Year of No Light
Consolamentum

Release Date: 2021 | Tracklist

The Cathars didn't fuck around. For about two centuries, this gnostic branch of Christianity who referred to themselves as the "Good Christians" would perform a ritual on those following their gospel only and when they were on the verge of death. This ritual would allow the purification of their soul and their reunion with the Holy Spirit through their original angelic form. In the eyes of Catholicism, this was plain witchcraft, but for Year Of No Light, the long-standing and ever-growing collective from Bordeaux, Consolamentum represents a long-sought enlightenment, a milestone twenty years into their craft, achieved while reaching out to the impossible depths and heights they've been pushing their music with every release since their inception.

The last iteration from the French is an exercise in austerity, voiceless as you would expect, built with layers of synths and waves of distortion eroding the walls of its vessel, with a rhythm section that sounds like the sky folding violently and hitting the earth as it shatters the will of those who try to power through this rite of passage. Consolamentum, in this sense, is unforgiving. The beauty that surrounds some of the passages of "Objuration", the first chords of "Alètheia" or the introductory section of "Réalgar" are just ephemeral illusions, the preamble of the impending darkness that manifests itself in gargantuan tremors that grow out of control in several parts of the album, like in the feverish second half of the aforementioned "Alètheia", or in the last surge of black metal that closes "Came", the final charge of Consolamentum.

If Year Of No Light's aim with this record was to recreate the sonic representation of an angel spirit being ripped off its carnal prison so it can reunite with the Creator, I would say they have thoroughly succeed in doing so, but once again, and as it happens with a sound of this magnitude, its taxing nature will alienate those few unprepared going in just to test the waters, while on the other hand, it will exalt and strum the inner chords of those familiar with these battlegrounds. And there are many reasons why: The guitar tone on this record is sublime; when they mesh with that abyssal combo of bass and drum, the band hits like a celestial hammer, profoundly lost in a few chords, repeating themselves like a funeral procession going in circles, while slowly building a wall of melody that guides the track to either a frantic rampage or a comforting and sumptuous relief. The album also shines in its many scattered moments of clarity, with post rock guitar leads shimmering in the endless void while synths are used to elevate some of the heavier sections. At this point, it’s clear that the band knows how to create balance, how to build up tension and when to release it, and in this album, they show it in spades.

Consolamentum is one more successful incursion into the deepest corners of post metal for Year Of No Light, but also a promising receipt for a live set that we all surely hope happens sooner than later. For now all we have is this ritual, so may that be enough to embrace the Holy Spirit.

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