In Chasms Deep - The Wind And Her Lament review
Band: | In Chasms Deep |
Album: | The Wind And Her Lament |
Style: | Black metal |
Release date: | August 28, 2020 |
Guest review by: | brimarsh |
01. The Wind And Her Lament
02. Beneath The Weight Of An Endless Sky
03. A Suicide In Paradise
04. Abyssgazer
05. Fading Into Rain
06. Mourning Glory
Puritanical perspectives notwithstanding, post-black metal is quite an interesting and intuitive amalgam. With post-rock/metal's emphasis placed on emotive and textured compositions allowing for the articulation of black metal's affinity for austerity or, rather, providing a stark and sanguine contrast, post-black metal affords the listener an emotional journey that is oftentimes more multifaceted than either of its components in their standalone states. Though exultation and melancholy are perhaps two sides of the same coin, one rarely existing without the other, how does one balance a coin in such a way that the observer can not distinguish one side from the other? While the answer exists, it seems to elude the Atlanta, Georgia-based one-man black metal act In Chasms Deep.
The Wind And Her Lament, a mostly straightforward approach to post-black metal with nods to minimalist contemporary classical, isn't necessarily a forward-thinking presentation. Wholly inconsistent in its direction, In Chasms Deep presents meandering musicality that ranges from predictable to confusing. As meritorious as passages may be in their singularity, there's very little to be found that listeners likely haven't already heard; the black metal riffing is highly reminiscent of US-based atmospheric and post-black metal acts from the past decade with ham-handed incorporations of shimmering and sunny post-sections providing ill-fitting contrasts amongst the doom, gloom, and cold. Individual sections - when they are not abruptly interrupted by nonsensical gear-shifting from pensive and pulchritudinous to chaotic and calamitous or vice versa - lazily linger into others, feeling like an overstayed welcome rather than a transition. In Chasm Deep's ineptitude in cohesive compositional direction degrades the integrity of their already formulaic songwriting, leaving the majority of the album feeling disorderly and misguided - like a cover band performing early Altar Of Plagues, Caspian, and Deafheaven in the same set, shifting to-and-fro with little regard for flow.
In Chasms Deep extends a mediocre hand into a pool of sounds and divulges a diverse and decisive (albeit wildly generic) palette to present us with - if nothing else - a deftly performed album, despite its structural disarray. While more reputable acts have taken the two-sided coin that is post-black metal and spun it such a way that its two sides weave into each other to become a singular illusionary entity, In Chasms Deep struggles, trying to flip the coin rapidly from side to side as the value of their promise wanes behind shoddy execution in arrangement.
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 7 |
Songwriting: | 5 |
Originality: | 5 |
Production: | 6 |
Written by brimarsh | 09.09.2020
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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