Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Ayin Aleph > I > Reviews
Ayin Aleph - I

A bizzare beauty. - 82%

hells_unicorn, November 24th, 2008

There have been some real oddities within the gothic metal spectrum since the time its conception, but this particular release really challenged my ears. Going down the list of obscure and largely inaccessible bands that few know of, touting unusual combinations of Metal and Gothic influences such as The Scarr (Sweden), Aeons (France) and even better known yet still stylistically all over the place Type O Negative, there are few that fully compare to this. From a vocal standpoint, it’s an extremely strange blend of soprano opera singing, neurotic and sometimes raving spoken lines, and an occasional reference to the primal shrieks associated with Cradle Of Filth and Wykked Wytch. But music wise, it’s a pretty even blend of slow and heavy doom metal with a lot of symphonic and neo-classical undertones that is surprisingly easy to follow.

In many ways, the songs seem to act as a sort of collection of Neo-Baroque Opera Seria works (serious operas, as opposed to the comical ones of the classical period) with a strong helping of the emotionalism and violent heaviness of character that could be heard in the German Expressionist period that followed the French dominated Impressionist era of the late 19th and early 20th century. Ayin herself cites Debussy as one of her musical pet peeves, along with Impressionistic music, and it shows in the utter lack of subtlety in her vocal approach. Although the melodies that she vocalizes sound heavily similar to what is heard in Schubert’s piano and vocal works, the exaggerated voice work reaches a lot closer to the half-spoken dramatics peculiar to works like Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire” and Berg’s “Wozzeck”. Although classical music buffs might quibble over some alleged contradiction between the intellectualism of Baroque music and the emotionalism of Neo-Romanticism and Expressionism, they work very well together here and definitely fit in with the atmospheric and heavy nature of the doom metal style it’s been married to.

Structurally speaking, things vary pretty heavily between songs, though the band isn’t afraid to put forth a regular verse and chorus oriented number for purposes of accessibility. Long winded, story oriented songs such as “Greed” and “The Purchase Of The Cathedral” come off as mostly through composed, as choruses are distorted with bizarre mixes of soprano singing and wandering emotionalist singspiel, while verses go through elongated development by way of both differing musical ideas and instrument substitution. The closing ballad “I Miss You” actually switches between a piano and a harpsichord to establish different sections, paying dual homage to Schumann’s simpler song format and C.P.E. Bach’s highly technical and emotionalist clavier works in the process beneath Ayin’s unorthodox vocal style. “Grey Ashes” and “Valpurgis Night” tend closer to straight songwriting and come off as the most metallic, although the vocal work and keyboard instruments still play a heavy role in keeping the avant-garde spirit present.

The ironic thing about this music is that though it definitely sets out to do more than leave an impression, the obvious striving for a pure expression-based approach makes much of this very difficult to retain. After several listening sessions, I can recall some select themes from these songs, but only a few of the really catchy and formally standard songs like “Hamlet” and “Black Roses” really stuck with me right away, the latter in particular for its heavy similarity to Beethoven’s famous piano works and riff work that is remarkably similar to Candlemass. Ayin’s vocalizations are so full of note embellishments and timbre shifts that it almost sounds improvised, and although very impressive, sometimes there are just a few too many ideas in here to keep track of. If nothing else, this album will definitely take time to fully be comprehended by any listener, due in no small part that they basically filled the entire time duration of a standard compact disc.

Accessibility is the primary issue with a band like this, but it hasn’t prevented the band from enjoying a good amount of notoriety thus far. A lot of it could be focused on the theatrics that Ayin seems to enjoy putting forth in her music video work, with all of the elaborate costumes and symbolism throwing both caution and subtlety to the wind. One could maybe call it shock value, but more in the sense that it comes off as frighteningly intelligent, as opposed to the stereotypical gothic caricature of dark hair and a state of perpetual depression. If you like the doom oriented elements of the gothic style and neo-classical music, and you’re looking for something very different sounding; this may well be a good place to look.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on November 24, 2008.