It’s seven years, almost to the day, since Spectral Lore’s last near legendary full-length album III and it feels like a lifetime ago. Ayloss had already displayed some very obvious promise on his previous efforts, particularly on Sentinel and the Sol split with Mare Cognitum. But nothing could have prepared us for the monumental III. In or out of the black metal world, it still ranks as one of the most impressive musical works I’ve ever come across, full stop. A massive cosmic and philosophical journey in awe of the grand plan, III is also a charge of pure adrenaline. A mind-blowing opus of huge intent that showcases Ayloss’ musicianship and composition skills. For that alone, it’s worth a listen. If you can also find yourself in the sweeping groove of his deeply intense and analytical journey, then all the better.
There have been multiple splits and EPs since then, often showing very different facets to the Spectral Lore project – last year’s ambitious, if slightly unwieldy, Wanderers split, again with Mare Cognitum; Quivering Lights (a split with Nachtreich and still one of my favourites) but 2015’s Gnosis is well worth checking out and is probably Spectral Lore’s most accessible work to date. Then, of course, the Book of Sand cover – No Excuses for Fascist Sympathy, a brilliant introduction to this other band and something that saw Ayloss endeavour to provide a meaningful counterweight to the vast legions of barmy, right-wing intolerance that populates the black metal scene.
But the question has always remained – how the hell do you follow up something like III? It’s still an exhausting listen emotionally and mentally even after all these years. Reflecting back, III hit some devastating peaks of intensity (The Cold March Towards Eternal Brightness and Cosmic Significance – although those tracks are not alone in delivering those highs) and relied heavily on some cool, lengthy ambient passages which were much needed to recover from the exhilarating surge of aural emotion. A release of energy on a galactic scale reaching into the outer and inner voids to search for answers to the big questions – often euphoric but also sometimes almost cold and often frustrated and desperate for knowledge lost or never found.
The answer to the above question is, in part, that Ετερόφωτος is not actually a follow up to III but rather a continuation from 2012’s Sentinel – a bombastic black metal opus that might just be the best place to start if you’re new to Spectral Lore. Ετερόφωτος is another weighty piece of work, so much is evident from the outset. The first impression is that Ayloss’s habit of delving into deep musical undergrowth with combination riffs, tremolo leads and – particularly notable here – pentatonic scales has made a welcome and convincing return. Most notably, there are far fewer ambient passages here too (with the exception of the final 20 minutes – similar to Sentinel) and the melodic releases and hooks are each far more firmly embedded in the music rather than peeled meticulously away as they were on III. The result is this feels far more dense – even when compared to the Sentinel – and operates in a narrower, more focused wavelength. It picks over its subject matter in a more controlled manner and is in some respects more tethered and sure of itself because of all that.
But whereas extended ambient passages and prog-rock breaks gave ‘III’ listeners more time to work their heads around the music and recover from periods of intensity, this time the multi-layered meanderings are piled on extremely hard and, to be honest, if you’re expecting a III-part-two you might have to do some reframing of your expectations pretty rapidly. Compared to Sentinel, this is extremely heavy going. Once you accept that, there’s a chance you can begin to savour the complexities of Ετερόφωτος – and complex and chaotic they are, perhaps to the point where your patience might be tested. Unlike Sentinel or III, which worked best if regarded as single musical entities, it feels like each track is best sampled alone. Otherwise, you’re in for a serial battering. I say this in part because the utter intensity of the first three tracks doesn’t give much time for reflection at all. Yes, there’s a nice progressive break or two, some amazing tremolo hooks buried hard in these morphing marble edifices – and that brilliant Spectral Lore intensity. But there’s very little light and shade that might allow Ετερόφωτος to breathe. Despite teasing us with a breezy intro on The Sorcerer Above the Clouds, for example, we’re back into even darker waters quite rapidly and even more so on the following track Apocalypse. Title track Ετερόφωτος is perhaps the one track that lets light shine through the shade, but coming so late in the album it’s not much respite. And the fathomless near-20-minute ambient noise Terean which inexplicably finishes off the album with something that sounds like very little more than background noise is slightly beyond comprehension. Almost as if it’s trying to make up for the hammering your senses have taken but, in its own exhaustion, it’s not sure how.
The sheer density of Ετερόφωτος is tough to get past. There are some breath-taking breaks and some beautiful moments but the relentless nature of 90 per cent of the album means you’ve got some hard work ahead of you. If you can get through this in one sitting then you’re a better man than me. But perhaps worse than that, the sheer intensity and the rapid and persistent exploration of guitar scales makes the album an arduous journey at times and even seems to fold back on itself. Whereas on Sentinel the freedom Ayloss’s performance exhibits and the chaotic lack of structure is intoxicating. Ετερόφωτος’s dour journey loses its grip on the anything-goes wild ride and instead replaces it with a demanding listen that many will find frustratingly impenetrable. It’s possible that I’ve missed the point of this – and it has to be said that I think that there are individual tracks here that can be enjoyed in insolation (Initiation Into The Mystery is definitely a highlight). But overall, the unrelenting nature of this 76-minute journey topped with an ambient track which feels jarringly uneventful makes this a hard one to pin down – even though I will sincerely try and try again to do so as the year unfolds. Good luck fellow Spectral Lore travellers. See you on the other side.
(7.5/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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