Entry 780 - Abigor - Supreme Immortal Art

Style: Keyboard driven black metal with an incredible amount of intricacy

Primary Emotions/Themes: This is the apex of black metal

Thoughts: Elite. Unparalleled. Preeminent. 

All words that apply to Abigor and Supreme Immortal Art. This album is easily one of the top five greatest albums in the black metal genre. On hand I can only think of one that I prefer: Emperor's Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk. Everything else is secondary. 

Supreme Immortal Art is one of the most complex albums that I own within the metal genre. I am not exaggerating when I compare this to a classical piece. There are so many individual instruments playing at any given time that it often is over whelming and hard to follow. 

Keyboards, guitars, vocals, drums... they all are playing their own melodies or rhythms independently of each other. Like a expertly crafted symphony though, they all work in harmony... in symbiosis. They are stronger together than they are separately. 

Two, three, four...? guitars will be playing melodies over top each other. Never ceasing, never competing, simply existing in harmony. Layer upon layer of keyboards will fill the void with instruments that can only be brought to life with this wonderful instrument. Abigor is not afraid to use anything as long as it furthers their art.

The opening of the album is the perfect introduction to what is going to be assaulting my ears over the next forty five minutes. The intro is haunting and beautiful as it washes its harmonious melodies over me in wave after wave. Timpani's add to the symphonic effect, guitars are finally added in to provide another layer. It's the only part of the album where everything is in perfect harmony. 

The song then explodes into a blast beat driven cacophony of guitars, keyboards, drums and vocals. It's overwhelming, it's too much to keep track of at once. On repeated listens it requires a detailed dissection of each component and trying to follow it while the whirlwind is swirling around me. It's one of the most rewarding musical experiences I've ever had in my life.

At this point I'm used to my Abigor entries being rather lengthy. I want to keep this one short, because there are only so many things one can say before becoming redundant. Supreme Immortal Art is Abigor's best album, and in doing so automatically makes itself one of the best albums in the black metal genre.

Written April 19th 2024.

Entry 779 - Aara - Triade I: Eos

Style: Intense melodic black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Being lost in a forest, feeling like you're walking in circles, only to be blind sided by a vicious animal from time to time

Thoughts: I really want to love this album. I've forced myself to listen to it more than I want to admit. Everything is here for me to love. The riffs are intense (holy shit are they intense), the melodies are intricate and interesting, the drums pummel me into the ground. All of this are ingredients to an album that I absolutely should love...

Triade I: Eos is the third album from Aara and it marks another shift in direction for the band. This is the album where they would solidify their sound moving onwards... at least for the next two albums. The band has once again doubled down on the melodic portion of their art, and moved even further away from the enticing atmosphere of the debut album. 

The band continues to make their music more intense, the melodies cut razor sharp and never fail to impress with their diversity and ferocity. There is something that seems missing though. I should l o v e this music, I should be all over it.... but I can't seem to get into this album.

Sure there are points where I stand up and go "that's what I'm fucking talking about." These moments are incredible: the acoustic break in Fathum, that insane riff at the end of Naufragus, the incredible buzzsaw riff followed by chants in Nimmermehr. They all make me stop in my tracks and take it in... but then there is the rest of the album... especially the first half. 

The last riff in Nimmermerhr is fucking insane, but everything leading up to it is pretty boring and loses my interest about half way through the song. Almost all of Tantalusqual is a blur to me. It's intense and kicks my ass... but it's also boring. Even the inclusion of chants doesn't really do much for me. The melodies don't catch my attention. The progressions sound like a million other songs... it's boring.

During this writing I'm seeing that this is only truly a problem with the second and third tracks. That does turn into a larger problem though because that's a third of the album. With six tracks total, every one of them needs to be memorable... even with one dud it's hard to justify the album as a whole. Aara struggles with this on Eos. 

The rest of the album does try to make up for this with some incredible melodies and memorable moments. It has more variety than the first two albums, but ultimately it falls short. Don't get me wrong its not an objectively bad album, it just does not meet the expectations set by the first two.

Written April 19th 2024.

Entry 778 - Aara - En Ergô Einai

Style: Melodic black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Closing my eyes I picture a cliff in front of me. I look over it and the pit I feel in my stomach is similar to what this album does

Thoughts: Aara is such a fascinating band to me. They have an insane album release schedule - averaging about one a year. While the latest albums have not been the most interesting, the first two showed an incredible amount of promise. 

The debut showed that the band could mix incredible atmospheres with blistering speeds and intense melodies. En Erog Einai moves further in the melodic direction without losing any of the intensity.

I want to get this out of the way. The band has decided to drop the religious atmosphere from the debut. This was what got me enthralled by the band and its a damn shame that they have decided to move on from that sound. On one hand that makes the debut special, but I also wish that they had continued to explore that sound to see what else they could get out of it.

That is the one and only detractor I have for this album. Outside of dropping the Gregorian chants the band has continued right where they left off with the sophomore album. In fact, Arkanum - the opening song - is one of the best that they have ever penned. It takes the melodies explored in the debut, makes them more hypnotic, but also adds in a level of intensity that the debut never had. This is essentially black metal played at death metal intensities. 

The band is relentless. At no point do they stop blasting and bombarding me with melodies. When I say melodic I don't mean something that you would hear in a pop song or in melodeath. This is an audio assault on the ears that happens to have a recognizable pattern to it rather than being dissonant in nature. Melodic black metal it not something to fuck with when it comes to Aara. If caught unawares the music will trample you.

Aara's first two albums are their strongest for me. I may revisit some of the current albums at a later date, but as of this writing the first two albums see the band at their peak. Now that the trilogy of albums is complete maybe they can explore a new sound, or revisit the melodic perfection that they showed early on. 

Written April 19th 2024

Entry 777 - Absu - Tara

Style: Blackened thrash

Primary Emotions/Themes: Extreme empowerment, awe, taking control of the stone of destiny

Thoughts: Magnum opus. I've discussed this word before. I've used it less than ten times in nearly eight hundred entries into this blog. It is an important word, and it is to be used with reverence. 

It symbolizes not only the band's best work, but something more. It sets a standard, it creates a new level for a the band in question - as well as others - to strive for. It raises the bar.

To this point Absu had been a curious yet inconsistent band. Their debut was a quirky mix of death metal and blackened thrash. Their second album experimented with longer song structures and the introduction of keyboards. The third album introduced a heavy thrash influence and retained that raw energy of the debut.... and then came Tara.

Absu had never been a band that I followed closely. I had all of the albums before this, but they were something I put on the CD player rarely. A curiosity at best. I picked Tara up without thinking much of it, just another CD to add to the collection that day. When I got home I don't even think I played it for at least a few days... it just sat.

When it finally did make its way into the CD player I was greeted with... bagpipes...? This was different. They sounded raw and not nearly as polished as other intros with the same instrument. It was rather off putting to be honest, but I listened onwards - to the Pillars of Mercy... and everything changed.

I still remember the first time I heard the drum fill to start the record off proper. To this day, I don't think that anything has flabbergasted me like that intro did. It came out of no where, there was no precedence set, the band had never done anything like this before. Like a ten ton hammer it hit me upside the head.

Absu had changed. They were no longer a sloppy directionless band. This was razor focused and tighter than a bank vault door. Holy. Fucking. Shit. 

The thrash influence hinted at earlier in their albums is now fully worked into the sound. It is fused perfectly with their black metal past. The riffs have been sharpened and honed like a fine sword that has been forged in the deepest forge. They slice through the air like a sharp blade through muscle and flesh.

The drums... oh the drums. Proscriptor has upped his game... significantly. The interplay between the snare and bass drums sets the standard for metal drumming. The simplicity of the drums, yet the intensity and precision that they are executed... it's next level shit. The fills. I can't get enough of them. They are woven into the songs like threads to a fine tapestry. 

There's a moment on A Shield with an Iron Face where Proscriptor does a fill with only bass drums. Every time I hear this I pause and shake my head. It's too good. Everything is too good.

I've seen some comments about this album in the past that its repetitious. The songs are too similar to each other. I don't have that problem. I've listened to this thing several hundred times in my life and not once have I thought... "gee I wish there was more variety."

Variety does come though, towards the end. Starting with Bron, the band plays a wonderful acoustic melody that brings me peace. This leads into one of the best closing songs in my collection: The Stone of Destiny. 

This eight minute epic embodies everything that I love about metal. It's complex, it goes through several movements, it has strong guest vocals, and it simply kicks ass. The thrash is largely gone here, in favor of a more elongated approach... if anything it calls to mind the earlier Absu albums more so than anything else on the album. It has a flowing cadence to it that make it sound like a boat rowing towards a shore. Excellent stuff.

There is so much more to talk about here, but I'm already approaching the limits of what I consider a blog entry. I haven't even mentioned King Diamond or how the guest vocals sound like Dio. Those are legends in and of themselves. With that we conclude the story of Tara... Absu's undisputed Magnum Opus.

Written April 19th 2024

Entry 776 - Aut2m / Subaeris - Venus Cloud City

Style: Ambient, Drone

Primary Emotions/Themes: Stationed on an empty scientific lab in orbit around Venus, taking in the beauty around you while also experiencing absolute loneliness 

Thoughts: Loneliness is a strange thing. I've found it to be one of the single greatest things that I've had to overcome in my life time. At the same time I've been able to harness it to do some incredible self discovery. It's a double edged sword that I don't think I will ever truly figure out. 

Venus Cloud City is a split between Aut2m and Subaeris (aka HKE). The combination of their talent here creates a somber and quite frankly challenging release. Nothing is overt within either side of the release, everything is either hidden or subdued... almost to the point of nothingness in some cases.

Like with so many of the other records in my collection, I was a bit skeptical of this one when it first released. I was hit or miss with most of the artists other offerings around the time, and wasn't sure I was going to dig the sci-fi inspired ambience that this release specialized in. 

Subaeris focuses on tranquil ambience for a vast majority of his side of the record. Subtle changes weave through the waves of ambient chords as the four songs progress. Sometimes they swell into existence, other times they fade to near oblivion. Regardless of what the music is doing, it always takes its time. 

Aut2m has a similar approach to his side of the release. Again nothing is overt, everything takes its sweet time to progress and evolve. If anything there is a bit more motion to these soundscapes than the Subaeris side, but honestly these tracks could have all been written by the same artists. 

This is the kind of album I like to put on in the background when I need to think. There is a lot to fill up the space around me, but it never intrudes on my thoughts. The music is expansive, but never to the point where it feels overwhelming. It's there as a compliment to my life, and it provides a steady backdrop for me to ponder my life while in those deep states of loneliness. 

Written April 16th 2024

Entry 775 - Ascension - The Dead of the World

Style: Complex and dissonant black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Sitting in a pew praying to whatever god will hear your cries only for silence to fall upon your pleas 

Thoughts: Oh great, another dissonant black metal album. I forgot I had this one and was not looking forward to listening to it. I don't remember anything about it other than it was black metal and that it was quite dissonant when I heard it last. That was three to four years ago. Let's see what secrets Ascension has to offer.

First things first, there is another key component to this album that I forgot about: the atmosphere. It's not only dissonant, but it is also highly religious in nature. It does this in a unique way as well. Normally this is pulled off with Gregorian chants or prayer or chants... really anything that can be considered overtly religious. Ascension do it almost entirely through song structure and production. 

To say that this was a surprise will be the understatement of the week. This album went from being something that I was dreading to listen to to one that has stayed on repeated listens for over a day now. These songs have such a haunting atmosphere, and they do it in such a novel way that I find myself coming back to it over and over again.

The band has no gimmicks, no frills, only guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Everything is done within the context of those traditions. The guitars build the basis for everything. They create a deep, resonant sound that fills up my room much like a worship service would in a church. The riffs are full and walk that razor thin line of dissonance and melody nearly to perfection. They know when to be ferocious, they know when to be atmospheric. They know what to do and when, they know how to transition from one facet of the song to the next... in short they are written expertly.

The drums and bass fill out the bottom end of the music and compliment the riffs in a way where everything is in perfect symbiosis. The guitars would not work without the rhythm section, and the rhythm section would not work without the guitars. This leaves the vocals. 

The vocals are the one thing on the album that is "fine." They don't stand out for good or bad. While they are dynamic, they don't particularly evoke much emotion out of me. They work for what they are, but the real star of the show here is the rest of the band.

It's hard for me to quantify how well this formula works. The band has figured out how to create something so incredibly evocative without the use of crutches many other bands in this space do. This is black metal in it's purest form and by confining themselves to these tenants they have set themselves free.

Written April 16th 2024

Entry 774 - Atrium Carceri - Codex

Style: Dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Forget not that when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes back into you.

Thoughts: The idea that there is darkness in man is nothing new. Many figures have spoken to this over time, most of world history is shaped by this darkness. While some darkness is overt and instantly notable, there is a more insidious kind that dwells deep within. It resides within every single person on the planet, and often goes unnoticed. This is the darkness that Codex reflects.

There is a place, no one knows where it is, but we have all found ourselves within its corridors. It's a small confined space, a single hallway leading forward. The walls seem to close around me as I try to traverse forward. As scary as it is, there is only one way to go. I can't go back the way I came, the way is shut.

The music found within Codex is claustrophobic, yet expansive. It preys on the primal fears in my mind, yet it is freeing at the same time. It forces me to face that which I am most frightened of, yet it builds courage. This is the paradox that is within this record.

The music itself is minimalistic, based more on pure emotions and tones than anything truly melodic. It is always foreboding, and always deeply unsettling. It's one of those rare albums that I don't remember the specifics of the music, but I remember intimately how it makes me feel. 

Pipe organs, drums in the deep, field recordings... all of these things are used to perpetuate the atmosphere produced by Atrium Carceri. It's like an insidious worm that borrows its way through my scull and settles in to my primitive brain... it rests there and feeds off my fear - growing ever stronger as the base emotions cascade out of control.

The more I write for this blog the more I understand why specific albums are in my collection. Some are there for joy, others for when I need to rage, others still for when I need to contemplate my life and it's meanings. Codex is in my collection for one reason: fear.

Written April 16th 2024

Entry 773 - Anvyl Strykez - Vigilance

Style: Synthwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: Staring at the face of the ninja that opposes me, I employ my secret ninjitsu to relieve him of his life

Thoughts: Come back with me to the golden age of cinema. A time where warriors ruled the silver screen. A time when duels were fraught with zoom in on a characters eyes time after time. Where a single person armed only with a kitana would take on an entire army... and win. This is the age of the ninja.

The music that came with these movies was not only epic, it was perhaps some of the greatest music in the history of cinema. The entire soundtrack would be created from a single synthesizer, programmed drums, and a minimal understanding of music theory. 

These synths were whatever the local keyboard was able to play. The drums were often played on this same instrument. The melodies were simple and in your face, yet they were incredibly catchy. This is the sound that Anvyl Strykz brings with Vigilance.

I'm going to come out and say this right away. The music video to Protector is probably the greatest piece of art I've ever seen. It so perfectly matches the feel and cheesiness of the 80's ninja movies that it feels like the ultimate tribute. The fighting is filled with zoom ins, poorly placed smoke effects, and horrible choreography... and it's the best damn thing I've ever seen.

The music on this single record matches the wonderful soundtracks of yesteryear. American Ninja, Night Rider, Enter the Dragon... they all would be at home with this sound track. I'm not a huge fan of synthwave as a whole, but when I like an album I tend to really enjoy it. While the first album from Anvyl Strykez fell flat with me, this second one... oh man is it ever good. Highly recommended.

Written April 15th 2024

Entry 772 - Anathema - Weather Systems

Style: Atmospheric rock

Primary Emotions/Themes: Reaching out to someone, desperately hoping that they are still there... only to realize that they are gone forever

Thoughts: I don't think that my words will do this album justice. I'm going to let Anathema speak for themselves here:

" I feel like, I knew you before, I guess that you can hear me, through this song."

"I've never betrayed your trust, I've never betrayed your faith, I'll never forsake your heart, I'll never forget your face"

"I feel you outside, at the edge of my life, I see you walk by, at the edge of my sight. I had to let you go, to the setting sun. I had to let you go, and find a way back home."

"Time is not, what it would seem. The life we live, is like a dream."

"Your world is everything, you ever dreamed up. If you can open up your mind and see. The world is wonderful, so beautiful. If only you can open up your mind and see."

"It ebbs and flows and comes and goes, and rips you up and lets you go. It eats inside and spits you out, as you search around for others kind. To gather from the depth. To fight the fight from day 'til night. This beautiful feeling soars over the skies, moving through my body out my mind. It rises up and floods my brain, this is fucking insane."

"I know somehow, as I hold you in my heart. There is a fire in the sky and I know it's you. There's a light, it's all around, and I know it's you. I know it's you."

Written April 15th 2024

Entry 771 - Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy

Style: Bubble gum happy synth pop

Primary Emotions/Themes: That feeling you get when you remember as a kid - playing in a playground with out a care in the world

Thoughts: Take a deep breath, hold it in for about 5-10 seconds. Let it out slowly for another 5-10 seconds. That feeling. That sense of deep release, that sense of calm... that's this album. 

This album takes me to a special place. It takes me back to a childhood that is free of pain, free of discomfort, free from guilt, free from anything that would wish ill upon me. It's innocence in audio form, it's pure joy. 

It somehow manages to tap into the pure exhilaration that I had as a child, discovering new things. Wondering what's around that next corner. Everything is an adventure, nothing is off limits, everything is perfect, there is no evil in the world.

The choice of synths used: perfection. They have a bright and airy sound to them. They are intermixed with a retro sound that sounds like it should be chip tunes, but they aren't compressed. Instead they are full and lifelike. It all comes together to create something wonderful.

The song writing uses the synths to create upbeat and sparkly pop songs. I don't know if there is a single album that I own that is happier than the music on these two records. It's like a kid on a sugar rush, except instead of being destructive they are using all that energy to cheer everyone up. It's hyper active, it's sweet as all get out, and it's perfect.

I often talk about how the world is a wretched place. A lot of the music that I listen to reflects that intimately. A resonant frequency if you will. This is the counter resonance. Everything that I feel about the world, this is the opposite. This is the shining hope in the pit of darkness. This is the blinding light that pushes back the abyss. 

Anamanaguchi created something special with this album. Not every song is perfect, but that hardly matters. It catches the joy of childhood and brings me back to a time in my life where I didn't know what pain was... at least not the kind of pain that adult hood brings. This album will forever have a place in my collection for that very reason.

Written April 15th 2024

Entry 770 - Amorphis - Magic & Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years

Style: Melodic/progressive death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Revisiting the great music of yesteryear with new eyes

Thoughts: Two things I dislike: rerecorded albums/songs and compilation albums. Why the fuck is this record in my collection then? 

About ten years ago as of this writing Amorphis decided to revisit some of their classic era songs with their "new" vocalist.  When I first heard about the album I brushed it off almost immediately, why record old songs when you can just make a new album? The last three albums had all been incredible, so why stop that momentum? 

Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I pulled up the album on Spotify for a listen while at work. Two things immediately came to mind. One, wow Tomi's vocal's work really well with the old music. Two, these are not 1:1 re-recordings of the songs, there are minor changes. 

The songs are still instantly recognizable, however the production has been updated to be more modern. The only songs that this is truly a benefit to is those coming from Tales from the Thousand lakes. I found the production on that album to be a little thin. The songs off of the debut lack the grittiness that The Karelian Isthmus had. The cleaner sound doesn't really benefit them. Elegy is pretty much a wash, I prefer the production on the original but it's passable here as well. 

Where the album shines though is the vocals. Nothing against Tomi Koivusaari's vocals (which are one of the more distinct growls I've ever heard), Joutsen's vocals are flat out better. They have a stronger presence to them, they rumble in the depths of my core, and they are clear as daylight. They fit the music nearly perfectly, and it's a pure joy to listen to. 

One of my favorite songs from the band - The Castaway - has been improved over the original in several ways here. One, the production brings out the power that the song has live. The vocals again... just... chef's kiss. This works together with a slightly faster pacing to create a more intense version of an Amorphis classic. 

My Kantele is also changed up a bit from the album version. The reprise is built into the outro to the song, and we are graced with a two minute sitar solo... one of my favorite things from Elegy. The song itself retains much of the original structure and feel until the reprise comes in... nothing wrong with that in the slightest. It's a fucking great song.

I am happy to say that I was wrong about this album. These thirteen tracks are great. They are a combined best of with a tasteful re-recording. Amorphis continued the streak they had going with this, Skyforger was perhaps their best album ever and they followed it up with the ultimate tribute to their past.

Written April 15th 2024

Entry 769 - Alex - Blood City

Style: Synthwave, drum n bass, ambient, dubstep

Primary Emotions/Themes: An array of synthetic emotions and interpretations of the human world

Thoughts: Sometimes my anxiety gets the better of me. With the way the world is right now it's incredibly easy to get overwhelmed. Will I be made redundant by an artificial intelligence in the near future? Will I no longer be able to provide for my family? If I can't provide for them then who will? All of these questions weigh heavy on my heart and I find myself without answers.

On more than one occasion I've wanted to say fuck it all and leave society behind, but unfortunately that's not an option for me. I'm forced to stay in this wretched society that values money over every. single. other. thing in the universe. Constant profit at the cost of everything else. Nothing else matter except shareholder value. The few profit off of the backs of the many. It's fucking disgusting.

What does all of this have to do with Alex's Blood City? Directly - nothing at all. What Alex does manage to do though is express the frustrations I have as well as the logical outcome of these questions and concerns in musical form. Blood City is an inhuman experiment in what music could sound like in a future where humans are secondary and artificial intelligence rules society. 

The music found within the thirteen tracks of Blood City are actually quite diverse. Of course there is the expected darksynth scattered throughout the album, but there are a few surprises on here as well. Cult of the Future delves deep into some dubstep experimentation. Night Life in reminds me of Serial Experiments Lain's music. Dark Energy - despite the name - is quite tranquil with a drum n bass beat and piano lead mixed with synthwave. Tracks like Calm Before the Storm and Death of a Memory explore the more atmospheric side of Alex's music, bordering even on ambient at times.

The way that the tracks are ordered and named I have to wonder if there is an overarching story going on in Blood City. Without much information available in the liner notes I'm left to wonder. That said, the flow of these tracks and the evolution of Alex's music is quite enjoyable over the 48 minutes or so of this album. Considering that I almost sold this album several times, I can see now that it would have been an error to do so. 

Written April 15th 2024

Entry 768 - Alcest - Ecailles De Lune

Style: Atmospheric black metal, blackgaze

Primary Emotions/Themes: Laying underneath the stars and looking out into the great beyond

Thoughts: I was pretty skeptical of this album when it first came out. I was not a huge fan of Alcest's debut, largely because it lacked any semblance of extreme metal. Years later it's fine for what it is but it doesn't measure up to the quality expected from Neige.

Ecailles de Lune fixes all of that. While it still has all of the elements of the debut, the band has decided to reincorporate some minor elements of extreme metal. Just enough to make the music more dynamic and fulfill the enormous potential of the band. 

The album starts off very much in the same fashion that the debut does. The music is ethereal and laid back, much like a warm breeze on a summers night. I find myself equating this music to watching constellations on a clear night at summers peak. Taking in the greater universe around me, and realizing that all my worries and concerns are just a drop in the ocean... an atom in the universe. 

It's the kind of music I like to close my eyes to and imagine floating away into the greater cosmos.  This is especially true of part 1 and 2 of the title track. There are some truly magical moments in these twenty minutes of the album... so much so that they may be the best music that Neige has ever written. 

The album as  whole is about 90-95% clean vocals with the ethereal atmosphere. It's only for very brief moments that the pace picks up with a blast beat, and even rarer still that harsh vocals are used. It kind of makes me wonder how different this album truly is from the debut... now that I'm thinking about it, there truly is not much difference.

Where Ecailles de Lune truly shines though is in the songwriting. Even though the style is remarkably similar to the debut, the songs are flat out better composed. I feel a deeper connection with every one of them, even Solar Song which retains the major key shenanigans of the debut. 

Alcest is a curious band. Are they metal? Probably... most of the time. Honestly I don't know... and at this point I don't really care. They write damn good music that tends to stay on my turntable for a very long time when I pull one of their records out.

Written April 14th 2024

Entry 767 - Fyrnask - VII: Kenoma

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Being stuck in a mist so thick that you can't see... something is hunting you

Thoughts: What a monumental undertaking it is listening to this record. Fyrnask have issued a mighty challenge to their listeners - and its name is Kenoma.

Kenoma takes black metal and ambience and marries them in a way that I have not heard before. Typically when a band will incorporate ambience into black metal the two are distinct from one another. The ambient sections will dominate at one moment before transitioning into the black metal and vice versa. Two styles, one album. Fyrnask has thrown that concept out the window on this release.

Instead the black metal is the ambience and the ambience is the black metal. What's the difference? A lot actually. Let's take a deeper look into the opener for some answers. Hrævaþefr starts out normal enough, a subtle ambient intro slowly incorporating a black metal melody before a blast beat takes over. It's after this moment that the band shows their true colors.

During the blast beat, a harrowing ambience begins to build with the guitars. The whirlwind of the riff begins to have a secondary character to it that is brought on by something else... something deeper, more terrifying. There is a secondary force working with the guitars to make the entire album more disconcerting. 

The same thing happens but in reverse after the blast beat. The ambience is the primary focus, but it is complimented and mutated by a black metal backing. The two intertwine to create something different than either one could do on their own... something far greater.

This trend continues for the entire thirteen minute length of Hrævaþefr. Gregorian chants are complimented by a black metal backing. Blast beats are twisted beyond recognition with a deep and disturbing ambience that insidiously works it's way into the music. The two are inseparable on this album, and that is the hidden treasure that is Kenoma. 

I've written about this band in the past and how they had a hidden potential that they had not tapped. Kenoma sees them realizing that potential. These six songs are the fulfillment of all the promise that was shown on the earlier albums... perhaps even to a greater extent than I even thought possible. 

Written April 14th 2024

Entry 766 - Akiaura - Forever

Style: Witch house, EDM

Primary Emotions/Themes: Looking at life through a magical lens where everything slows down

Thoughts: What is witch house? I feel like I need to remind myself every time I pull out a record in my collection that has this tag on it. Every time I listen to this genre, I'm reminded of why I like it. 

To those not familiar (and for my own reference down the line), witch house is a genre that started right around 2009 to 2010 by Salem and Holy Other. It tends to create slow looping beats that often have a lethargic feel to them and pairs them with hypnotic samples and atmospheres. The end results in a nearly ethereal experience for the listener.

If this sounds familiar it should. All of these descriptors can be used for early vaporwave as well. In fact many of the 1st wave vapor heads will cite witch house as a primary influence for the genre. Where the two start to differ though is in the atmosphere and song structure. Vaporwave often feels like a slow version of classic pop songs, whereas witch house has a highly religious sound to it. The end result is that witch house has a fuller sound and can often lead to sounding like an out of body experience by the time the music has it's way with me. 

All of this is true of Forever: the religious experience, the slow beats, being spirited away, feeling like I'm in a place of worship. All of those things happen while likening to Akiaura.

The music has this slow and insidious way of making it's way into my brain and staying there. The beats resonate with my entire body and slowly lull me into a state of deep peace and feeling fundamentally safe. As the album continues I'm lured further into the trance that Forever brings, and by the end of it I'm nearly asleep and/or in a hypnotic trance.

It's hard to quantify how well this album works with me. It grooves at the exact right pace for me to vibe with it. It is so full, so complete that I can't do anything but get lost in it's ocean. I don't know why it takes me so damn long to listen to this album, I know I like it and I know what kind of effect it has on me. This is a reminder to myself to not let it be years before this hits my turntable again.

Written April 13th 2024

Entry 765 - ...And Oceans - A.M.G.O.D.

Style: Black metal with heavy electronic influence

Primary Emotions/Themes: A feeling as if a robot became sentient and decided to create kick ass black metal

Thoughts: What kind of music would be created if a machine was merged with a human being? What if that human liked black metal? ...And Oceans attempts to answer this question with their album A.M.G.O.D.

The album immediately shows a different quality than typical black metal. Intelligence is Sexy isn't your normal subject matter for the genre to say the least, neither is electronic bleeps and bloops on top of a heavy riff. All this with good production? Something is surely amiss. 

The band continues it's journey down the path of non-conformance with the next few tracks... all equally excellent in quality. Let's examine the second track for a few moments to further dissect the sound on this fascinating album.

After a brief intro White Synthetic Noise starts out at a blistering pace - well over 200 bpm. The blasting on this part of the song is truly impressive and emphasizes the technical/precision driven side of the band. The band also shows a bit of their roots with a symphonic section after the initial blasting.  The black metal eventually decays into what is easily one of my favorite parts of the album: a techno breakdown.

The breakdown starts with a four on the floor beat and an atmospheric backdrop to match. The intensity builds much like a drop would in an EDM song. Kenny speaks some incomprehensible lines as this intensity builds and builds until the full band returns to the song with the initial intensity of the song. Powerful stuff. 

The song the ends very much in the same way it started - a blistering whirlwind of riffs and blast beats. This song is all over the place stylistically yet somehow the band makes it work. Despite weaving in EDM, symphonic black metal, an industrial intro, and traditional black metal in five minutes the song does not sound rushed or out of place in the slightest... it works, exceptionally well.

This song is a microcosm for the entire album. Things that should not belong together are smashed together in uncomfortable ways, yet it works. It all works. While the whole album may be a few standard deviations away from the mean in terms of style, the quality is unarguably there. 

Written April 13th 2024

Entry 764 - 1914 - Where Fear and Weapons Meet

Style: Death/black metal with a massive orchestra

Primary Emotions/Themes: The horrors of war

Thoughts: I am starting a huge undertaking. My primary goal for this blog now is to finish listening to all of the records I have. The unlistened records now have priority over everything else. To this point I've been listening to records randomly or as my fancy strikes. As of this entry that changes. I will now be listening to my missed records in alphabetical order. There will still be a few entries of new albums that come in from time to time - however that will no longer be the primary focus. I have less than 500 records left to chronicle, I want to get this done.

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"War... war never changes..." but maybe the music about it does. 

Until this point 1914 has been an intense blackened death metal band that takes no prisoners. They have unleashed a brutal assault of riffs with a tinge of melody that are designed to eviscerate any and all opponents that would rise up against them... that is until this point. 

Where Fear and Weapons Meet marks a change in the band's style. Not a huge one, but a change none the less. The band still focuses on longer songs that are chalk full of riffs so violent that death is a mercy. However, now they are complimented by a full on orchestra. 

Now before I go too far down this path, 1914 has not gone full Fleshgod Apocalypse where the orchestra is essentially a member of the band. In this album the orchestra plays a complimentary role, it accents the music that 1914 creates. The orchestra comes in during key moments - they compliment the massacre, rather than dominate it. 

What makes this album truly excellent is the fact that the orchestra is not needed. The riffs are excellent without their addition, but they are made truly great with their inclusion. They also know when to pull back the orchestra and let the metal elements dominate the sound. Nothing is too extreme here, the music is in full equilibrium and it has the killing capacity of a mortar.

If there is one thing that 1914 does well it's create a memorable record. Every single song on Where Fear and Weapons Meet has at least one moment where I go "holy shit that is good." That's a rare quality for an album to have. This is the kind of band that has me chomping at the bit for more, even at an hour album length. Zero waste, everything has its place. I can only hope that they release another one in the coming years that is of equal quality. 

Written April 13th 2024

Entry 763 - Kriegsmaschine - Apocalypticists

Style: Technical black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: A dismal look at the future of the planet

Thoughts: 

"Destroyed by the bitterness of it's grievous and long-protracted punishment... my cup runneth dry."

My cup does indeed runneth dry, and so does the source of life for this world. Kriegsmaschiene gives us, the listener a bleak and brutally honest at the future of this godforsaken planet should things continue on this path. 

The music contained within these fifty minutes are some of the most soul crushing, utterly desperate, and completely inhumane music I have ever heard. M and Darkside have created six songs that are methodically designed to suck every ounce of hope, every moment of fleeting grace out of me. Instead it's replaced by a landscape of utter disgust and contempt for a worthless planet who's inhabitants have treated it with such disrespect that we finally get what we fucking deserve.

This music is technically black metal, but the way that these songs are composed constitute so much more. The music evokes feelings of solitude, death, and decay much more so than almost any other project within the black metal spectrum. In fact as I'm writing this I can't think of another band out there that matches this depravity.

Outside of the soul crushing musical experience the riffs and drums are so incredibly well written and executed that I don't truly have words to describe it. Instead I urge you to listen to the first track. About half way through both M and Darkside break into this groove that is so insane that I can't wrap my head around it. The drums especially are executed to such perfection that I find it hard to believe it's a human performing it. 

Apocalypticits is an experience as much as it is an album. Very little else in my collection makes me wish for the death of humanity like these guys do. They fully comprehend the consequences of the path that humanity is on and spell out the doom that mankind is bringing upon itself and this tomb we call earth. Our cups are dry.

Written April 12th 2024

Entry 762 - City Girl - Chroma Velocity

Style: Lofi hip hop, EDM, vocals

Primary Emotions/Themes: A bit of confusion mixed with a dose of comfort food

Thoughts: This is the third City Girl album I have in my collection, and each one shows a significant difference from the others. While Neon Impasse and Tears Fall Like Moonlight are both solidly lofi albums, City Girl seems to be branching out a bit with Chroma Velocity - a bit of a transition album of sorts.

There is still quite a bit of lofi hip hop on this album, but scattered between those tracks are vocal driven and low key EDM tracks. The changes are pretty drastic at first, and it was almost enough for me to write this album off completely. Repeated listens have softened those initial impressions however. 

What City Girl does on this album is actually quite refreshing in the larger scope of the project. She's not content to stay stagnant in her music, and that on it's own should be applauded. The direction taken here is a logical one as well. The electronic elements are amped up, but not in a harsh way. The beats are subdued and the music still retains a chill atmosphere throughout the album.

Some songs do falter a bit. Opulent especially is a bit of a misstep with the vocals, though the song does make up for it with a fantastic instrumental second half. The retro groove of Guaranteed Suicide doesn't quite do much for me either, but again the instrumentals are on point.

Chroma Velocity is a bit of an oddball of an album in terms of style and consistency. When the album hits though - especially tracks like Empty Expressways and Ellipsis - the album is on fire. Despite my initial reactions, this is a fine addition to my collection.

Written April 12th 2024

Entry 761 - Witte Wieven - Silhouettes of an Imprisoned Mind

Style: Instrumental black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: A lethargic stroll through a sun lit forest during the golden hour

Thoughts: I first heard this mini-album around the time of release. I remember being absolutely blown away by it at the time. Upon repeated listens over the years, I'm not entirely sure why I was so enamored by it the first time I heard it.

Silhouettes... is a lethargic album by black metal standards. The riffs are slow to develop and they dwell on one subject for quite some time before moving on. Even when they do transition from one concept to another, the overall feel of the songs remains largely the same. 

All of the staples of black metal are present here. The minor key riffing, blast beats, a keyboard laden intro... they all just feel like they are in no hurry. There is no urgency. It's the musical equivalent to a spirit or firefly wandering around aimlessly. It has no where in particular that is is aiming to go to, but it will get there eventually... wherever "there" is. 

While the music does feel lost at points, it is quite atmospheric and evokes quite the eerie soundscape when pressed. This is especially true during the title track. This track utilizes clean guitars and a a bit more of varying tempos than the other two to make itself an easy standout of the three. Even then though, the image of the wandering spirit remains at the forefront of my mind.

Witte Wieven isn't a bad band... I'm just not sure if they are a good back either. They have created an interesting instrumental take on the black metal genre with this fifteen minute opus. Apparently they have a full length out now, I may check that out to see if they have fleshed out their sound some more or if that remains as meandering as this offering.

Written April 12th 2024

Entry 760 - Katamari Damacy

 

 

Style: Video game music, insanity, pure joy, worshiping the King of All Cosmos

Primary Emotions/Themes: How do you quantify rolling a bunch of stuff into a ball to create a star in musical form? Well this soundtrack does just that.

Thoughts: Burnout is a real thing. Somehow the past few weeks I've been pushing myself to the brink... and well I finally broke. Not sure what did it but I simply did not have it in me anymore and I had a complete breakdown. Something had to give, and it was my sanity. 

Something had to bring me back from that though. Family. Friends. Music. That's my recipe to come back from the brink. In this came the music in question is the Katamari Damacy soundtrack. I had to bring out the big guns for this one, and there is no better album than this to bring me off that edge.

Katamari's music is one of the single strangest, wonderful, and joy filled albums in my collection. I would dare say it's among the most playful music I've ever heard in my life. The fact that it's a video game soundtrack is secondary as this music goes way beyond anything a simple soundtrack can create.

The concept of the game is simple. The King of All Cosmos sneezed and blew away all the stars in the sky. You - the prince - have been tasked with remaking the heavens... yep, all of it. You do this by rolling objects together in Katamari and then they get tossed into the sky by the king. You do this time and time again until you eventually create the moon.

That's the game. Such a bizarre and unique concept could only have a soundtrack to match. This thing represents a collection of genres that have never been combined before, and likely never will be ever again. It's big band at one moment, a piano concerto the next, Japanese hip hop, bossa nova the next... it's ever changing.

Ever changing, but there is one constant: the joy that this soundtrack brings me. It has a way of relaxing me like almost nothing else in my collection. The music grooves, it soothes, and it reassures me that there are still things that I enjoy when I get to my breaking point. There is nothing else like it, and it is an indispensable part of my collection. 

I got into video game music vinyl after this had initially been released and repressed a few times. I managed to find someone to buy this off of for just over one hundred USD. I've often said on here that I don't like paying a lot for records, but I think this may be the exception to that. I would pay that price again, and again, and again. This soundtrack is worth every single cent I paid for it, and probably more.

Written April 12th 2024

Entry 759 - Ryuusennkei - Tokyo Sniper

Style: Jpop, City pop

Primary Emotions/Themes: I'm stuck in a Japanese time machine taking me back to the glory days of the early eighty's and the radio is playing this

Thoughts: Why is this so good? Seriously, I can't stop listening to it. Why is it so god damn good?

I normally am not a huge fan of pop, jpop included. It's too bubbly, it's too happy, it's out of touch with reality, and it's just not fun for me to listen to. Ryuusennkei challenges all of my perceptions on what I think I like and don't like in pop. 

This album feels like it's straight out of the late 70's to early 80's. The music has the classic Jpop feel, the vocals in particular resonate strongly with that time period. While the production is decidedly a bit more modern, the entire package is obviously a love letter to the past Japanese pop scene. 

The basis of the music is drums and bass. They are in every song along with the vocals. The other instruments change as the songs require. Sometimes it's an electric guitar strumming along with no effects. Other times it's a keyboard playing soothing chords sounding like they were pulled directly out of a lounge. Sometimes it's even a harmonica or stings. It's really whatever the song calls for and whatever sounds good.

The other constant is the definitive sparkle that city pop is so well known for. It's hard to quantify in words, but the music has this air of brightness to it that is carried over in the music. It sounds... shiny. It sounds like it's polished to the point where you expect an anime figure to walk out and twinkle... it just sounds fresh and clean... and sparkly.

Tokyo Sniper has no business being as good as it is. Pop music should not sound this good, but here we are. I'm currently on my third listen of the day and Timemachine Love is stuck in my head... again. There are worse ways to spend a day.

Written April 2nd 2024

Entry 758 - Malfet - Dolorus Gard

Style: Dungeon synth, ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: If you do not show us the Grail we shall storm your castle. No. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

Thoughts: There are a lot of different versions of dungeon synth. Way more than I ever though there would be when I first got back into the genre a couple of years ago. Of all the artists I've found, I have to say that Malfet is among the very best.

Malfet's sound is not typical dungeon synth... at least not in the traditional sense. While yes, everything is played on keyboards, and yes, this is a one person project... there is more to this than you would expect. 

For one the music feels fuller. The melodies often mimic that of classic dungeon synth, but there is a deep reverb on the instruments done in the production that makes them sound like they are being played in a great hall, or a church, or a cave, or in a grand forest... or anywhere that would inspire a sense of grandeur and awe.

The music also has a healthy dose of ambient mixed in. Most dungeon synth will play simple melodies on repeated loops for minutes on end as the song slowly progresses. Malfet does that as well, but the artist is not afraid to back off of the melody from time to time and let the atmosphere breathe - let the music expand a bit. Let the listener take a step back and take everything in.

The end result here is that Dolorus Gard is a step above. The music has a sense of wonder and a scope that makes it feel greater than it self. Hardly any dungeon synth does this as well as Malfet does on this album. It feels more like an adventure than music. It feels more like a wonderful time spent with friends on a grand adventure than any recording. In a lot of ways, it feels like home.

Written April 2nd 2024

Entry 757 - Sentenced - The Cold White Light

Style: Hard driving rock

Primary Emotions/Themes: Staring into the void, realizing it's extending it's hand to you and gladly taking that hand

Thoughts: Finally, finally the band put out something worth while. After so many years of staying in mediocrity the band finally put something out that catches my attention. 

The Cold White Light may very well be my favorite Sentenced album with Ville on vocals. Down was good but a bit disjointed, Frozen and Crimson were lifeless except for Dead Moon Rising. With The Cold White Light the band finally found some life in their music and they made it consistent through the entire album.

To start off the intro feels like its from a doom metal album. Cool, but not really a good representation of the music that's in the album. When Cross My Heart and Hope to Die starts off the riff sounds like a direct continuation of Crimson. A hollow and lifeless sound. This is broken up slightly by Ville's vocals, he's got more life in it (the irony of this is not lost on me), more urgency. Everything changes though once the chorus comes in.

The band explodes in with a thicc guitar tone and Ville's pained vocals come out full force. This is the moment in the album that I took notice, and I wondered if things really had changed. I can't stress enough how different this is compared to what came before... it's like a completely different band. They found something with this album that was not there before... they figured something out.

A few major things are different with this album compared to the last few. One the riffs actually feel like they matter. They are written with purpose. The production matches this, instead of the guitars having little to no punch to them, on this album the production upper cuts me right in the jaw. The guitars and bass DEMAND to be listened to. 

The melodies also feel like they are more inspired. In the aforementioned Cross My Heart... the guitar leads weep off of the guitar strings. There is true sorrow here, not the boo hoo stuff that was on the last few albums. Again, it's like two separate bands.

It's hard to quantify how good this album is. I know I'm biased because I had been wanting to like this band for years and I just... couldn't. So when they finally released this thing I was a bit more than excited, I was giddy. It blew me away. Not only because of the album itself, but also that which came before it. If there is only one album to get with Ville on vocals, this is the one to get.

Written April 2nd 2024

Entry 756 - Neurosis - The Eye of Every Storm

Style: Post-hardcore, post-metal, ambient, tribal influences

Primary Emotions/Themes: The musical equivalent of sitting in a gentle rainstorm that will sometimes pick up the intensity of a monsoon

Thoughts: I remember quite a bit of controversy around this album when it first came out. More than one person online was disappointment that Neurosis had "gone soft" or become less heavy with this album. I picked it up expecting to be completely underwhelmed, but found that I quite liked the change in direction. 

Where there was once the unbridled rage of nature, now there is a calm brook. Where there was once an unstoppable force demolishing everything that stands in its path, there is now a sleeping giant. Neurosis, the behemoth has slowed down and found peace. 

Not that peace was ever absent from their music in the past, it was just never the main focus. The Eye of Every Storm changes that. It flips Neurosis sound on it's head. Instead of the majority of the music being heavy and in your face, now the majority is quieter and more contemplative. 

The vocals, while still aggressive, have more melody to them than they have had in the past. The music while still having tinges of distortion, will often pull back from the full on distortion to more of an overdriven sound. The band leaves both the fully aggressive vocals and guitar distortion for the major climaxes of songs. 

I find that the more I listen to the Eye of Every Storm the more I love it. Not every song is as strong as I would like it to be, but when the band hits with this sound it's among the best they have ever been. The title track and Bridges are especially powerful. Those two songs alone make the album worth owning. 

Neurosis have never been a band to stay with one sound for an extended period of time. Ever since Enemy of the Sun they have found their core, but they have experimented with what that means with every album since. The Eye of Every Storm explores that more contemplative side of their tribal influenced post metal sound, and I find that I enjoy this sound more than most. In fact I think this album in particular may be in my top three from the band - with some of it being among the best that they have ever written.

Written April 2nd 2024

Entry 755 - Signalis

Style: Video game music, dark ambient, horror landscapes, metallic percussion, serene passages

Primary Emotions/Themes: I swear this is the soundtrack to an unreleased Silent Hill game

Thoughts: They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In that case Signalis is one of the greatest love letters ever written to Akira Yamaoka. 

Calm piano passages, music that sounds like its played through an old speaker on a desolate pier, rhythmic thumping on metal containers, eerie soundscapes that continuously have me looking over my shoulder. These are the sounds that are found within Signalis. 

The soundtrack is nearly two hours long and goes through a myriad of different moods and genres. All of them fit together like an intricate puzzle. Not everything makes sense in the moment, but at the end the whole picture made it worth the trip.

I have not played Signalis, but ultimately that does not matter to me here. A lot of game soundtracks I enjoy because I enjoyed the game. The soundtrack reminds me of my time spent with that game. Some soundtracks are different though. They work as their own piece of music. I know I've covered this at length in other posts, but it certainly bears repeating here.

Signalis is more than just a soundtrack. Signalis is an album that works on it's own outside of the context of the game. If this was a release of an individual artist I would have picked it up. This is an album I would have picked up nearly the instant I heard about it if I had the means, pretty much regardless of the context. Signalis is that good.

The soundtrack does borrow heavily from the Silent Hill games in both atmosphere and execution. The rock elements from Silent Hill are no where to be found here, and that's part of what makes Signalis it's own soundtrack. It really does feel like Mr. Yamaoka had his fingers in the writing of this soundtrack, but he did not. The fact that he did not makes this all the more impressive. His style is often imitated but few ever come close to creating the horrifying soundscapes that he is capable of. Signalis does this, and does it exceedingly well.

Written April 2nd 2024

Entry 754 - Photay - On Hold

Style: Ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: A surreal experience of being placed on hold for hours upon end and the warping of the mind that would occur in such a situation

Thoughts: On hold is the musical distortion of one of Photay's friends who was stuck on hold with a company for hours upon end. The hold music was recorded and distorted and rearranged beyond anything recognizable to create this fascinating album. 

The music contained within these twelve songs feel like the world is moving in slow motion. Melodies are played, but they are coming at such a slow pace that a sloth seems expeditious. A note will come in and fade over the course of thirty seconds only to have it happen again slightly differently for the second half of the same minute. 

The songs themselves, while all similar in pace, are quite different in the mood and execution. A song like Peace in the Era of Telecommunication sounds like someone floating through space and these are the last moments they have left to live. A song like Hold On sounds a bit more desperate. It's still slow, but there is a frustration building in the music that was not there in the earlier tracks. The music fades in and out faster, and will suddenly get cut off from time to time.

The album itself is one that I like to put on, close my eyes, and be carried away by the floating tones of the album. Everything here feels like its been coated in a blanket of pure warmth, even the more "urgent" tracks. Laying back I begin to lose myself in the embrace of the album and more than once I've fallen asleep to it's peaceful tones. 

Photay has created a pretty unique album here. It reminds me a bit of Locil's album Clara, where he took an orchestra and chopped it up and slowed it down for an entire album. This has very much the same effect, but rather than a dark and foreboding tone, On Hold is somewhat of a peaceful resignation that time will continue to flow. All things do come to those who wait.

Written March 31st 2024

Entry 753 - Oxenfree

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Don't fuck with what you don't understand, changing the past may come with unintended consequences

Thoughts: Oxenfree has been around for nearly a decade at this point, yet I only got to play it earlier this month. It tells an incredibly engaging story of a young woman named Alex and her soon to be brother in law as well as some of her closest friends... and enemies.

The entire story takes place on an island where it's forbidden to be there past nightfall. The kids end up opening a gateway to another dimension and all hell breaks loose for the five young adults. What happens after is a direct result of the choices done during the game, and conversations had between characters.

I had been wanting the soundtrack of this game on vinyl for years, even before I had played the game. For years though the soundtrack was too expensive to even consider buying. That changed after the repress though. Whoever said that patience does not pay off is lying, in this particular instance it saved me over two hundred dollars.

The music in Oxenfree is a combination of curiosity, danger, fear, anger, hope, and tension all rolled into audio form. The music I suppose has it's roots in synthwave, but that's like saying that a wedding cake and a cake made by a five year old are the same thing. Similar? Yes. The same? Absolutely not. 

The music will often have this "wavy" feeling to it, something that you would hear on a tape as it starts to get older. Or an old VHS, when the playback isn't quite right. It fits the mood of the game nicely, as reality if often distorted during the course of the game. 

When the music really starts going though it has a strong eighty's synth pop feel to it. Like something you would hear on the radio driving down the highway in 1985. Happy, bubbly, simple, yet somehow fulfilling. The soundtrack takes this foundation and slowly morphs it into other emotions that are less wholesome as it continues. 

By the end of the journey, we the listener have gone through deep recesses of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of losing ourselves, fear of being lost to time itself. We've seen hope and hopelessness from the consequences of our actions. We've seen life, death, and rebirth. All of these emotions are captured by the soundtrack, and they are captured well.

Oxenfree is a game that I enjoyed greatly over the five hours or so that I played it. There are many endings to the game, and while I don't intend to get them all - I am tempted to get a couple more before I put the game down. I'm really curious to see what else could happen if different choices were made, or no choice at all.

Written March 31st 2024