This third album by Aureole, whose creator is also behind Tchornobog, is based on a science fiction scenario, in which Alunar is the world and the Bellmaster is sacrificed and incarnated as a ghost. It’s a sinister world, represented in atmospheric and “vicious” black metal, and one which features 30 sampled bells, which in the context of the tale are the life source of the ghost and previous occupiers of the mythical Alunar.

It all sounds extravagant. Bells chime as we are led mysteriously into the world. It is a world of echoing hollows and chambers. “Alumerian Ghosts of Bellmaster” creates the vision of ephemeral objects drifting in and out. There is melancholy in those shadows and a sense of ghostly – well, this to be expected – horror. The beat is constant, allowing the shapes and voices to vacillate. This strange world finds further expression in “10000 Bells Resonate Cosmos Untold” – is that a sentence? It doesn’t matter really as this is all a cold, alien world and in this case one which takes on a tragic post-metal ring as the ghosts moan and echo. Cold winds blow and our journey now moves into “Warpstorm” with its shuffling drum, cosmic waves and bells. “Arrival of Deathless Interlopers” signals a new development. A storm is brewing. A dark orchestral sound is emitted. It is inconclusive and but a prelude. The familiar echoes resound. The drum strikes up. The bell rings deeply and distantly. “Orbiting Among Alunarian Ruins” is a sombre and drone-like signal of death and tragedy.

One thing I had to get used to was the spaces where very little was happening beyond the cosmic waves and the echoing winds or voices. There’s a lot of this. So it is as we leave the Alunarian Ruins and enter “Beware That Which Inhabits the Belltower”. The drum beats darkly as usual. The bell chimes. The guitar plays a sombre tune and the echoes continue. A storm brews and falls back into the chimes and solitude of “Alunarian Surrender”. Although the sound waves threaten to burst out and overflow, the atmosphere is profoundly tragic thanks to the slow drum beat and drawn-out guitar output. The wind whistles, the echoes and the shadows remain. It is a cold and bleak place. To reinforce the point, the album closes with the thirteen minute “UGC 2885 Spawn a Second Citadel Bell”. In spite of its exotic title, it is a profoundly tragic piece featuring the customary sound waves and the tones of a solitary piano.

“Alunarian Bellmaster” is an interesting album. The ambient drone-like cosmic sound together with the hissing echo and bells, represents the backbone to this slow-moving journey. By virtue of its unwavering adherence to the ambient atmosphere which defines this mythical place, I’d say this album promised more than it delivered but I give its creator credit for his imagination and his achievement in creating such a frightening and tragic setting.

(7/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/AureoleBM

https://markovsoroka.bandcamp.com/album/alunarian-bellmaster-deluxe-edition