Voices from the Eternal Night

I have already written about the most recent and second Atra Vetosus album and as I enjoyed it I assumed their first full length “Voices from the Eternal Night” worth mentioning in a few sentences as well, especially since it looks really interesting. Perhaps the last album of the Australian band, “Apricity”, seems to be a more original work, where the musicians tried to create the foundations of their own style, but “Voices from Eternal Night”, although being slightly more conservative and stripped back, is not inferior in my opinion. In some way you could even argue that this work shows more energetic and authentic approach, but both are definitely worth checking out.

Although on the first output the band sounds like another Scandinavian, pleasantly tormenting black band, it manages to create a portal to a world full of sad, dark landscapes, a land that the listener can immerse himself in, especially on a moonlit night or cloudy sky autumn morning. Sure, maybe the album doesn't reach the greatest achievements of the genre greats, but like classic black albums with a mixture of melody and atmosphere, it invites you into another reality.

Atra Vetosus moves at different speeds, often with explosive outbursts of raging tremolos, but does not try to go to extremes. At the same time, "Voices from the Eternal Night" does not cross the line into commercial superficiality - the dark aura here is suggestive and the sounds, though not without mood, are served with a certain venom. The band's compositions are usually multi-layered constructions, there is room for both metallic noise and atmospheric calm, a perfect example of which is the longest album on the album, “Under the Wings of Darkness”. The band also proves that very simple motifs can be extremely captivating and hold the listener's attention (led by “Skies of Obsidian Rain”, which is one of my favorites).

Acoustics are used as additional element and created very interesting here. They give the album a melancholic charm. So applause for the instrumental miniatures "Into the Dawnless Night" and "Far Beyond..." or the piano at the beginning of "Tortured by the Light of a Thousand Stars". I didn't get the impression that similar interludes were forcibly inserted - quieter fragments are well interwoven with black riffs. One aspect I am not too fonds of might be the vocals which can get a bit exhausting after a while. On the other hand this is often the case when it comes to black metal so not big of a deal for me.

The cover perfectly expresses the atmosphere of the album - gloomy, wistful, in a moonlit, sad aura. It's not for fans of over the top aggressive music, but also not for lovers of sugary and melodic stuff. In most ways “Voices from the Eternal Night” walks the fine line and stays within the middle ground of the genre, with melodic interludes, served directly from Australian Tasmania, although sounding European. The production is also more than solid and as far as I understood the version distributed by Immortal Frost comes with an improved sound. So two thumbs up overall.

Sometimes I am shocked to get albums in the mail and see there are no reviews for them. If you haven't heard this band, do yourself a favor and listen to them. This is a great melodic black metal album and the band has other stellar releases accompanying this one.

This is an album that sounds like the cover artwork made into music. It sounds like standing at the edge of a forest lake looking at the stars, but getting engulfed in the awe of their majesty. That is really the pull of this album, the legato sound moving up and down to take the listener on a journey. Its hard to get away from, the music is enveloping. Its very majestic, emotional and, as other people have said, beautiful.

From what I have heard in the genre, which is admittedly limited, this is a band with a unique sound and it seems hard to define its source material. It seems to draw influence from (perhaps) neofolk and sprinkles in very subtle medieval themes that are common in the genre, like with Suhnopfer. The music sounds larger than life, although not listed in their genre description, I would use atmospheric as an adjective to describe them in addition to melodic.

The instruments blend together seamlessly to create melodies that reflect that cohesion. Combined with the atmosphere created, every song has a clear sense of direction and theme throughout the album. This makes it a superb listen.

This is not a very technical piece of music, it is just very melodic and atmospheric. If you would like to hear more technical black metal, Abigor is a great place to start. There is also, because of the album's appeal, a heavy reliance on lead guitar work (amongst other harmonic instruments, like the keyboard) to create this music. I don't think is a bad thing, but if you want to hear a variety of instruments showcasing the limits of what they can do, look elsewhere- this is a band that focuses on overarching musical themes, rather than individual displays.

The vocals are well done. They are very screechy for black metal standards and mix very well with the instrumentation. The production is good, even though there are definitely portions that seem to be 'sound-walls', the snares can be picked apart from the blast beats and so on. So it does not seem to be production creating the 'all-together' sound, it is just the cohesion of the musicians. With that said, it is not perfect, I could not pick out the bass throughout any of my attempts, for example.

Other than that, this album is really consistent. From start to finish, every song takes me on a journey, there are not front-loaded or back-loaded songs, they are all great. This is a really enjoyable listen and it is highly recommended.

Favorite songs: A Palace Shrouded in Emptiness, The Spirit of the Forgotten Woods, Tortured by the Light of a Thousand Stars