Isa

Shade’s only and far too short release is one of the many lesser-known diamonds of the black metal community that seems to have studied its craft long and hard while releasing no demos, quietly brings a piece of dark and complex metal to fruition, and then seems to disappear back into the abyss. Hailing from Vinland in the cold separatist realms that have also given rise to bands like Frozen Shadows, these Quebecois musicians have given us a true example of many of the things that make black metal so appealing.

To begin with, the sound here is very crunchy and thin, yet epic and mysterious, carrying the better expansive and raw production values of early Ulver and Emperor. Guitars have an emaciated tone that is somewhat sharper to the ears than more polished slabs of black metal, yet one can easily pick out the notes and chords that wind throughout this work. Drums are pushed relatively far back in the mix, and vocals are perhaps too forward, but the overall echoing cavern of sound serves this outfit well enough, as the sound of the band comes across distinctive among all its distortion. In fact, the towering reverb encompassing the sound on this album fits nicely in that ever elusive place where dark and obscure echoing passages of melody haunt the listener without being too hard to discern.

The melodic and harmonic nature of this work is its main attraction. Chords here are thick and unusual while still being infused with as much cold hate as one would expect from a small horde of spiked and cloaked misanthropes with guitars and corpsepaint. The chords here remind me of Kvist and Taake, taking off from the mutated folk traditions of Darkthrone’s structure and the classical sensibilities of early Emperor to bring to the surface a boiling and ever-changing organic soundscape of shifting ideas like shapes in a dense fog. Hardly monolithic, even the shifting strands of polytonal noise here give way to clean passages of almost Swedish classical melodies, only to lead to a minimalist Burzum-worshiping quality within the space of one minute. While the reverb-drenched distorted sound of the guitars might fool one into thinking this album is predictable, a close examination of the melodic and harmonic attributes the band displays is anything but. Like any group of melodic innovators worth their salt, the guitars here move quickly between largely chimeral styles and influences of buzzing black metal while managing to maintain a definite sense of identity. Expansive sections of thick 7th and 9th interval-based chords lend a feeling of immense space and complexity to the harmonic makeup of the work, and more simple and evil melodies wander among the vast and alien latticework of such complex chords.

Drumming here mostly stays well within the old black metal tradition, as rumbling and choppy seas of constant rhythm provide a solid wind that pushes the songs forward. Sometimes the drumming demands no attention be called to it, as simple passages of Darkthrone-era drumming cycle ever onward, only to be replaced by more interesting accents and rolls, some even polyrhythmic, that call to mind the early and innovative work of Satyricon’s ‘Dark Medieval Times,’ with it’s strange use of hi-hat breaks and extended staccato snare fills.

Vocals here are a rasping mid-range of bubbling rage, as would befit any black metal release in this vein of raw music. Nothing too high and certainly no lows break up the sometimes fast vocal attack. Large sections of melody are left barren by vocals, which allows for some depth of emotion between passages of riffs. When the vocals do kick back in, they add something to the sound instead of just keeping its aesthetic intact. Not overly emotional or amazing, they do their job nicely.

Overall this album reminds you again and again of its short length. There are only three varied and textured songs here, and while two are well over 7 minutes, the quality of work makes you wish there was more, as with any great release. The music you do get here is of excellent quality; the kind of black metal that makes you want to sift through the noise and production to find intricate music of the most hateful and yet expansively beautiful nature…the reason you started listening to this kind of metal in the first place.