I know that “lagu” means song in Malay. The “song” in this case comes from French band Caïnan Dawn who bring us meditative cold wave black metal music, tales of immersive vastness and infinite waves of the soul.
It starts with ambient sounds and crashing waves. The soundscape is harsh and bordering on industrial. The scene is set and sweeps into the dark menace of “Myctophidae”. A desolate place is depicted. The drumming is minimalist at times but the overall sound is expansive, with a windswept wall of noise enhanced by vocal roars and violent passages. From this atmospheric piece we go to the more directly black and confronting “Y’ha-Nthlei”. This is clearly a reference to a H.P. Lovecraft undersea city. Musically it takes no prisoners and is a harshly powerful and malevolent piece. The drum style is very post rock and so is the opening section of “Okeanos”. It tantalises, the vocalist growls and then there is what used to be called pagan-style vocals to complement the harsh growls. The progression is dark as you’d expect. More pungent darkness follows with “Atlantis” and “Septima”. It’s heavy and hefty, not that anything light was ever promised. The atmosphere is dark, simple as that. But the structures are not simple as Caïnan Dawn craft dark passages out of dark passages and leaden instrumentals. “Apnea” starts in more epic fashion. The scene is harsh. There’s a bit of Enslaved about this in the fire and darkness but this takes us into more cavernous and dangerous territory. The title song reinforces this, although as a throbbing instrumental I have to say it doesn’t take us anywhere new. This is more a dirge or powerful lament than a song. The same grimness continues into “Profundum”. The air whistles. A monotone beat strikes. It is crushing and overwhelming, even with a quiet passage, as it plods on remorselessly.
Strangely I didn’t get the vastness or the meditative quality of this album. Maybe I misread or misinterpreted the label. Heavy-going, “Lagu” is an imposing and authoritative black metal album, and deserves recognition for that.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
Leave a Reply