Sun Of The Sleepless - To The Elements - review
Sun Of The Sleepless - To The Elements - review
Tracklist
01. The Burden02. Motions
03. The Owl
04. Where In My Childhood Lived A Witch
05. Forest Crown
06. In The Realm Of The Bark
07. Phoenix Rise
A review by
nikarg August 20, 2017
The first black metal releases by Sun Of The Sleepless featured electronic, ambient and even trip-hop elements (just listen to "Tausend Kalte Winter", the band's brilliant blackened trip-hop take on Darkthrone's classic "En Ås I Dype Skogen"). Compared to those early works, To The Elements is a more traditional, second-wave black metal-influenced opus that features atmospheric, folk and pagan elements. The musical compositions are some of the finest to have come out of the shadows in this style lately, with beautifully written lyrics, driven by Schwadorf's fascination with the natural environment and influenced by great romantic writers.
To The Elements is a poetic work of art, inspired by taiga forests, wildlife, moss, fire and ice. It is a profoundly emotional and heartfelt experience. A dense atmosphere permeates the whole album and envelops the listener, bringing to light the beauty of nature in all its glory and different facets. The four elements are always present: the earth giving birth to all life, the fire that scorches and destroys, the water that cleanses and rejuvenates, the frozen air that chills the spine, but also breathes new life.
The Darkthrone-worshipping "In The Realm Of The Bark" is a pagan hymn to the forest, which Schwadorf describes as being his personal church since he was a kid. "The Owl" highlights the individuality and wisdom of the nocturnal self; the nighttime ambience is felt through the introductory acoustic guitars and whispers that turn into fervent drumming and howling screams over cold and thunderous guitars. "Forest Crown" draws familiar acoustic sounds from Empyrium and you can almost hear the wind gently shaking the trees' branches and leaves. "Motions" is the most excellent example of fluid black metal songwriting, with guitar riffs evolving melodically and choral keys fuelling "the fire, mother of life and death, all-consuming flame - never the same". The chugging riff and raw vocals in the beginning of the sublime "Where In My Childhood Lived A Witch" rotate with gothic chanting and melodic tremolo-picking, until the song climaxes into a fiery blastbeat, with eerie keys in the background to narrate a tale which took place "there by the olden forest lane, in wooden scent of fir and pine".
To The Elements tells dark and introspective stories about picturesque environs and celebrates the wilderness in the most captivating way. The passionate vocal performance and the meticulous instrumentation make it an unquestionable gem, but without the lyrical poetry that crawls under the skin this album wouldn't be such a totally enchanting experience. For the people who find it hard to grasp how someone can like black metal, this is the perfect introduction. For the longtime fans of the genre on the other hand, it is a gorgeous and modern release that keeps perfect balance between warm melody and grim fury and is reminiscent of the "good old days", sans the overused satanic lyrical content.
In short, this is pure and authentic black metal poetry.
"Sun of the Sleepless! melancholy star!
Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far,
That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel,
How like art thou to Joy remembered well!
So gleams the past, the light of other days,
Which shines but warms not with its powerless rays:
A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to behold,
Distinct, but distant - clear - but, oh, how cold!"
Lord Byron (1788 -1824)
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Comments
Comments:
9
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I love the reviews on this site; I just wish there were more of them.
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Posts: 64433
Amazing way to write, equal as your country mate from Patras , amazing and I agree best BM is (even you ddi not said it) nature, winter, forest etc insiprated by , those bands stand out, reading this guy lyrics, its as poetry, art, inspired by nature. amazing mussican, poet, BM and nature goes together.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 8252 Written by Bad English on 20.08.2017 at 17:38 Thanks man. But who is my country mate from Patras?
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Posts: 64433 Written by nikarg on 20.08.2017 at 20:01 vazelakia and gavros There are 2 greeks DerRozzengarten awesome reviever and Iaberis and he is from karditsa village
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 40071 Written by Bad English on 20.08.2017 at 20:08 could you please stop sucking that metaphor heavy reviewer's dick?
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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Posts: 4323
Love the review. You found a great balance between word pictures and actual description of the music. I'm halfway through my first spin of the thing and so far you've been spot-on 
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Posts: 8252 Written by corrupt on 22.08.2017 at 11:16 Thanks! The album is very inspiring I think.
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Posts: 141  |
Posts: 141
Great review, good album, but for a long time bm listener like me, it sounds too '90 related to be really impressive. I mean I heard this many times before and do I really need a new version of Ulver/Enslaved 90 classics? It's a nice record to listen, but it adds nothing to what was already said and played. To me it's a perfect 7.
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