Arson Cafe: Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses (2022)

Friday, May 20, 2022

Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses (2022)

I have this feeling that by now, Blut Aus Nord's music is driven by a pre-defined musical direction that serves the content itself, rather than an artistic cleansing of the mastermind behind it. Of course this project is massive, with a distinct presence in the black metal scene, and even when a disappointment comes along, you can't ignore the overflowing passion Vindsval has for his music. Yet, I realized recently that I haven't enjoyed Blut Aus Nord that much since 2014, and even before that, there is only sparse material through a maze of releases that are worth it.

Right of the bat, you will get what you want in Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses. Thankfully, the bittersweet roaming that was ongoing in Hallucinogen has ended and this record is more focused this time. Fretless guitar torture has come back with a vengeance, and it's excessively used to create the haunting atmosphere Blut Aus Nord have been experts of for a couple of decades. Lyrics are almost not needed and rarely used, it's mostly these flowing, vivid riffs that continuously pummel their way through the ears, constituting a rather nightmarish listen in a good way. At least, that's what a new Blut Aus Nord listener will experience.

For me, the same everlasting issue is also carried along in Undreamable Abysses: once you listen to the first two tracks (which are the highlights, worthy of being in a Blut Aus Nord playlist and to be listened again), you have heard the best this record has to offer. It starts repeating itself, slowing down unnecessarily and too often, and what starts as a hellish storm fades out as a bland replica of itself, but just worse. Even the titles don't mean anything to me anymore, as it seems like these words together would sound cool for this kind of record, rather than Vindsval actually expressing something. I get this weird emptiness from the current face of the band, which I wouldn't feel in the past. I mean, listen to Dialogue with the Stars and tell me if it doesn't piledrives you to oblivion.

I expect a lot of praise for this record, and it has a few good elements. For example, one point that you can never take away from them, is the visuals. All art and designs are impeccable, I am going to buy this album just for the front cover. I don't know what Blut Aus Nord should do to become solid again as they seemingly continue strong, yet I can't recognize the greatness that once was and definitely can't feel an album such as Undreamable Abysses after the third track. Even a boring release from them is still something I might return to once in a while and it's hasn't ever been completely ineffectual (with a few exceptions), but my long standing opinion on Blut Aus Nord hasn't changed. They release something of greatness, only when Memoria Vetusta is used in the title.

DAMAGE: 2.5/5 [Average]

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Reckoning

From all the hills came screams. A piece of sky beside the crescent sun was detaching. It was a loosened circle of evening sky, suddenly lighted from the back. It was an abrupt black body out of nowhere; it was a flat disk; it was almost over the sun. That is when there were screams. At once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover. The hatch in the brain slammed. Abruptly it was dark night, on the land and in the sky. In the night sky was a tiny ring of light. The hole where the sun belongs is very small. A thin ring of light marked its place. There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world. We were the world’s dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet’s crust, while the earth rolled down. Our minds were light-years distant, forgetful of almost everything.