Sol

Sure, I say I'm going to give up on post-metal, but I keep going back to it like it's a manipulative girlfriend. This time it'll be different, I keep telling myself. Well, this time it really was different.

Altar of Plagues is a post-black metal band from Ireland with an apparent dedication to the EP as a format. But the EP strategy seems to be working out well for them, as Sol is a very good listen. And, since it's short (a little over a half hour), it may please even those without the attention span to handle post-metal.

Consisting of an intro and three songs, the album seems to go on a journey of musical evolution from the relatively straight-forward ambient black metal of "The Titan Skies", to the much more Isis-like "Twisted Structures Against the Sun", to the even more shoegazing "With Fire in Our Veins We Drown in Light", though the black metal elements are clearly evident on all the tracks. Ignoring the progressively ludicrous song titles, the individual tracks are engaging, and they evolve naturally into one another. This is exactly what post-metal should be.

The Verdict: This is great post-metal mixed with black metal, a combination which is obvious on its surface but has rarely been done (at least not when AoP did it in 2008). The reason it hasn't been done may be that there is almost no market for something too scary-sounding for the hipsters and too hipster-sounding for the scary people. For someone who just loves metal, and wants to hear something done really well, Sol is an excellent EP.

adapted from http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/

Review originally published at http://www.teethofthedivine.com by Erik Thomas


Well, Profound Lore has done it again, uncovering another gem of a black metal record, this time from the depths of Cork, Ireland.Though cut from the same cloth as label mates Cobalt and Krallice, and with some similarities to the likes of Wolves in the Throne room, and to some extent, the new Withered, as far as epic, sprawling songs, segments of ambience and a more raw, organic tone, Altar of Plagues are generally a bit more brittle, nastier and grittier and their ambient segues are far more mechanical and industrial, maybe a dash of Blut Aus Nord?

With one intro and three tracks comprising a respectable 33 minutes, Sol is longer than most EP’s and some albums, and well worth your money if you are a fan of this kind of thinking man’s black metal. After the intro, the EP’s shortest track “The Titan Skies” kicks off with nasty, torrential black metal furor and tremolo picked savagery before ending with a factory sounding few moments of industrial clamor. “Twisted Structures Against The Sun” is an eleven-minute trip starting with Norwegian (Mayhem-ish?) rhythmic, buzzing riffage, then an almost post rock shimmer before an ambient strumming, acoustic midsection and an unexpected tangent into gruff shouts (which may put off some black metal purists) and a mechanical buzz/hum to end the song. The post rock vocals and vibe starts of the 14-minute “With Fire In Our Veins We Drown In Light” before exploding with a seething tremolo picked salvo that then bridges into more lengthy post rock introspection and finally climaxing with yet more blackned furor and industrial programming.

Again, black metal purists may be put off, but if you are into the bands in the first paragraph and don’t mind a few non black metal tangents, Altar of Plagues look to be one of the most promising and component cross genre bands out of the UK I’ve heard in a while and I’m really looking forward to a full length album.

If the forthcoming Winterfylleth (members of Atavist) and Caina albums (can’t be any worse than the debut) are as good as this, Profound Lore appears to have tapped into an un-mined potential of UK black metal not named Anaal Nathrakh. Finally.