Band:	Caïna
Album:	Setter Of Unseen Snares
Style:	Black metal, Post-metal
Release date:	January 20, 2015
A review by:	Ilham

01. Introduction
02. I Am The Flail Of The Lord
03. Setter Of Unseen Snares
04. Vowbound
05. Applicant Supplicant
06. Orphan

"Matthew McConaughey is a busta", would say a certain MetalStormer.

But mister McConaughey's Detective Rusty Cohle has become metal's first source of samples since 2014 - whether you like it or not, Mattybu. The now famous tirade on humans failing as a species serves as introduction to Caïna's return to black metal and sets the tone for the whole record. The album unravels the story of the last inhabitants of Earth facing the imminent extinction of their breed as an asteroid is about to blow the planet to Oblivion.

Leaving behind the experiments of Litanies Of Abjection and the very contemplative nature of Hands That Pluck, the straightforwardness of Setter Of Unseen Snares comes as a welcome surprise. Curtis-Brignell's releases are usually intricate enough without being impenetrable, and as expected, this latest effort of the more-or-less one-man-band is full of hidden nuances - which mandatory subsequent spins will reveal. What appears to be uncut black metal actually displays subtle changes in style and structures. For example, "I Am The Flail Of The Lord" seems to be constructed on a post-punk base that Caïna took, dipped in tar and rolled in dirt, in order to make the catchiest and most addictive black metal song I have heard in a good while. I couldn't help but remember a similar case in the last Nachtmystium album, in which "On The Other Side" made me wish there were more bands that exploited this delicious vein of blackened post-punk.

In a little over thirty minutes, the British act manages to take us from the unusual second track I have just described, to almost Leviathan-esque haunting and densely layered tracks like "Vowbound", to a post-metal-inspired 16 minutes-long closer titled "Orphan". One would think such drastic changes would disrupt the progression and cohesion of the album. But they would be wrong: there is more than just a concept that ties these tracks together. Every song - no matter how long - develops atmosphere, a sort of ominous feeling, that seamlessly joins the different passages together; until eventually, as per post-rock traditions, the build-up in the closing track explodes in a grandiose uplifting finale.

It's a relief to find albums like these once in a while, albums so well-written and finely-produced I don't have to embarrass myself in technical criticism. Setter Of Unseen Snares is a short experience, a passing storm of conflicting feelings, rather than just a succession of blast-beats. I'm pretty sure Rusty would have worded a conclusion better that I did, so I'll just leave you with this gem, and bonus one: