Reviews: Persefone, Necrowretch, Being As An Ocean, Ignis Absconditus (Reviews By Matt Bladen, Zak Skane, GC & Erick Willand)

Persefone – Lingua Ignota: Part I (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]

Lingua Ignota: Part I is the debut release of Andorran extreme progressive metal band Persefone with their new vocalist Daniel Rodríguez Flys. From One Word you can hear how well he fits into the band and what he brings to the table with a multi-faceted vocals approach that alternates between screams, growls and booming cleans, ideal then for the dark, ominous music that Persefone are reliant on. With a foundation in melodeath, the band expand into progressive soundscapes, the cinematic trappings of Miguel “Moe” Espinosa’s keys and his additional vocals, taking Persefone out of just being lumped in with the melodeath crew. 

Technically punishing but also melodically inviting tracks such as The Equable, ignite the frantic riffage but cut through it with soaring choruses and virtuoso guitar solos from Carlos Lozano and Filipe Baldaia. Their acoustics lead into the proggy title track, Toni Mestre’s bass and Sergi “ Bobby” Verdeguer’s drumming playing in odd time signatures, the djent grooves evolving again into an acoustic middle section. It’s the longest tracks and allows them to flex their prog credentials, while Abyssal Communication closes the EP with theatrics and emotion, hinting at what is to come, as it’s more of an interlude than a finale. 

Changing a band member is difficult for any band, especially a singer but Persefone have managed to make it seamless with this first release in their new era. I look forward to where they go from here. 7/10

Necrowretch – Swords Of Dajjal (Season Of Mist) [Zak Skane]

Through out of the eight track album, Necrowretch have really captured the classic black metal elements from its raw scratchy guitar tones riffs constructed from dominant, diminished and minor scales which project ferocious tremolo picking in songs like Ksar Al-Kufar and The Fifth Door. Vlad's throaty fry vocals haunt each note of their phrases, whist Nicolas Ferrero’s relentless blast beats bring the thunder from track to track. 

As KVLT as this album direction is, the band are still able to add some dynamics into the mix from Nicolas Ferrero’s effortless transitions from rapid blast beats to standard drum beats to 6/8 swinging grooves in songs like Swords Of Dajjal and Vae Victis. Nichols adds the thunder on songs like The Fifth Door, which contains pounding tribal rhythms projected from perfectly recorded toms. Whilst the band can change it up in relation to the rhythmical chaos, they can also apply some chillingly frosty passages from the 12 string chimes of Numidian Knowledge and the chorused effected clean section of the instrumental track Dajjal which is features layers of delay and chorus effects. 

Another thing that also stands out on this album is the sampled soundscapes placed on the tracks to enforce the mystic narrative driving this album. Even though that the eight track concept album perfectly captures the black metal styed elements…that’s pretty much all it does. For a band that has explored other extreme metal subgenres through it’s back catalogue I think it would of elevated the arrangements if they incorporated some of those elements with this album. 7/10

Being As An Ocean - Death Can Wait (Out Of Line Music/Rough Trade/Believe) [GC]

The only reason I know anything about Being As An Ocean is that Djamila form Ithaca is taking over vocal duties for their upcoming tour then I read about the fall out between members and all the drama that follows that and when reading that, I found out they have been about for ages and released loads of stuff! Who knew, anyway new album Death Can Wait is now ready for review, let see if I have been missing much. 

It all starts with the moody and brooding Beautiful Agony that is almost a spoken word piece until about 2 minutes in when it all gets a bit too emo and angsty for my liking, the guitars also seem to be mixed way to low so there is not enough punch anywhere on this track, Swallowed By The Earth at least tries to pick up the energy with a riff at that start of the song but again its so low in the mix nothing stands out and all you can really hear are the vocals which alternate between high pitched emo whine and the gruff hardcore leaning barks but they are just way too high in the mix there is at least one decent part of this song about 3 minutes in that lasts about 20 seconds and the end fade out is also decent.

Purest Love has a droning intro that lasts way too long and when it does finally get going the song is actually done well, the harsh vocals over a more serene and melancholic verse work well and when the guitars do kick in they compliment the dynamic shift well and shows that there is definitely something here to enjoy. …Gave It A Voice So That My Heart Could Speak once again leans heavily on the emotive side with a sweeping feel to the verse and the chorus is well executed but I feel it could have been massive if done right, it just falls at the last hurdle. 

Flesh And Bone follows the familiar path of heartfelt vocals mixed into more spoken word that get angry midway and then there’s the big chorus again and this time it feels like it has been done right and they also manage to execute the angsty bits right here too and the mix is spot on, shame it’s taken this long to hit the mark! Gloom finally hits the mark and I actually really enjoy this song as it has a decent pace to it and again the big chorus really hits the mark and shows that with that little bit of focus, they can create some good stuff, when Paradise In My Mind starts you think what the hell is this? Someone is having a go at vocals who has no place having a go but it does improve and is another decent if not earth shattering song, just seems to go a bit to heavy on the fringes, tight jeans and Converse style of mid 00’s emo for my taste. 

I do not like Snake at all I’m afraid, it just fills me with all the cringe I can handle and I almost fold in half listening to it, it tries way to hard to be ‘angry’ and ‘have feelings’ both at the same time and I just can’t cope with it, out of the songs I don’t like this easily stands out the most to me! Death Can Wait must be destined for rock radio as it’s got the slow melancholy beginning, little mosh bit then sing/shouty verses that is neither offensive nor too heavy to be played everywhere you get your ‘rock’ fix? It’s not necessarily awful and it certainly not brilliant its just another kind of ok track, I am sure fans of this style of music will love it though!? 

The Fullness Of My Being is the last track and they have tried to go out with a bang, I guess? There is a scuzzy riff that blends into all the all too familiar spoken word/shouty/sang verse that drifts into a nice enough chorus and then some harsh vocals and chugging guitars and again its fine, but it all just feels too formulated and safe, swing and a miss. My initial curiosity for this wasn’t met with much that I really loved, I liked some of it but then some of it just was not for me at all, there is clearly a market for this type of music that I though was consigned to the mid 00’s and I am sure if you are into introspective and angsty post hardcore you will love this album, I however am not and I just sort of liked it a bit sometimes. 5/10

Ignis Absconditus - Golden Horses Of A Dying Future (My Kingdom Music ) [Erick Willand]

Italian dark Post Metallers Ignis Absconditus were formed in 2018 by Multi-instrumentalist Henry Der Wanderer and vocalist Noctuaria, who released their first material in 2020 titled Lost Equilibrium, a neo-folk EP. Followed in 2022 with well received full length Portrait Of Beyond, a lean towards a more Goth/Dark Rock style. Fast forward another 2 years and 2 additional members and new album Golden Horses Of A Dying Future arrives specializing in a heady mixture of sub-genres laced with weirdness and melancholia, sounds fun right? Good, so let's get saddled up and go riding into that Dying Future.

First track Shadows sets course with guitars guiding sound and quickly showcases Noctuaria’s voice layered over the bands clear doom leanings, even to the point of stretching to one second shy of 7 minutes. However this is clearly a doom inspired track and song length gets a pass here, I’m not bored which if you’ve been reading you know is the key here. Mr. Smith is track 2 and gives the doom a shake and, as advertised here is the rock side of the proceedings. Gothy guitar tones, slightly echoing vocals, even a slow bit with spectral whispering, it’s kitsch but it works. 

Wolfheart is yet another slight stylistic shift, at least at first. Opening with a groovy bass line that grows into a swaggering Vegas Show kind of vibe complete with finger snapping with the beat, no kidding. Then at the 1:45 mark the song shifts to a more Goth-Rock vibe like a seasoned New York City pick-pocket…except for sound. It’s so tight you don’t really catch it and by the time you do it slides back into the beginning grooves. It’s a well written song. Lucid Madness continues the Goth-Rock ride stronger, sharper, shorter this time. With the drums opening this one up with a decent swagger while Noctuaria’s vocals take on a longing quality with an underline of anguish, leaning hard into the vibe.

We're into the real horse meat of the album now, with songs like Carousel Of The Departed with its dreamy vocal delivery and Seagull’s Laughter with its haunted keys work and plucky drum beat caring the Rock covered in Gothic-Doom songs along like a leaf on the breeze. Weight Of Knowledge is the strongest song here, fully realized with all of the band's elements coming together for a stronger bond here that is a bit lacking on the rest of the album. And as if the band realize this the last two songs also seem to have had more work and effort then previous songs, Whispering being a particularly tight example and Chasm Of Deceit delivering anguish in a rocking, eerie somewhat mid paced rush.

The press for this release made mention of the strength of Noctuaria’s voice and to be straight forward she is actually the weakest part of this band. Her voice just isn’t that strong and her pronunciation…difficult, whether this is her accent or a failure of production I can’t really tell but I felt that I spent most of this album trying to make out if she was singing in Italian or English. The songs are tight for what they are and well thought out, but like that line from that old Tom Petty song…I don’t hear a single. Where this album does catch me is the weird, hand made cover art by artist James Hutton which is just this side of my kind of weirdness. Anyway, I’m going to count my gold and check my Dying Future brand bunker is fully stocked, these Golden Horses cross the finish line at 5/10