ninehertz

I thought I had this pegged from the first track, but I wasn't quite on the money. You see, there's the maniacally twinkling guitars, the fierceness of the vocals - this is atmospheric-, post-, experimental- black metal - all of those things, and very good with it too. You could argue it is following the path chartered with outlandish bravado by Liturgy. But the especially cool thing with the album from here onwards is that Eudaemon's inspiration from those innovators is in the pioneering spirit to go into their own realms, rather than simply follow wholesale, adding in all manner of other elements.

The primary other is screamo, of the blackened variety. Despite there being an ever increasing amount of this crossover music nowadays, it still feels antithetical to hear, such as on Possession Audition, melodic, almost post-rock beauty, giving way to a thrashing frenzy, or how Basalt veers from post-hardcore to frosty black metal blasts. It culminates on the final track, In Mirrors, twice as long as anything else here, screamo emotion outpouring openly, vocals that are pushed to their limit. It reminds me very much of Bosse-de-Nage at their best, twelve minutes to end the album, laying it all out in one final statement of Eudaemon's craft.

There's potential appeal to fans of a broad spectrum of genres, from the more obvious black metal of Wolves in the Throne Room or Altar of Plagues, to the natural refence points of the aforementioned Bosse-de-Nage and Birds in Row, but even the more metal minded of those into music much further than you'd think, Locrian or Jesu say, which tells of its success at coalescing the disparate sounds so seamlessly. The fact this comes out on not only one great label whose presence alone is enough to warrant a listen and practically guarantee quality, but two - Fiadh Productions and Riff Merchant Records - speaks volumes. But ultimately, forget the labels, forget the comparisons, the overriding feelings as the album ends are of the distinction Eudaemon have created all of themselves.