Starting off with spacious and dark textured soundscapes of drone (so much for their Facebook promise of “no new age ambient tunes” eh?), the first track of ‘Empty Space Meditation’ sets about creating an atmosphere that creeps along at a glacial pace, with the occasional inclusion of gentle chimes. Finally building to a rapturous wall of violent feedback before exploding forth into the second track which is much more in keeping with the black metal framework that people may have been hoping for. Relentless percussion, quavering riffs and full on raucous shrieks dominate throughout.
Tracks three and four reign in the tempo once more; the keyboards add an air of traditional doom to an already funereal sound, with the vocals switching from their previous black metal screams to operatic cleans. This is a plodding, yet sinister kind of heavy which leads into yet another up tempo song, with yet more demented, and howled vocals. The inclusion of what sounds like a sitar on ‘VI’ is what really pulls this album together, however, the slight metallic edge to it adds tension to the sound, which remains unwaveringly slow and focused. This is truly when Urfaust are at their best – their uniqueness lies not in their ability to shred multiple tremolo picked riffs, or blast beat into obscurity. Urfaust’s talent lies in their ability to set chilled fingers running along spines with their eerie creation of suspense and theatrical laying of instruments.
This is the perfect blueprint for an Urfaust record – it takes their already well-established sound and reaffirms it, while adding new elements into the mix to keep things fresh and interesting. The inclusion of two more stereotypical ‘black metal’ songs mixes things up a little and ensures that ‘Empty Space Meditation’ is accessible and enjoyable for both old and new Urfaust fans alike.
(8/10 Angela Davey)
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