic and dreamy sound. Of course there are many people who enjoy this style, me included, but just keep in mind if you are new to this form of music it is probably wise to look elsewhere, as The Last Days is a highly atmospheric affair, lacking a lot in terms of structural variation, with each song having only a handful of riffs. Annorkoth are quite different from other atmospheric black metal bands such as Burzum and Imperium Dekadenz, the sound this band plays lacks any semblance of malice and hatred, it's highly atmospheric though, the lack of evilness doesn't hinder the atmospheric value one bit. The atmosphere could best be described as a more sombre Alcest, the music is introspective and melancholic, yet never dark or vile. It lacks any noticeable hints of bite and venom, preferring to take a much more subtle approach than other black metal strains.

The guitar tone is excellent for what this band plays, it's fairly clear and quite uplifting sounding, bringing comparisons to Torn Beyond Reason instantly to mind. The production on The Last Days is phenomenal, once again taking a similar approach to the aforementioned Torn Beyond Reason, the distortion never feels overused, the sound isn't claustrophobic at any points, it's expansive and airy, the guitar tone gives a lot of room for the music to breathe, adding a suitable sense of melancholic beauty to the music. The riffs they play are melodic and beautiful, there's no tremolo picking or anything even remotely touching dissonance on The Last Days, the musicianship is highly melodic and simple, there isn't an extravagant display of musical virtuosity, rather it's a display of how an incredible atmosphere can be created utilising only simple music. The songs are typically drawn out and repetitious, utilising very simplistic song structures, the utilisation of a high level of minimalism allows Annorkoth to create an album that is very high on atmospheric poignancy and it works really well, one of the better examples of atmospheric black metal I've heard in a while.

The vocals are really well done, they're very subdued in the mix creating a distant feel to the music, almost giving it an atmosphere that is devoid of humanity. It's quite a strange mix actually, inhuman vocals over music this sweet and gentle, thankfully Annorkoth mix them together really well and it never feels incongruous, nay I'd say the juxtaposition between these two sharply contrasting elements works in the bands favour. It creates a distant, yet strangely welcoming aurora around the music that does wonders for the albums atmosphere.

If there is one small complaint to be made, it's how darn unmemorable the entire thing is. The music may be high on atmosphere, yet it doesn't exactly leave much of a lasting impact, it's good and soothing whilst it's on but it isn't an album that sticks with you. The music lacks any particular stand out moments yet being consistently good throughout, it seems as though in an effort to make their music as atmospherically powerful as possible they forgot to include anything that was particularly flashy and stunning. It's a minor complaint on my behalf though, the music is admittedly well performed and it's high on the atmosphere so I can't entirely fault the band for this. For what it's worth, The Last Days is worth checking out, if only for the atmosphere, just keep in mind you won't be able to remember much of it when it's finished. For fans of Austere and Woods of Desolation. Recommended.