Review Summary: And then there was only darkness
There's something irresistibly seductive about darkness, isn't there? Simultaneously frightening and beautiful. Something in the vacuum draws us like flies to false light. It is a call so ancient that its language and true purpose have long ceased to be understood by men, becoming an abstraction, a terrifying lost echo; trapped in a past memory that we choose to forget, out of fear or oblivion. Yet we keep walking towards it, like mice led by the sound of a flute from a folk tale. Powerless.
Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses is the melody that pushes us towards the abyss, into darkness. The heretical lullaby we hide from our children.
The fourteenth full-length by the French Blut Aus Nord is thus haunting and beautiful, powerfully echoing Lovecraftian horrors in an engaging style reminiscent of
Hallucinogen, but now with a darker tone, unveiling less light and oxygen. The previous ingredients, namely the distinctive harmonic leads and constant flow, are still present but almost as opposite reflections as if we were experiencing
Hallucinogen through a black mirror. Everything is interconnected. All songs flow relentlessly in the same direction, sucking the listener into a multi-layered sonic vortex made of malevolent laments and growls that overwhelm us every step of the way. Blast beats and slow-paced syncopated tempos interact in one voice, building a common narrative that rarely shows contrasts, too stuck in its own gravitational core. The atmospheric component, as one would expect, is crucial in building the soundscape, either through ambient interludes or synth layers that complement the songs. Yet, much like
Hallucinogen,
Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses eschews the industrial aesthetics present in previous works, assuming a more ‘metal’ and melodic personality. The opener, 'Chants of the Deep Ones', and 'That Cannot Be Dreamed' stand as pinnacles of this sonic journey, combining beauty and eeriness in a surrealistic palette and distinctive stroke. We know perfectly well who's playing the flute but like mice we keep moving on, mesmerized, vanishing into 'The Apotheosis of the Unnamable', the final vortex.
Now all that remains is a false calm, a link to the very beginning, exposing a spiraling, endless narrative that never really ends. For the void is forever.
Once again, Blut Aus Nord have given voice and sound to darkness. Not necessarily in an avant-garde or experimental way, but through surrealistic one-way strokes that push the listener into a sensory abyss. There's an uncanny beauty in
Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses that makes us bite the apple despite being aware of its poisonous content, powerless to its enchantment. It is the irresistible pull of the unknown, source of inspiration and doom. That ancient call that men and artists so desperately try to comprehend, knowing beforehand that the final answer, whatever it may be, holds no hope or light.
Only darkness.
