Looks like I am the fourth of our writers to tackle this group and the other three releases were met with varying results on their hard to categorise and ambient driven blackness. This gives the impression that the unwieldly named Tome Of The Unreplenished are certainly not for all tastes although last release a split on Aesthetic Death with the equally tricky Starless Domain was met with considerable approval. There have obviously been some changes along the way since this project was devised in Cyprus by Hermes back in 2012. Since then, he has moved to the UK and taken up with Aort of Code along with Alexandros, The One and Macabre Omen etc and drummer T. J. F. Vallely.

Reading back, I guess this is far easier to get to grips with than past releases. As the group unleash all their weaponry at once on opener ‘Tellurian’ it strikes as a work of black metal much more than experimentation with the structures of the songs not too difficult to digest. Once this swaggering battering and the venomous vocal roars and burgeoning drive settle down a little the mood is lightened. Alexandros injects clean choral vocal swoons which coast harmoniously over the top, there’s some spoken parts too and a warmth that feels like it has spread from its Mediterranean origins richly enthusing the more hostile parts. It’s slightly different from the Hellenic strumming cut and thrust but there is definitely a spark of sunshine amidst the darkness. The six tracks are lengthy and kind of run into each other and at times one feels like they are listening to one long continuous number. The melodies entwine around the rigorous guitar furrows and drum rolls and are strong, the vocals as we have already suggested quite varied.

This is far from an immediate listen though and you still need to give it plenty of attention before the parts join together and make some sense. Lyrics which are available strike as deep, spiritual and poetic and musically there is a feel of ancient history unfolding as the album continues. There are some passages where the instrumentation is allowed to meander without vocal distractions and these sound natural and progressive drawing the listener into their many graceful folds. We are taken back in time to kings and gods on ‘Tryst at the Gales of Cyprus’ The melody here and the slower pace compared to earlier bloodthirsty forays has a mournful and nostalgic flow. Alexandros tempers this with some subtle flute playing taking you back to perhaps more pagan times which finds us “swaying to a tune of a Southern gale.” Aort’s thick bass playing really adds backbone to the swirling philosophy of ‘Toward the Self’ and the composite opposites of the two very different vocal styles work really well together.

We have two tracks taking up the last 20-minutes of playing time and you really can settle back and lose yourself amidst them. The epic ‘Astraios Ayr’ twists and turns and we are invited to look back over the infinite ages of time although without reading this Hermes gurgles are far from decipherable. The classic touch of the instrumentation occasionally moves into bruising blackened bursts, close your eyes and you are really taken into the clamour of ancient civilisation constructing mighty feats as empires are formed and battled for. A spacy section of keyboards finally bringing the ambient elements of the bands earlier work to the fore. My one complaint here is that on the last lengthy near-instrumental (apart from anguished howls) number ‘Portcullis to Dodekatheon’ there’s a faint synthesized sound in the background which really distracts from the main synth lines and unfortunately sounds like an errant car alarm going off. Perhaps with a decent set of headphones and listening to this on more suitable media than via MP3 it might make more sense. That aside this is a richly textured piece of work which certainly takes you places far from the world outside your window and there is plenty to enjoy within.

(7.5/10 Pete Woods)

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https://tomeoftheunreplenished.bandcamp.com/album/earthbound