Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations review
| Band: | Negative Plane |
| Album: | Stained Glass Revelations |
| Style: | Black metal |
| Release date: | January 17, 2011 |
| A review by: | KwonVerge |
01. The Fall
02. Lamentations And Ashes
03. Angels Of Veiled Bone
04. The Third Hour
05. The One And The Many
06. Charnel Spirit
07. All Souls
08. The Number Of The Word
09. Stained Glass Reflections
10. Stained Glass Revelations
Bestial Devotion and Nameless Void, the demented duo from the US, managed to strike once again under the moniker Negative Plane 5 years after their highly acclaimed debut (Et In Saecula Saeculorum) in the underground black metal circles. It was during the dawn of 2011 they unleashed their Stained Glass Revelations to the world, proving that the longing for a strong successor was all worth it.
Hallelujah! "The world that is yet to come," amen to that, at least that's what the banner says at the top of the picture in the middle of the cover artwork being carried by angels and hawks. For some weird reason it's being connected with a hearse at the bottom of the picture and in the middle lies a dim portrait of Virgin Mary holding the newborn Christ with many candles set alight. The overall scenery is reminiscent to a funeral and most probably denounces God's creation and signals... the world that is yet to come, a godless ivory tower. The black font is kind of tricky and serves its purpose well, after a few seconds your stare will get caught by the inner bluish aesthetic that lends emphasis and depth to the picture.
Echoing percussion, sinister bells chiming, lurking drumming, floating distortion, horrifying anti-melodies and a doom-driven scenery open up the gateways with grandeur; "The Fall" has begun. A magnetic field of negative charge fuels the compositions with a wide variety of tempos, ways of expression and ideas. There's nothing positive in here, even the more melodic chords or soloing ideas hold some kind of mysticism and always end in dreadful outbursts. Apart from the massive riffing and the thrash-oriented or more heavily traditional leads, the bass lines overrun the compositions forging a permanent, ravenous overtone of misty web surrounding the compositions. The rasping and more natural vocals possess an aura that haunts back from the first half of the 90s, weaving goodbye to the hoarse manner of interpreting (00s). Either relentless or more restrained yet creative, the drumming never fails to lend power to the compositions whereas the percussion has its very own special appearance as a guest star at times in terms of creativity. Some piano parts, the organ, the bells, the clean vocal inputs etc add to the overall ambiance and make the compositions more affected, without exaggerating; always to the point, only whenever required.
Stained Glass Revelations will accompany you for about an hour and its basic compositions are quite lengthy, somewhere between 7 - 11 minutes. As for the rest, intro and interludes, they are highly inspired atmosphere-based pieces that ease the tension and make the musical environment more captivating; until the next meeting on the battlefield. Through the overall madness, one may notice at times some more oriental scales in the already highly qualified guitars, which I found quite interesting and enriching. As for the production, it's quite clean, helping every single instrument stand on its own, and at the same time seconds the depth and echo essence of the songs.
We're talking about an album of exquisite ambiance, decomposing beauty and coherent insanity. Stained Glass Revelations is truly a revelation, a blooming abomination. If you're not aware of Negative Plane's existence, you deserve to know them(?).
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 29.08.2011 by "It is myself I have never met, whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind." |
Comments
Comments: 25
Visited by: 272 users
| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068  |
Written by [user id=4365] on 29.08.2011 at 02:08 You'll have to give me more money to continue 
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by KwonVerge on 29.08.2011 at 02:11 I have no money but I can offer you one of the things that are within reach of where I'm sitting. You may choose from: an empty red bull bottle, a Spongebob Squarepants pen, a green highlighter, a mug that says "This mug belongs to the world's sexiest woman", another mug which has Black Sabbath written on it, or my resit essay on Soviet Montage. Choose wisely.
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 29.08.2011 at 02:14 I'd say the "this mug belongs to the world's sexiest woman" mug to keep company to my Cramps' "bad music for bad people" with the psychobilly skeleton mug  How wise was that?
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by KwonVerge on 29.08.2011 at 02:21 That would make you a bad, sexy woman. I'd say good choice!
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 29.08.2011 at 02:22 Ough yeah! 
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| ₣rost Giant Posts: 35  |
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
I don't think I was particularly impressed by their debut, but will give this one a go. Nice review, Rozz.
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| Konrad Mormon Storm Posts: 707  |
The production on this album is flawless. Definitely a top contender for 2011. Nice review!
---- Brujerizmo!
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 29.08.2011 at 14:53 But are they Satanic because if they are I cant listen to them...  Uh-huh, really digging it after a couple of listens. It's gonna be hella hard to decide between this one and Infestus at Metal Storm 2011 Awards.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Slayer666 on 29.08.2011 at 23:46 Indeed. I'm hoping something epically perfect will come along and stop me from having to decide.
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 29.08.2011 at 23:48 Yeah, like a surprise split between Striborg and Enbilulugugal. Oh, wait...
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
Somehow, this doesn't grab me at all... am I the only one to find it rather generic and boring?
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 30.08.2011 at 14:32 nope 
---- 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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| ravendeath Posts: 240  |
Quote: Sorry, but I think that Woods Of Desolation's record beats both of these two records easily.
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| ravendeath Posts: 240 |
Quote:Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2011 at 23:49 Different tastes..., what can we do?
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Quote:Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2011 at 23:49 Holy shit, how did I not notice that before? Definitely a lot of Alcest worship going on there. Still, WoD's album is a worthy contender too, just not as worthy as the two previously mentioned. Its much easier to listen to, because it's kind of fluffy and up-lifting. Infestus and Negative Plane just grab by the balls and suffocate.
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| ravendeath Posts: 240 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2011 at 23:56 First one dead wins! Hope it's me....:kopkop:
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 31.08.2011 at 00:02 Other than Deafheaven, I haven't heard any of those mentioned. Thanks are in order. *pauses pronz download* *puts on Ash Borer, Fall Of Rauros, Echtra, Petrychor, Alda, Verwüstung and Epheles on the torrent list"
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| Being and Time Posts: 53 |
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