Come to think of it, there really are two Blut Aus Nords, don't you think? On the one hand, you have the masters of atmospheric black metal akin to Ulver's Bergtatt, the version of the band we hear on the Memoria Vetusta albums and 2019's Hallucinogen (yes, it's trippy, but it's still very similar in feel to the 2014 album). But on the other hand, we have something much more ominous, mysterious and terrifying. This is the version of the band we meet on The Work Which Transforms God, the 777 albums, The Mystical Beast of Rebellion and other albums. In other words, the band's work straddles an atmospheric/melodic and dissonant/disorienting axis. The band's latest album falls squarely in the latter category.
I should come out right away and admit (in the spirit of "transparency," that ghastly buzzword of our age) that I usually can't stand "dissonant" black metal. More often than not, it just comes off as self-indulgent avant-garde nonsense for people who like to hear themselves say words like "esoteric," "cthonic," and "ouroborous" in everyday conversation. However, while I'm a bigger fan of Blut Aus Nord's melodic and atmospheric albums, the band have a peculiar skill that actually makes dissonant black metal engaging and exciting.
And this album is no exception, as it manages to harness a special dark energy that gives it a captivating and cinematic quality. When you listen to "The Crowning Horror," you can imagine it as the backdrop to the arrival of a malicious and apocalyptic force that's come to invade our dimension of time and space. Songs like "The Endless Multitude" have a cosmic feeling to them, evoking the amazing and terrifying reach of space and the universe. "Queen of The Dead Dimension" marries the qualities of both, displaying the interplay between low/heavy movements and high/piercing notes that rip through the speakers.
The album does a great job at conjuring the spirit of Lovecraftian horror through crushing moments of chaos and violence, but there's a contemplative and thoughtful element at work here as well. Check out "Nameless Rites" to hear what I'm talking about. Think of it like Hallucinogen but the trip turned out to be kind of scary and bad. If you want it to get even scarier then listen to "The Black Vortex." Amazing what you can do with a little delay and reverb.
If you're in the mood for this sort of thing, then this album is definitely worth your time. It's a fascinating and gripping work of black metal art that opens up a vortex only Blut Aus Nord could let us access. Try not to fall in.
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