Aether “Verfallsschemen”
There’s a strange sort of emptiness to this like the solitary misanthrope at his window as he watches the world tick from indoors, yet still on the proverbial outside looking in. A melancholy that seeps into that innermost spot where only Black Metal can reach and then the release… Letting it all go in service of the experience. In flux with its weighty energy and dragging deep before breaking loose into a soar. And we’ve only just begun…
What separates Black Metal from just about every other sub-genre of Extreme Metal is its capacity for the cathartic, the visceral. Depressive Death Metal? See? It doesn’t work. Now, when the most sacred Dark Art of Black Metal is steeped in suffering, then you’ve got something beautiful. For there is beauty in the agony! And there is beauty within the world of Aether. Germany’s Aether is a Black Metal band out of Munich, formed in 2013, and have so far recorded one album with 2018’s Ego Vitium Sum. Their sophomore effort, Verfallsschemen, is due to be released on December 18 via Amor Fati Productions. Oh right, we were right in the middle of something pretty great up there, weren’t we? Let’s get back into this thing…
If it sounds cool and you’re entertained by it, then it is not true Black Metal. True Black Metal is moving. It’s artists are renowned for their ability to tap into those places inside where no one wants to venture. A bold introspection that precedes a cathartic release. Therapeutic… Once again, shit you just do not get with Thrash or Prog. The pulsating energy of “Die alte Stunde” - whipping my emotions into a whirlwind until the most divine melodies transpire. Contrasts to the agonized sound of the vocals. I must say, so far, this thing just feels great. The momentum is there but also a weightlessness. Tremolo riffs like fluttering wings to carry you off into storm-threatening clouds over canyons of despair. Playful bass lines intertwine complexly through intrepid rhythms.
Verfallsschemen is one of those albums that I will never forget, despite the fact that I’ll more-than-likely never listen to it again. A taxing excursion like Schindler’s List, only edged in a silver lining of aesthetic appeal is Verfallsschemen. A nervous breakdown set to music. The inner turmoil of a thousand depressions lived at once! A story told, an experience akin to Advent Sorrow’s As All Light Leaves Her in how it all feels so tragic. Said experience culminates with “Ins Nichts…”, in what feels and sounds like a tribute to Forteresse with so much momentum and all those pulsating, reciprocal riffs. But it’s the vocals that are the heart and soul of this recording. The product once again of an introspective deep-dive preceding a blessed purge.
Prepare to be moved in ways that only Black Metal can move you. Set forth upon the path towards self-discovery through agony and allow for this one to just have its way. You’re in good hands. A work of art… More than an album. Something that belongs in a Black Metal museum where people can appreciate it for the next hundred years… Seriously talented group here and their hearts are so obviously in the right place. Definitely not a Black Metal album for beginners who haven’t come to appreciate the depressive side of the genre. Who haven’t learned the importance of such primal expression as what’s conveyed through the vocals here. Not just a guy screaming, but a man bearing his soul: the ugly parts and the beautiful ones as well. This is not Black Metal for the background like Burzum’s Filosofem that you’ve listened to a hundred times, but an immersive taking in that demands your full attention. Let the suffering begin! Pay attention or you could miss the beauty of it. Beauty like Verfallsschemen.
SCORE: 9.5 / 10
You can purchase at Amor Fati Production’s STORE.
