Style: Cosmic black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Staring up at the night sky and getting that pit in your stomach as the realization sinks in that you are miniscule, but a spec of dust in the wind
Thoughts: I had given up. I had completely given up on Blut Aus Nord. Their first four albums were incredibly well done, and then MoRT came out. It was an interesting experiment but dragged on for far too long. Odinist was... lacking to say the very least. They had gone too far down the industrial path, and the excellence of The Work Which Transforms God was gone. I gave up.
Never in a million years did I think part II of Memoria Vetusta would come out. Part one was a lie, it was the only one in the series and it would never get a follow up... or so I thought. Dialogue With the Stars came out of no where. I heard the title and was in disbelief, they couldn't possibly go back to the early years successfully could they? Could they drop all the industrial leanings and go back to the glorious black metal of the early days? Surely this was a farce.
It's not a farce, it's real. While the drums retain the production of the last few albums, the rest of this album is a glorious return to the melodic and atmospheric black metal of the first two albums. They added in a new element as well: cosmic black metal. This album channels the majesty of the night sky straight into my very soul.
The songs are long - as they should be. They are melodic - as they should be. They portray a grandeur that is greater than any of the individual instruments or melodies. This is true cosmic black metal, this is the music of the night... the grandeur of space.
Is this album hard to digest? No, at least not for me. This is highly palatable black metal that is the exact opposite of the industrial music they were putting out previously, and would again in the future. This is easy listening, and I am completely in love with it. I don't always need my music to be challenging, sometimes I just want an album to put on during a night time walk and enjoy the majesty of space and time.
Blut Aus Nord reminded me why I love this band with this album. It's the album that brought me back to them, the one that made them relevant again. Since this they have had multiple duds and multiple excellent albums. They don't ever seem to release anything mediocre, for better or worse.
Written May 10th 2024
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