This is one of those annoying albums that has stuck to the reviews list like a limpet with nobody picking it up to cover until the actual release date. I would apologise for tardiness but anyone who remembers this German group have indeed been waiting a considerable time for it themselves. Having been active around the mid 2000’s the group released 3 albums conceptually based around the elements. The last of these ‘From Arcane Fires’ came out way back in 2008 and after a long hiatus for whatever reason Mare is finally here to conclude things. This is the water cycle of the quartet and was suitably recorded at FiveLakes Studio near Munich.
Apart from this and the fact the group contain a Hellish Crossfire member and have a new bassist on board, details are sketchy on them. Although some would class as black metal and indeed there are elements of that, there is a lot more to be found on these 6 numbers. ‘Odyssey’ sets things up with some atmosphere before bursting into bruising life with the drummer hammering things out and blasting away. There’s elements of black, death and a technical stop start thrust about things with vocalist Seraphackh growling his parts over the top. Its highly melodic and this along with other numbers have a quirky nature with a stand out guitar melody getting its hook in. With quite a lot going on its rather difficult to pigeonhole this, there are also definite progressive tendencies to it all with a slower section meandering for a while before the bruising clamour bounces back in. Cleaner vocals are also utilised and it sounds like the band have plenty of ideas all wanting to burst out following their long period of inactivity. Rotting and rolling the deathly ‘Anachron’ reminds a little of our own De Profundis and bridges the black death divide neatly. It darkly grooves away and like most of the album gradually gets under the skin after a few listens, certainly not immediately but in a way that grows on the listener over time. The fact the vocals are in English does help here although it has to be said without them in front of me the watery narrative is lost a little. Tracks are allowed to sprawl with instrumental parts expanding them and they draw you into their depths so perhaps you may find yourself briefly drowning until the next surge washes you back to shore.
Some of the melodies have a near Scandinavian folk flow going through them as well as everything else which adds to the overall curiosity of things on songs such as ‘The Glass People’ and my favourite number ‘Sophia’ which suddenly injects a guitar weave that wouldn’t be out of place on a Lifelover song! Proving once again they have plenty of ideas the song also has some underlying keyboards that have a bit of a Hammond swirl about them something the band inject more heavily into closing statement ‘The Darkness Within’ really urging things into a manic and satisfying finale.
Admittedly at first I was rather confounded by Mare and it is certainly not an album for someone looking for a quick fix of brutality. However, I have become a lot more enamoured by it over time and for those looking for a progressive blackened journey where nothing particularly stands still for a second, this should deliver the goods. Hopefully the band won’t be as long to return in the future. The Bandcamp version has an extra track on it too.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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