If you are standing at the entrance to a labyrinth, you are no doubt expecting that there is a good chance of getting lost as you go in and start to explore. That’s part of the fun unless you are on some sort of quest and trying to escape a minitour of course. Musically it is something you may expect here as well and this second album by Hunger the bassist in Stillborn is guaranteed to lead you down some unexpected paths.

After giving us a dose of Monumental Bitterness back in 2017 it seems that Hunger has expanded his horizons somewhat and it is the instrumental tracks that wrap around the main songs here that really seem to signify this. They clearly indicate that Hunger is a particularly skilled musician with plenty of ideas. The opening segment that is ‘Spirituality I’ and is continued over three parts during the album indicates acoustic skill and a nice gentle harmony before we burst and bustle way into the modus-operandi, some stormy and bruising clouds darken the sky and we work our way into some furious pagan bravado on ‘Absence Of Light Surrounding.’ Yep, this is black metal or blackened death and with the matching hoary vocals it has a real heathen cleave about it.

But as stated the stomping feudal bite and bravado having been established is not the only style you will experience here. The songs are often bridged by these aforementioned instrumental passages (there’s actually 5 on the album) and there is a wealth of ideas among them taking in everything from subtle jazz motifs to progressive metal and even a spot of synthwave. It doesn’t simply showcase things and prove that Hunger can probably adapt to playing many different forms of music but it all intricately seems to fit together perfectly over the 50-minute running time. One second you can be dreamily floating along and the next slapped by a gauntlet round the chops to the next feudal romp of a track. I particularly love the downright feral ‘Dogma Hexagram’ which has another trick utilised by dropping the guitar out momentarily and then forging it back in making the utter savagery of it really stand out. The roars and growls are rough, raw and rugged and fans of the extreme side of things get a right old ripping battery here along with that atmospheric breathing space in between it all. Sometimes though different styles appear in the midst of a song, the aforementioned one suddenly gets a chugging car race of a theme worked in between the swaggering battle frenzy. Listen out for it, it’s one of many surprises through the labyrinth.

Playing all six albums that arrived from Godz Ov War recently, five of them Polish black metal, this is the one that immediately stuck out for me. It has hints of classicism and experimentation about it and really keeps the listener on their toes. From mournful patterns of acoustic fretwork and ominous keyboards it takes one on a journey that’s ever inventive and intriguing, mixing up stylistic twists and turns along the way and never failing to flurry into a formidable pulverising movement of adroit blackness. For an album that can harangue you one instant with venomous vocal fury stating “I will jeer at you and take the remains of your fucking dignity” before finitely dissolving with a gorgeous near piano sonata, this one really does have the best of both worlds and to construct it as a solo project is quite remarkable.

(8.5/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/labyrinth.entrance

https://labyrinthentrance.bandcamp.com/album/deplore-the-vanity