Shores

Here from Finland comes a one man project/band titled Circle of Ouroborus with his first full length album Shores. What you will find on here is something very very unique, literally unlike anything else you will hear, although in a similar field as Urfaust.

The music has little to do with black metal or even metal in general. It is very dark bleak rock-ish music, reminding me of old post-punk stuff meeting with a black metal feeling and raw production. The guitar tone in particular reminds me of Xasthur or something similar, but with a raw edgier vibe. The drums are loud and very prominent, adding a very nice feeling. The vocals are almost mellow, but very depressed, giving a sensation of slow burning melancholia.

The songs are generally short, and although at first they might sound offputting, being so peculiar, they will impress and slowly work their way into your mind, I know that gradually I've become more and more fond of this, listening to it more and more. The atmosphere and attitude of it is what brings me back, it's like entering a dark strange world, playing by its own rules and using its own musical language.

Literally almost no band sounds like this, rather then play like everyone else CoO creates his own music, with touches of black metal, punk and post-punk, tying it all together with a dark atmosphere that makes it easy to recommend to anyone with darker tastes in music. The cover of Joy Division's "Shes Lost Control" simply adds an extra impetus for anyone who is a fan of said band.

If you value originality and unique music over scenesterism and corruption of artistic principle, then check this album out. It is not for everyone, but the best art never is.