Style: Black metal amongst others
Primary Emotions/Themes: It feels like walking through a medieval village town square and all of the chaos and entertainment that is going on around you is captured in a singular album
Thoughts: Diabolical Masquerade. This project defies categorization unlike any other. Blackkheim has a way of writing songs that have so many twists and turns that no one knows what's coming next. Even now, after listening to this craziness for years I still forget little moments he throws in every now and then.
The Phantom Lodge is a collection of songs that are so off the wall, so unpredictable that trying to define this as one genre is nearly impossible. You get moments like The Puzzling Constellation of a Deathrune... melodic black metal at its best. Great ebb and flow, powerful melodies, a strong ambient middle section and a blasting end. This is followed up by Ravenclaw... which is a medieval fantasy of a song. Flutes, silly melodies, a jolly good olde time... until it's not. It has a sudden shift in the middle that feels like dark clouds covering over the fair and sours everything... that's all before the keyboard flutes come back in and transition us back into the festive atmosphere.
The album is a bit of a mess, like someone who had a ton of ideas and instead of editing them in ways that would be more cohesive he just threw them all in and called it a day. It's a lot to take in all at once, but at the same time that's what makes this album the wonder that it is. It's an adventure that never lets up... never shows all of its secrets until the very end of the album.
The Phantom Lodge and all the Diabolical Masquerade albums have the mysterious charm to them that modern day albums no longer have. I don't listen to it often, but when I do I'm consistently surprised by moments I forgot. Small epiphanies here and there that spark small moments of joy.
Written August 1st 2024
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