Band:	Skáphe
Album:	Skáphe
Style:	Psychedelic black metal
Release date:	June 2014

01. Every Soul Entombed
02. Melancholic Ossuary
03. The Obelisk Gleam
04. Untitled

Filling in the blanks.

To understand where we're at Now, we often have to refer back to the Then. Very well.

Though Alex Poole may have gone unusually quiet in the 2020s, there's no question that he was an indisputable King of dissonant black metal in the 2010s (go over here if you think a bitch be lyin'). Rising in the BM underground primarily via Chaos Moon, there was another beast of Mr. Poole's that came some years later, a beast that quickly became my favorite from the wizard: Skáphe.

Revolving predominantly around Poole, though never (as I've been informed) truly a one man project, the Skáphe saga began in 2014 via this self - titled LP. There are very clear signs here of what would ultimately blossom into Poole taking the still - developing "Psychedelic Black Metal" style by storm and running to the farthest reaches of the event horizon with it. Notably the artwork by Wormlust's HV Lyngdal, who may or may not have contributed some of his own spooktacular cosmic horror sounds here and there to the mix. This partnership, of course, would later yield Mystískaos, a shadowy, half label / half collective that itself would form strong alliances with Fallen Empire, Prava Kollektiv, the Icelandic scene, and other champions of the weirder, darker sides of black metal in the latter half of the 2010s.

When compared against its successors, Skáphe clearly lacks some of the refinement and controlled chaos type approach of later releases, but the blueprint is nonetheless there as an important foundation for what would come later. There is something of a beauty as well to the fact that this is quite likely the rawest Skáphe release, something primal and terrifying yet in an unquestionably alluring and ensnaring fashion. When one dubs the music here "psychedelic black metal," by the way, keep in mind that we're not talking "psychedelic" in the more bouncy, playful style of bands such as Oranssi Pazuzu, Entropia, Aluk Todolo, etc. This is playing more off the "twisted / abysmal" psychedelia of fellow madmen such as those in the Black Twilight Circle, Wormlust, and, of course, Big Daddy himself, the styles pioneered by Jef Whitehead in Leviathan and Lurker Of Chalice.

Nevertheless, all similarities aside, Skáphe certainly has its own thing going on. There's a fine balance between the balls to the wall abrasion ("Every Soul Entombed") and the more psyched out segments that make you feel as though someone gave you a strong dose of Mescaline and then threw you without warning into Hostile Territory (see the opening half of "Melancholic Ossuary" especially). The production, while still relatively raw when compared to the later Skáphe releases, is still crisp enough to let virtually all the aspects of the composition shine, especially the toasty, LOC - ish bass during the trippier segments. This contrast of sound would be further explored on Skáphe², the fantastic collab with Elder Statesman Wormlust, and arguably came to a peak on Skáphe³.

It's important to note, however, that as skilled as Poole in his own right, the underground success and acclaim Skáphe would come to find was not won on his own. As the vision of both Skáphe as well as Mystískaos would expand in the later 2010s, Poole would come to connect with and eventually include other Naughties in the BM underground as a part of Skáphe, including DG (Misþyrming, Naðra) and the Blackburn brothers (Entheogen, Gardsghastr), who would further capitalize upon the sound. And yet, every Kingdom has to start somewhere, and for Skáphe, this debut still stands as a pretty powerful demonstration of Psych Black Metal Madness in its own right.

Go enter the LAWLESS DEVOURING PSYCHEDELIA.