Autumn Rehearsal

First off, I have to admit that Almagest is practically the last band I would've expected to release a rehearsal tape. I mean, seriously, I would've expected to see "live Bathory rehearsal 2014" before I expected this to be released. The idea didn't especially excite me when it was announced: Almagest's debut EP was a rather massive block of heavy, spacey black metal with doomy vibes. To think of them moving from that to a rehearsal seemed a bit... backwards. Still, I bought it because it was like $5 at most, and while I don't listen to it too often, it's turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.

The two actual songs which were present on the self-titled EP are here, though they've been modified quite a bit, as well as bookended by some completely new material which wasn't on the previous EP. First, I'd like to say that I'm surprised how nice the hollowed growled vocals sound here - they really are every bit as nice as they were when I originally heard them on Almagest's self-titled EP. The originally massive "En Void" is a bit more humbly presented on this rehearsal tape, though it still maintains a lot of power that the original possessed. "Syntaxis Ecliptica" loses a bit more power in translation, as it has the only blasting section on the entire tape and that seems to have lost a bit of its vastness and clarity on this release. The new track (or at least, what's distinctly marked as the new track) isn't quite as good as its two siblings: it's pure funeral doom, so it doesn't have quite the sense of rocking movement that the two songs with titles have. Still, melodically, it's quite nice, and I wouldn't say anything about it is outright bad, so it's a welcome addition to the list of Almagest songs released today.

No, the thing specifically on this release that I'm really crazy about is the quiet, minimalistic arpeggio motif which the band return to multiple times throughout the release as a sort of intro, outro, and interlude for the songs marked on the tracklist. It sounds like something that God Is an Astronaut might use in one of their quieter sections: it's droning, reverb-laden and altogether beautiful. It makes me want to go snuggle up with the nearest soft object. It's nice. On a similar note, this release's versions of both "En Void" and "Syntaxis Ecliptica" have more relaxed song structures, with some riffs being interrupted by brief bits of pretty-sounding percussionless improvisation. The release's more relaxed vibe is actually benefited by the obviously-rehearsal sound quality. With most of the high end shaved off and lack of dual guitar tracking, Almagest's music ceases to be vast and spacey, but in its place is a very soothing, embryonic atmosphere, like the warmth and comfort of laying inside a womb before birth. I'm not sure whether or not I'd say I prefer it to the original EP's gargantuan cosmic soundscape, but it definitely has merit of its own. This is worth a listen, especially if you download Almagest's other release as a companion piece.