Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses

If I want to start listening to avant-garde black metal, I might as well start with recent releases and work my way backwards, right?

Blut Aus Nord is a black metal band from France. Initialy playing atmospheric/melodic black metal for the first two albums, BAN later blended elements of avant-garde music, progressive rock, and, most importantly, industrial metal into their sound. BAN is well known for using their industrial sound to create haunting and alien soundscapes that sound like they were created by a really bad drug trip. The mastermind behind this band, Vindsval, seems to be the personification of an endless well of creativity, which results in every album sounding vastly different from each other, including this album. Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses marks the band's fourteenth album, and it seems to be Vindsval's attempt at using industrial black metal to create a soundscape best represented by Lovecraftian eldritch horror (literally, the first track's title name drops the Deep Ones).

"Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses" sounds like a weird fusion between the 777 trilogy and Hallucinogen. It sounds really psychedelic, akin to a really bad drug trip. The soundscape seems to support this too; the bass, guitars, industrial samples, and vocals are blended together most of the time to create this atmosphere of eldritch horror and dread, with the instruments standing out behaving like the limbs of a gigantic Lovecraftian beast. While you can still discern them, they are still attached to a bigger being and thus inseparable. It did not help that the sound itself resembles the roaring of an eldritch beast or a gigantic vehicle, which reminded me of the works from Portal (the band from Emu-land, not the Valve game). The drums here have some discrepancies that give away the fact that they are programmed, but the realistic samples clash with that nature and give it a feeling of the uncanny valley, which might be another accidental reference to Lovecraft (The Shadow Over Innsmouth). The drums here also disobey the usual tropes of black metal drumming and instead opt for a combo of jazz drumming and blast beats, which is a pretty unusual but welcomed addition (I did not know I needed this until I heard this album) that added to the uncanniness of the album's sound. This aspect of the album is at its most prominent during the first track, "That Cannot Be Dreamed."

The vocals here also mark an unorthodox turn from the usual BAN material that longtime fans are expecting. Instead of black metal vocals, this album decides to just avoid all standard vocal styles and chooses to use exclusively inhuman and synthetic chantings. This means that this is a rare case where a black metal album manages to sound more terrifying than its peers without the use of vocals, only relying on the inhuman and horrifying soundscapes created by the instruments alone. So if you want to listen to a black metal record but cannot stand the vocals, maybe start with this, even though this might be very inaccessible for a newcomer due to the album being a dissonant take on atmospheric black metal.

The songwriting here also defies the usual black metal songwriting conventions. Due to this being a mostly instrumental album with avant-garde elements, Vindsval opted to just make the songs one singular line from start to finish with nothing repeating, with the exception of reusing old riffs in a new context. This gives the album another layer of eldritch horror; now the songwriting reflects the nature of these Lovecraftan beasts, with whom we are never familiar, and uses conventions that defy the common sense of music we know.

Vindsval has once again outdone himself in creating another piece of avant-garde black metal that manages to capture the inhuman aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos and turn them into audible form. The peculiarities of the deep have never been more attractive and alluring, but no matter how much we try to know them, we will never be able to grasp their true form. Just hope horny weebs don't catch on to the Cthulu Mythos, or they will draw anthropomorphic girls from the eldritch beasts.

Highlights: Tales of the Old Dreamer, That Cannot Be Dreamed

I have reached a point in life where I grow weary every time Blut Aus Nord releases an album, that this is time I'll be disappointed. I have been proven wrong not on one occasion, but on every damn one. Whether the entirety of their catalogue is flawless is of course out of question, that is only viable for up and coming or legendary short lived bands. But their ability to craft cohesive records, to set a mood, to essentially create entire worlds where getting lost in is rather easy, is unparalleled.

No matter the context, they know their trade and its secrets. Almost thirty years of constant aural shapeshifting might be the reason for this particular anomaly; a band that doesn't yield to repetition, stagnation or writer's block, now if that's not a rarity I don't know what is. Perhaps I've been to keen on rating their albums as masterpieces, and I'm being kind on myself with that perhaps at the sentence's start. But I've been going back and forth into their catalogue all this time and the sentiment remains the same. I still rate Saturnian Poetry as an absolute 10/10 album. I know it has shortcomings and that still doesn't change a thing for me, as in I still listen to it on an almost weekly basis.

Now that I have excused myself for my fanboyisms, the new record is surprisingly good. Not least because I was expecting a more progressive and melodic approach. But while it is progressive and it is indeed melodic, it's not in the ways I thought it would be. Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses sounds like a melting pot between The Work Which Transforms God, MoRT, 777 and to an extent Hallucinogen. You can try to imagine that if you will, not that it is a very representative description. Allow me to explain.

The unstable guitar sound of their mid 00s output returns with a production a la 777 but with the psychedelic musings of their 2019 opus as a key ingredient. The way those textures are layered is seminal, essentially a murk of distorted guitars and bass that moves around while remaining firm enough to sound as one large unit. The lead guitars are more akin to transmitted signals, heavily processed and at times undecipherable. The percussive aspect of the record lies in the uncanny valley between a physical performance and a really, really good programmed MIDI drum section. The voices are all over the place, harsh, clean, chanted you name it.

And while the sum of its parts is already hefty enough, Vindsval goes the extra mile of rendering the atmosphere concise and as sensible as the material permits. The influence of H.P. Lovecraft is explicit here either way, any lack of atmosphere would be to say the least a backstab for such a project. But here's the extra mile; the atmosphere of this record is what makes it sound truly loyal to its chief inspirer. You might recall how The Great Old Ones were rather loosely described while on the opposite, the effect they had on human beings was explored deeply through depictions of restlessness, distress and arduous inexplicable phobias. But also fascination!

This fascination is evident in the way that the French veterans approach their material here. The sheer amount of attention to detail, the little embellishments, almost inaudible trinkets thrown here and there but never out of place and only occuring to the listener after two or three couples of spins, these are the tokens of fascination that make this record what it is; a bottomless pit that keeps on giving, the longer you expose yourself to it.

If one feels like trying these waters before entering, I'd say look no further than the first track, Chants of the Deep Ones. It shall give you a pretty wide array of sounds and moods you will encounter again down the road while keeping some surprises from being spoilt. In fact I believe this record is more surprising than Hallucinogen in the sense that it showcases much more prowess in creativity through seeming restrictions; of course Vindsval can make dissonant or sonorous, industrial or organic music. But what happens when he does everything at once?

The answer is Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses happens. Another mind boggling album by a project that has given many such albums to its audience, always ready to switch their path and shake their formulas up without hesitation. And always with more to come because creativity, in the broadest sense, is not entirely in the hands of the creator and as such it is also potentially infinite.

After two years in which Blut aus Nord released Hallucinogen, where strange and hypnotic riffs have great relevance, the French band has released their new work entitled Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses. Here definitely, that dark and narcotic atmosphere manifests itself in its maximum expression. Hallucinogen has a much more epic sound compared to this beast.

This album begins with "Chants of the Deep Ones" whose introduction is already indicative that something out of the ordinary is about to begin. And it's just like that, because as soon as the first guitar arrangements explode I realize several things. In the first place, the guitar plays a fundamental role in this album, because it manages to create an atmosphere that is out of the ordinary, because it is a hypnotic, mysterious and spooky atmosphere. The drums have very varied rhythms, even in the aggressive and faster moments, the arrangements in the cymbals and bass drums are quite atypical, giving more variety not only to the rhythms, but also to the melodies that accompany them. And the voice, it's very strange. At times it sounds very aggressive, then it sounds like it is far away, the echoes of which resonate for a long time. This new work by Blut aus Nord reminds me of the band's classic albums, like The Mystical Beast of Rebellion and even The Work Which Transforms God. That dark sound that those albums possess can be found here, however Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses is much more ambitious.

And as soon as the second song begins, the incredible manifested atmosphere of this album becomes even darker, even more so with that voice so covered up in that noisy mural, but it still comes to echo in your ears, leaving you completely mesmerized. "Tales of the Old Dreamer" is a song that is totally marked by a hidden feeling, indecipherable at first sight, in this case at first listening, which requires all the senses activated to fully understand it. It is without a doubt one of the best songs on the album and that the first track had already left my expectations very high. But right at the end, "Into the Woods" appears, which sounds even more abrasive, with incredibly hypnotic guitars and the voices becoming increasingly harsh, aggressive and disturbing, generating a lot of tension.

However, it is at this moment, when the best track of the album sounds. "Neptune's Eye" is simply wonderful. This song is capable of transporting you to another reality, the work of the guitars plus the creepy voice and that aggressive drums make you imagine things that you didn't think you could see with your eyes. I can only imagine an immense cavern, where a being little by little advances towards the exit but it becomes increasingly difficult for him to travel that path towards the light. It's barely halfway through the album and you already feel like you're on another planet. "That Cannot Be Dreamed" is a sound nightmare, it's uncomfortable to listen to, but at the same time it's magnificent and shocking, without neglecting the name of the track, which being as metaphorical as it is mysterious, generates a lot of intrigue. In short, it is another round piece, practically perfect from this album. Then "Keziah Mason" appears, which at first sounds calm, so to speak, but gradually becomes more aggressive, until at a certain point it becomes dark but culminates in the calmest way possible. Mysterious song from beginning to end.

And already the last track of the album called "The Apotheosis of the Unnamable" breaks down all its glory. It is characterized by having the typical hypnotic atmosphere in this work, however there is a different intention here. For a moment, the sound becomes less mysterious and more melancholic, making this even more strange, making the atmosphere more and more disconcerting, unpredictable and unique. All that amalgamation of strange sounds culminates abruptly. It is an ending that undoubtedly leaves you perplexed.

This work by Blut aus Nord should be heard at night, locked in your room and with little light. The atmosphere that it exudes is very unique, even superior to the style of many Icelandic black metal bands that have been characterized for almost a decade. It's amazing how Vindsval never loses inspiration.

Let us admit without more ado that the 14th full-length album (what a mind-blowing number, by the way!) of French black metal veterans Blut aus Nord is disorientating. At least on the first listen. Their previous work "Hallucinogen" was released three years ago, and although it can be discerned post factum as the forerunner of "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses" (first of all, because of the atonal lead work with a high reverb and delay level), an abyss separates these releases. Yes, "Hallucinogen" was avant-garde/experimental black metal, but in terms of production it was actually rather typical black metal. Blut aus Nord didn't go in the direction of psychedelic rock on their new album, as you might expect at that time (seriously), but that doesn't make it any easier.

"Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses" is not an experiment with music as before, it is an experiment with production. Music has become secondary compared to sound. A band like Blut aus Nord couldn't stay stagnant, that's understandable, but this time they went in a completely different direction than, for example, Deathspell Omega. Czech black metal veterans Inferno have already done something similar on their "Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity)", except that the production on that album was more blurry as well as more (orthodox) black metall-ish. "Paradeigma" was like a mesmerizing anomaly from another dimension, but on "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses" this experimental tendency is taken to the extreme.

The usual understanding of the function of the guitar (in metal music) is overcome on this album. In the foreground we have a lead guitar with way too much effect – this lead is a real dictator, and to such an extent that everything else is pretty squashed in the mix. Yes, thanks to the very clean and intelligible production, all other instruments can be made out very clearly, but they still serve as a background. The lead is the one that tells you what to feel and what dimension to go to, you just have no other choice.

Again, at first, such a sound is overwhelming, but gradually you get used to it. The second song is already perceived much more reasonable. And although most often it is difficult to consider the lead melody as a melody in the usual sense of the word, sometimes it can really be made out, it can really be felt. In the first song "Chants of the Deep Ones", in the second half, you can catch something like a tremolo picked solo, and although it is still perceived as some power electronics sound (yep) against the general background, the intrinsic melody lives in it. And in "Tales of the Old Dreamer" the lead gives a sniff of Middle East, yeah. Nevertheless, you can write this feeling off as an auditory hallucination. Well, listening to "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses", you can only talk about feelings, almost nothing can be said for sure.

So there is another feeling that "Neptune's Eye" contains the most diverse lead line, ah, sometimes it sounds like some kind of doleful female choir. While "Keziah Mason" in "normal conditions" would be a groovy piece, it's rather monotonous compared to the rest of the songs – the lead even loses some of its essence here. And in the last third of "The Apotheosis of the Unnamable" you can catch a touching melody, and the rhythm guitar in the background howls to it.

In its turn the rhythm, which usually wanders somewhere in the backyard of the universe, seems to be quite classical for black metal, although its low end is emphasized. It creates (together with the bass) an intimidating rumble and some unearthly howls, and often its function is precisely to generate a distant low echo of the lead. However, the reverse is true for the beginning of "Into the Woods" where the loud low end rhythm suddenly falls on the listener, and the lead echoes with it as if from afar, together they create some kind of hellish pulsation.

With regard to music itself, "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses" is not just minimalist work, but rather even primitive compared to "Hallucinogen". The melodies of the lead alternate and repeat in some kind of cycle, it can be said that almost every song does not shine with variety, most often only some howls the nature of which is difficult to understand stand out from the general line. Nevertheless, sometimes it is possible to understand that the elements usual for Blut aus Nord are used here or there, for example, there is atonal guitar plucking at the beginning of "Tales of the Old Dreamer" and "That Cannot Be Dreamed". Well, whether minimalism, whether primitivism, it is justified: with such a hyper-effect there is not much sense what specific riff is being performed, how complex it is, etc. By the way, it would be interesting to listen to all this without effects.

But the same cannot be said about the drum part. It is most likely sophisticated on all the songs, the problem is that sometimes you just lose sight of drums. Although they are thrown into the background too, their sound is rather distinct, at least enough to understand that the high pitched kick is louder than the snare. The truth is that sometimes only crackling of double kick drumming makes it clear that we are dealing with metal music, and not ambient. In the same way, sometimes you get the feeling that you are playing a record at the wrong speed, and only the drums let you know that everything is right. The drums are kind of a mental anchor on "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses": it does not matter at what tempo and what part the drums play, it's just when the drum part stops or when the blast beat section fades away, you can get completely lost in a sea of cosmic sounds.

For that matter you may doubt whether the concept of tempo is applicable to such music at all. But, you know, the drums don't give up and sometimes even offer us some jazz patterns (check "Into the Woods"), so maybe if this record had a "normal" sound, it would be some post black metal of course. By the way, it feels like "Into the Woods" is built on the drum part, as it should be in a "normal" metal piece. "The Apotheosis of the Unnamable" also can boast a strange drumming (somewhere in the middle).

The hardest part for analysing is the vocals. You just can't catch them. For example, after listening to "Tales of the Old Dreamer", you wonder if vocals were used at all in this song. It's the same with "Neptune's Eye" – in the end you start to doubt whether the vocal part even existed here. Often, too often, the voice is perceived as just some kind of additional effect to the lead. Yep. If we talk about it in the usual terms, then we are not dealing with death metal growls, although something close to them. The best way to describe the vocals is something between growls and whispers, yes exactly.

However, there are also "deviations" in the vocal parts. For example, in "That Cannot Be Dreamed" you can hear singing in a clear voice, which is distorted with too much effects again. Or "Keziah Mason" – you can hear some "gurgling" vocals in the second half, this isn't a message, but some musical adornment. In "The Apotheosis of the Unnamable" Vindsval is moaning, shouting something very emotionally. Damn, or is it some kind of guitar effect? Anyway, this is probably the most abstract song, if at all we can talk about the degree of abstraction with such music.

But it's all really somberly and fearfully. Very Lovecraftian music, for that matter. The burial solemnity from funeral doom metal is so tangible here that it can be cut with a knife and laid out on plates. This is probably post atmospheric or neo-ambient. Each song is not a completed story or message, as it is customary in metal music, but some piece of space. When the song ends, it's even surprising – it could go on forever. And at the same time, everything is thought out here.

Summary. It's interesting to listen to "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses", very interesting. But for some reason we don't want metal music to start developing in this direction at all. It's a great experiment, but it's not worth making a rule/tendency out of it.

The Metal Observer

Only a short moment of ambience warns us before Blut Aus Nord drop us into the unique and profoundly disturbing guitars, warping and bending around metallic cymbals, a sound that crawls beneath the skin. Though malicious and volatile, there is a beauty in these opening moments of dissonant spasming that cocoons the mind with a warm bass timbre before hauling away and senses of security or predictability. An estranged meeting between the meditative and the destructive is offered as cosmic terrors begin to show tendrils of sonic celestial artistry, before tides of panic and dysphoria wash over the soul. Convulsive melodious and rhythmic currents further that feeling of oceanic movement which ties into the Lovecraft-inspired aesthetic and theme of the record, drawing us into the great deep before propelling us into the unknown furthest reaches. The albums predecessor “Hallucinogen” had these moments of beautifully tranquil guitars that seized the body in an orgasmic and ecstatic sense of splendour before punishing such joy with unease, this methodical blend has carried over, aided hugely by the percussion and bass work which counteract the guitar so harmoniously to give a full and rich body to the sound, which itself is carried by a very natural production.

Venturing further into the abyssal display, the albums contorting soundscapes move very fluidly and while some jarring moments are present to send the mind into shock, the progressions themselves are not only unearthly, but truly inhuman. The way in which Blut Aus Nord craft music cannot be mimicked nor should it be. Drawing such unusual sounds from their instruments, these apparitions flow forth from the darkness in indescribable form, taking the musics psychedelic nature into unchartered territories that drown the listener into psychotomimetic states of ecstasy, terror, wonder. Blissfully extraordinary emotions and visions occur throughout this album which injects panic and animalistic curiosity so effectively into every single piece of music. From floating clouds of dreamy, colourful expanses to submerging the mind in sulphuric tides of chaos, this is a strange beast of a record. It is not an easy listen, but it is an engrossing one.

“That Cannot Be Dreamed” was the first single that was heard from this opus and an amazing choice it was indeed. Perfectly conveying in a single piece (as best one can such a complex artist) the merging of beauty with sounds that are genuinely terrifying, I suppose this song is the closest feeling I have had to when people first heard “The War Of The Worlds” and believed it to be a real event unfolding. While this song does not overshadow the rest, it is an integral part in this cosmic tapestry and truly one of the most unhinged, cerebral pieces by the band to date. Preceded by the equally anxiety inducing “Neptune’s Eye”, the middle section of the album is a peak of heightened alarm and thus conscious, swathed in the ebbing waters of the infinite. Betwixt the horrors lie gaping chasms of unease but also vast fields of sonic pleasures and delights that become intoxicating, an addiction one will chase across this musical entities discography. These moments of the pristine swathed in discordance are like nothing else, even other works by Blut Aus Nord. All I can recommend is ingesting the potent concoction for yourself.

The musicianship itself is truly sublime and the sheer oddities that this band construct is something they have become among the most renowned musical entities for. Invoking all of these different energies and impulses may perhaps seem an effort that would lead to juxtaposition and disjointedness but everything feeling full of intent (even if in a rather confusing manner, of which we would not expect anything less). The ending warps into an lethargic crawl, as if the narrative centre has discarded the victim (listener) to drag themselves back to consciousness whilst trying to make sense of what they have endured. In terms of songwriting execution, it is pure genius. Dreamers will awaken, and the risen shall dream once more, the cycle is infinite and thus this record can be played infinite times in infinite scenarios with infinite outcomes.

Dance in the rays of resplendent celestial light before enshrouding the eyes with utter darkness, the outer ones will present themselves to the worthy. Blut Aus Nord have crafted another masterpiece. Dread, terror, rapture, euphoria will fight for control on this venture through frightful and beautiful worlds, though it will likely yield different experiences for all, it must be experienced.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com

Few artists have been on the cutting edge to the extent Vindsval has been with his band, Blut Aus Nord. His output spans almost 3 whole decades, and has more changes than I could possibly count in that same period. From atmospheric black metal, to industrial and the avant-garde, he has done it all. The man is simply an endless well of creativity, and not only that, it manifests into quality releases, with few, if any exceptions. 2022 sees him continue this tradition, with Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses, yet another testament to the outfit’s dedication to releasing excellent music.

Like with any other of Blut Aus Nord’s releases, this one is quite different in terms of its sound compared to their output so far, all while still being something that one could refer to as “black metal”. Contrary to the psychedelic and blissful Hallucinogen, Disharmonium takes us to the opposite end of the spectrum, plunging us into dark, fathomless depths. Swirling dissonant guitar riffs meld together with hammering percussion, creating a suffocating atmosphere that perfectly encapsulates the Lovecraftian theme we’re being faced with. Even then, there are a lot of nuances, and it’s far from an album that’s just vaguely dark background noise. From the layered riffing in “Tales of the Old Dreamer” and the crawling, double bass driven segments of “That Cannot Be Dreamed”, to the explosive climax of “The Apotheosis of the Unnamable”, there’s just layers upon layers to dissect and appreciate. Like with any other Blut Aus Nord release, it’s a project that warrants multiple listens in order to fully comprehend everything going on in it.

Another crucial element of the record that I feel compelled to bring up is the vocals. While a lot of the band’s projects don’t have much in the way of discernible lyrics, the way they’re used adds yet another layer of atmosphere to an already dense slab of darkness. There’s plenty of voices used here, ranging from growls to chants and moans, all of which further enhance the eldritch and inhuman aspects presented here. Though they lack in words of any kind, the way they fade in and out of the chaos manages to paint very vivid images that words wouldn’t be able to adequately convey, not too dissimilar to how Lovecraft’s work benefits from the lack of images to go along with it. In most cases vocals are something that I don’t find myself gushing about, but their appearance here, and the way they’re handled adds so much that it’s hard to ignore.

The production is also worth discussing, seeing as it’s the key ingredient to the success of Disharmonium’s cacophonous cocktail. The murky, reverb-drenched guitars bring the most out of the writhing, doom-like passages, and are the cornerstone of the music, whereas the bass adds more depth and texture to the already dissonant riffs. What I found the most fascinating though was the drums, and how they propped everything else up. The bass drums’ driving, yet somewhat subdued nature is omnipresent here, and you really notice it when W.D. Feld engages in one of the many double bass runs found throughout the album. His drumming is excellent, and surprisingly complex given that the whole thing is just layers upon layers of darkness. The cymbals are an integral part of his performance, and they’re treated with an appropriate amount of respect, their dim glimmer cutting through the higher frequencies and not becoming lost in the shuffle. It’s honestly quite impressive how dark, yet clear the whole recording is, with tons of details being placed next to one another, all while maintaining a sense of cohesion and avoiding becoming a jumbled mess.

During my listens, there was one other album in the Blut Aus Nord canon that came to mind, and that was the oft-maligned MoRT. It’s a release that I found myself enjoying quite a bit, despite its divisive nature among the fanbase, and I couldn’t help but draw some parallels in how the two releases approach atmosphere. Both are very singular in their sound palate, and while they are very different in tone, they use it in very similar ways. Repetition is the main component here, with motifs being built upon constantly through songs and being altered throughout, or reappearing later. There’s also the distinct emphasis on atmospherics, though the end goal and the sound palates used are quite different. MoRT is a much slower, and methodical release, gradually instilling a feeling of decay, while Disharmonium is much more direct and intense in its approach, immediately throwing you into the abyss. It feels like Disharmonium is meant to be a black metal-influenced reimagining of what was originally explored there, with the added bonus of a more varied sonic experience that ventures away from its established motifs with a lot of added details sprinkled therein.

In case it hasn’t been obvious enough yet, Vindsval and the boys have done it again. I find it exceptionally difficult to complain about anything on this record, except maybe the fact that “Neptune’s Eye” gets a bit too repetitive, even by the uniform standards that have already been established. Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses serves as yet another excellent addition to an already star-studded discography, and is a definite standout in the emerging “atmoblack but murky and dissonant” niche that has been appearing over the past few years. Incomprehensible horrors beyond man’s imagination have never been as alluring as they are here.

Highlights: Tales of the Old Dreamer, That Cannot Be Named, The Apotheosis of the Unnamable

Basically put, this feels like the evil version of the previous 'Hallucinogen'. It's like the creepy B side to that album one stumbles across by mistake, not knowing it was there. Like opening Pandora's box. It's got that same fumbling in the dark feel, only here in a much deeper black opaqueness, a dead of night stupor brought about by terrible and unnameable demons, to Hallucinogen's bluer and more pleasant shade of midnight mystery. The aimless wandering through mystical woods turns into the vivid terror of having dropped into a vertiginous crack. And the fall is sudden, almost damning. Perhaps exactly that in fact: damning. What was velvety melody before is now wailing shrieks nearing ever closer to the listener, indistinct ghastly shapes in the foggy distance, threatening to grab them at any moment. It seems like the hallucinogenic shrooms from the previous release are finally kicking in. Only we've lost count of how many we had, definitely too many, and things won't be alright for a very long time. 'Tales of the Old Dreamer' particularly sounds like a track from the previous; only in bad trip mode; this track no different to the generality this album comes with more substance to it.

The vocals never seem completely separate from the overall musical fabric as guitars and choirs and backing tracks merge to form a textural gestalt, a giant born of a spontaneous anguish, awkward in its very being. The undreamable abyss is always lurking, and it draws nearer it seems with every song, but it's all so blurry. The intensity isn't dropping and that one image feels the only constant: a bottomless hole, or perhaps a harrowing path through the woods as we keep walking and walking - but really they're endless, and not woods at all. There is something to hold onto that bears a distinguishable trait, a semblance of warmth; the clean voices that come and go; but they are not kind either. Everything here is alien and indifferent, if not oppressively hostile. With icy rhythm guitars like impassible executioners supporting them, what used to be the luscious leads from the previous record are now possessed by an insidious force that's no longer guiding the listener through the late twilight hours with any benevolence, but instead awaken the sheer dread inside through their agonizing gesticulations. They lament; worse yet; they howl restlessly in the face of permanent desolation, where grief becomes torment. The permanence abruptly sets in after a few tracks have passed, each one dragging the listener one step below too far, and this realization is now a certainty: there's no way out. Ordering a pizza is out of the question. It's far too late. How late exactly ? Time seems a forgotten concept and the hours are now uncountable, as we find ourselves within the night itself.

Odd yet oddly enticing, this marriage of otherworldly indiscernible blackness and lively expressiveness; this twisting of time with the echoes from a distant past resonating in the here and now, as the story gradually unfolds; as if its timelessness was caused by the damned eternity it evokes, or perhaps even invokes. It forces the abyss to rise from beneath all existence and drown reality with its nightmarish horror, provoking visions from another universe; so dearly undesired, and barely intelligible. Every track explores a different mood with fairly homogeneous consistency, but more importantly the album strongly suggests a transcendence of the generic mold at large, that is to say the material heard on here while retaining obvious components from metal appears to be reaching for an end-result outside the boundaries of normal. Is this black metal - as in "only" black metal ? Certainly not. Just like the spirit of the music itself, its demeanor and aesthetic show very little consideration for the norm and it dwells in the beyond, somewhere. The language used mirrors that aspect: "Old dreamer", "Unnamable", "Undreamable; Cannot be dreamed"...

It's a good thing this album "cannot be dreamed". We can all go to bed in peace. And Freddy Krueger can suck it.
Note: its side-effects are unknown to man still, so it's to be consumed with moderation and plenty of exercise afterwards.

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 knowing 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.

Originally written for www.sputnikmusic.com