A Symphony Carved in Stone

Armenia has a pretty cool tradition of folk music, namely that there's a lot of melancholy and gloom in their natural character, along with mountains, nature, and a pagan past. This should make Armenia a solid contender in the realm of ethnic black metal, especially when you consider their proximity to national tragedy (a genocide that's just over a century old) and the eternal burning dumpster fire that is the Middle East.

Avarayr wisely opts to use a lot of their national flavour on A Symphony Carved in Stone. There's a good number of songs in the mysterious Armenian language, and "Vahagn" opens up the album on a really strong note. Here you can get the full scope of Avarayr's sound in it's best form: Armenian melodies played over a rather simplistic Burzum carpet, tasteful acoutics and flutes ebbing and flowing and some lovely choir vocals, both male and female. "Celestial Echoes in Zorats Qarar" has a similar approach of bringing back motifs while changing the underlying elements, really keeping the over six minute run time tolerable.

The folk thing sometimes takes on the cheesy aspect that makes me hate pagan metal with it's prancing through the beautiful flower fields feel. "Ceremonious Dances in Ughtasar" starts with a flute melody that recalls girls frolicking among the tulips, but when the motif echoed later with some sort of bagpipes, then in an acoustic breakdown, it doesn't sound ridiculous. The classic metal riff that makes the backbone of the song brings a much needed sense of heaviness. However, there's that ubiquitous pagan "hey!" part that seems to announce a new part of the couples mixer. "Bow to your partner...DOE SEE DOE!" Yeah, that's goofy as all hell. "Soma" also features this cheesy sounding synthesizer horn that reminds you of the fact that this was recorded in the former Soviet Union.

"From Golden Seeds" is a more ballad-esque number, starting with some choir vocals that feel out of place, although it could just be the mixing that makes them awkward (they're very, very Armenian in nature). This is a really welcome change of pace with the rest of the album, kind of bringing to mind old Tiamat and Lake of Tears, with a few splashes of metallic fury to keep it interesting. "Liturgy from the Mountain" and "My Heart in the Trenches" are two semi-instrumental tracks with fistfuls of keyboard cheese and a lot of enjoyable melodic touches. Having them back to back doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, though.

"Soma" and the title track both break the ten minute mark, which is typically a real death sentence for both songs and albums if they don't contain some really damn strong material to keep it interesting. "Soma" especially has some of the psychedelic-Tiamat flavours that break up the mood nicely. The bass is pretty audible through the whole album, and here there's a slippery fretless bass line that winds in and out--great touch! This is probably the best song on here with the David Gilmour-esque lead guitars soaring to new hights. One thing that becomes evident on these tracks is how Avarayr has masterfully composed these songs to make them flow. The layering of guitars and melodic elements is very well done, and as I've noted, sometimes the clumsy moments feel as though a better mix would make it much better. Just as I noted with my review of Praznina, the guittarists are well versed in their technique, and cover the whole gamut of metallic glory.

The rough production works in the favour of Avarayr, as there's a layer of obscurity covering everything in damp snow and darkness. You feel like you're stuck up in some mountain village, trying to stay warm around a feeble fire in an ancient stone house, hoping for early spring and some more lemon vodka to keep you warm. This could very well be Armenia's answer to Nokturnal Mortum, and thankfully without the racist bullshit that taints the Ukrainian brilliant black metal. Hopefully this will be the first of many Avarayr albums, and just the beginning of some really strong material from Armenia.