The Great Old Ones - Al Azif - review
The Great Old Ones - Al Azif - review
Tracklist
01. Al Azif02. Visions Of R'lyeh
03. Jonas
04. Rue d'Auseil
05. The Truth
06. My Love For The Stars (Cthulhu Fhtagn)
A review by
BitterCOld April 17, 2012
Al Azif by The Great Old Ones starts with an ominous build of tension with ringing tones and occasional power chord mashing - dark clouds on the horizon - before a maelstrom of non-Euclidean black metal fury ensues.
Al Azif was the original writing of the Mad Arab, which later found its way to Greece and was dubbed "The Necronomicon", and as one might expect with paeans to the concepts in that book, there are lots of twists and turns on the way. Raging black metal gives way to stark, almost jazzy, interludes, before the band resumes a ferocious assault on your earhole.
Stylistically, I suppose the easiest comparison would be to fellow Frenchmen Deathspell Omega. The Great Old Ones also show an affinity for creating songs with one of old school Darkthrone's greatest traits? a damn near hummable melody line over rampaging tremolo riffing and drum pounding. (Think "Transylvanian Hunger.") They also exhibit the knack for slowing down to a sludge-paced funeral march on other tracks, to find a nice middle ground between the stark dissonance to build tension and the full throttle blackened fury.
The music is also presented in such a way that it feels simultaneously murky and massive, sprawling. The net result is a pretty great sonic spectacle. The shifting moods from ominous build up to blasturbation and back again never allow you to get entirely settled. The moment you feel in place, the floor falls out from underneath you again.
While perhaps not as innovative of other French Masters, I still found this a thoroughly entrancing release. Definitely worth checking out.
Pthagn!
Or whatever.
*While I don't take bribes, if Le Ministre De L'Excellente Musique wants to send a few baguettes and bottles of Bordeaux my way for my efforts in exposing and promoting their works, I will gladly accept all packages.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written on 17.04.2012 by
Written on 17.04.2012 by
BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009. Comments
Comments:
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| !J.O.O.E.!
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This popped up in my email as a review request but I couldn't describe it very well. In any case I would have scored it a full point lower but it's still some interesting music. I wish I could say more about what didn't entice me, but then again that's why I didn't bother with wanting to write the review in the first place.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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Posts: 2800
Again : French, Black, Jazzy and Sludgy moments .... sold !  awesome review as always, will keep an eye on this one
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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Posts: 702
Look forward to this... the two tracks I've heard are awesome!
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Posts: 589 Quote: Great description there dude
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Froggies strike again it seems. Will check this one out for sure.
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I love the whole Great Old Ones thing. I'll check them out.
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Posts: 30 Quote: i think english dictionary should adopt this new word to refer to this band Hell french black metal acts are always amazing 
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Posts: 9575 Quote: haha we call my drummer Adam "The Blasturbater" Wright
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I like this and for an obvious reason: the post and atmospheric elements are clear as day.
---- rekt
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Posts: 1322
Al Azif was actually created by Lovecraft, and so it isn't a real book.
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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Posts: 3099
Damn near hummable is right, can't get this one out of my head.
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The limited double vinyl version is now up for preorder at Antithetic Records! http://www.antitheticrecords.com/shop/the-great-old-ones-al-azif-2xlp/
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