Style: Atmospheric black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Deep loss and grief in musical form
Thoughts: Finally! Finally, there is an album by Afsky that I love. Every album before this (save for the acoustic EP) has had something - one element - that has held me back from fully embracing it. Be it an awkward riff, a strange chord progression... something always caused me to give up on Afsky's albums. No more though, Om Hundrade Ar has finally broken through!
I'm not even sure what the change was. This without a doubt sounds like the grief stricken black metal that is Afsky. It's laden with acoustic interludes and those horrifically pained vocals. The build ups and painful melodies are all here too... I really don't know what has changed.... except the song writing.
While everything is very much Afsky, this feels like the full realization of the sound that has come on previous albums. Throughout the previous albums there would be small moments that would take me out of the majesty of the album. Sometimes a riff would start in a strange manner that seemed to go against all of the atmosphere that came before it. Other times the transitions will be jagged and again take me out of the flow of the album.
Normally these kinds of things are objections that I can overlook, but it's a different matter with atmospheric music. With this kind of music being swept away is part of what makes the albums so appealing. Losing that is losing part of the character of the music. So I was unable to fully embrace Afsky's albums.
With Om Hundrede Ar however that is no longer a concern. The songs move at a wonderful pace and transition smoothly from one concept to another. The acoustics blend well with the metal, the blast beats are used at opportune times, the slower sections hammer home the desolate nature of the music... it all works so wonderfully well.
As I go through all the different parts of this album I'm finding it hard to find fault. It's a complete package, none of the songs feel out of place and nothing feels like it's wasting my time. It's finally the fulfillment of everything that I've wanted from this project. It's about damn time.
Written June 24th 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment