Right off the bat, I really wasn’t sure what I was going to get when I popped this CD into the player. The only things I knew were that Agnes Vein were a Greek band, but upon further inspection I found out that they’ve been plying their trade since 2001. They’re described as a black / doom metal band, and that always means one of two things: either you’re in for a really interesting listen, or you’re in for an album’s worth of aural purgatory.
The good news for yours truly is that “Deathcall” is the former. While it is undeniable that there is a spine of icy, brittle black metal informing the skeleton of the band – hints here and there of the likes of earlier Enslaved, and the frozen melodies of Dissection, there’s also something of the epic doom here too – with vast swathes of music either marching imperially into your ears, or floating like icebergs cut adrift. What’s more impressive though than the mere melding of these two styles to form something greater than the sum of their parts, but that this is a three-piece band. I really had to do a double take, because the intricacies of the guitar and bass work led me to believe that this had to be a four-piece band at least. Of course, there are all sorts of studio tricks that could be played, but nevertheless this is a really complex album that unfolds its secrets one track at a time.
All of this probably reads a little cryptically, and so it should. This is fairly cryptic music. Take for instance the absurd lurch of “Vulture’s Hymn” It’s a sober, sombre doom track complete with the kind of blackened touches that you might find from prime Primordial, but with more of a Solitude Aeturnus bent than a Celtic one. The crackling snap of the six string definitely brings to mind black metal excess, but being kept on a straining leash. The drums too here have a Bathorian impact; power in simplicity playing for the song. Fantastic stuff.
Whilst the album weighs in at over 45 minutes, there are but six songs on this album. Each is an epic unto itself. You’ll end up hearing the last track and wanting more – and really, isn’t that what you want from an album? A genre bending, confident, self-assured record that deserves to get wide play. I’ll be digging into their back catalogue.
(8.5/10 Chris Davison)
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