As the anniversary of their third decade of existence draws closer, this French pioneering outfit show little signing of slowing down. Indeed, it’s astonishing to realise that it’s also been almost twenty years since the release of the influential and mind-bending “The Work That Transforms God”. Some of the soundscapes developed over the years (“Memoria Vetusta” and “777”) have been spun off into side projects (Forhist and Yerûšelem respectively) in order for the mothership Blut Aus Nord to continue on its exploratory journey through the sonic cosmos.

It seems very recent that “Hallucinogen” was released, so I was surprised that it’s already been three years already, especially given we’ve been through a pandemic that rather dragged at times. “Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses” continues where its predecessor left off.  The signature bleak, dissonant atmospherics permeate this album, which is layered with plenty of textures which take several listens to reveal themselves fully. The bass sound is more prominent than I recall hearing on previous Blut Aus Nord releases, a low register call from the deep with the demeanour of a mournful whale that swallowed a bee’s nest.

As for the guitars, it’s often difficult to be sure if we are in fact listening to guitars at all… is it a theremin? Is it monks chanting? Or… is it just very clever use of reverb? The percussion is as consistently unpredictable as ever, with “Into The Woods” in particular showcasing this with an introductory jazzy offbeat swing giving way to a raging half-time feel blast.

Blut Aus Nord remain unbowing to the traditions of how their instruments should sound, instead continuing to push the boundaries of how nightmarish that they could sound. Nestled in their own unique, industrialised, blackened post metal noisescape that continues to blur genre lines, Blut Aus Nord have produced yet another bewildering, yet jaw dropping masterpiece.

(8.5/10 Doogz)

https://www.facebook.com/Vindsval.official

https://blutausnord.bandcamp.com/album/disharmonium-undreamable-abysses