Review Summary: A spellbinding mixture of black metal and Chinese folk, Zuriaake's debut is a sublime mixture of the cold, unforgiving, and the beautiful.
One interesting thing about how music develops is how different branches form of a universal, wider genre, depending on where it's from. Obviously there are discrepancies from this - many, in fact - yet when somebody talks about the Norwegian black metal scene (for example) one instantly thinks of ice-cold atmospheres, brittle production and an overwhelming emphasis on evil. Alternatively, while still belonging to the black metal umbrella the Cascadian black metal scene is unequivocally different, harbouring long, developmental song structures and a greater emphasis on folk elements. China may not have forged an idiosyncratic sound of their own just yet in the black metal sphere, but by combining a bleak, empty style with traditional instrumentation and a leaning towards natural themes, Zuriaake's 2007 masterpiece
Afterimage of Autumn set an excellent precedent for what the country has to offer.
The key characteristic of
Afterimage of Autumn is that it feels sparse. While there is by no means a total lack of them, the presence of blast beats is largely eschewed for slower, more deliberate drumming, and this comes across in the space that makes this very spacey, almost uncomfortably so – a quality further enhanced by the recording style used on the live instruments. While not the rawest black metal album, it's still undoubtedly bleak, and this brings with it a quite melancholic nature that is particularly effective on tracks such as 'River Metempsychosis' and 'Return Journey'. The guitars largely take a back seat in providing the main focal point of each song, although are almost ever-present. This may not be such a bad thing as 'Forest Of Twilight', the most guitar-led track on
Afterimage of Autumn, proves to be one of the less interesting events of the album; however, even here the primary impact of the guitar is as it is across its running time, in that it lends to the brittle, cold atmosphere that permeates every song like a wispy, but ultimately engulfing freezing fog. Where the rasps that comprise most of the vocal work do their job unremarkably (although well), it is the howls that really take the centre stage on the occasions when used - a desolate, mournful shriek that makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand firmly to attention.
Despite this, and for all the apparent sparsity that Zuriaake bring,
Afterimage of Autumn is actually an incredibly beautiful album. Themes of the natural world crop up time and time again; one of the first sounds on the album is that of birdsong, and both this and running water (occasionally in the form of heavy rainfall) feature at the start and finish of several tracks, acting both as respite and providing a certain amount of imagination fuel. The usage of synths is quite prevalent, and are used to emulate choirs (which while doing so utterly unrealistically, carry a certain charm of their own), or to create simple, beautiful melodies using oriental-esque sounds that contribute towards Zuriaake's individual character. Sometimes, even more enchantingly, traditional Chinese instruments such as the guzheng (Chinese zither) and bamboo flute appear in lieu of their synthetic counterparts, sparingly enough that they sound stunning every time they're used but enough so that they don't feel like a shoehorned-in afterthought. One wonders why the two - the real and the synthesised - are interchanged, but it largely, surprisingly, complements the frostier facets by maintaining a melancholic vibe whilst adding a dash of something genuinely pretty.
The usage of synths in black metal is always a slightly difficult tightrope to tread. If used well, they can add entirely new dimensions to the sound of an album, adding variety and colour to what is otherwise a revelry in bleakness. When misused, it can cheapen the atmosphere to the point where it becomes unlistenable. Zuriaake managed to get the balance right first try, supplementing their barren, cold brand of black metal with a suitably morose yet gorgeous Chinese influence, and the result is an album that is as based in melancholia as it is in natural appreciation. If this is the quality of black metal emerging from the Far East superpower, then maybe it's time to investigate its output further.
