Poison

I was in two minds about giving this a review. The first time a listened to ‘Poison’ my mind was simply blown. Not only has everything truly come together for I Shalt Become after repeated so-so and samey releases, but Holliman has also created a truly unique and new musical space for black metal and metal in general to move into. My reluctance in providing a review stems from the fact that if one likes an album so much they tend to get carried away, over sell it and disappoint anyone that took the over-hyped recommendation. Not only that, but they also come across as a little incoherent in the process.

Not since I first heard Burzum or Summoning have I felt like this about an album however, and those two acts have enough people singing their praises all ready; ‘Poison’ on the other hand, is one of the most criminally overlooked albums in metal’s history. I loved the style and atmosphere created on ‘Wanderings’ and ‘In the Falling Snow’, but I think I’m not alone in saying that that sound was at times two dimensional, showing a lot of potential but never quite realising it. The same can be said for the later recordings, with many commenting on how little has changed after a ten year break. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing however, and after listening to ‘Poison’ it is clear that Holliman was just getting his form back before moving the sound on. And what a sound it is.

It seems that he has finally mastered the concepts of melodic progression, tension and build, dynamics and the seamless blend of rich string sounds with a diminished but ever present guitar. The production is so much warmer on here. Tempo wise, it remains at the same speed, but the drums have improved greatly with more interesting fills and a fatter sound. However, they serve only to compliment the sweeping strings and builds without taking anything away. The songs all flow into one another with no pauses of silence; this means that it is one of those releases that just has to be taken as a whole piece of work, and to pick out individual tracks would be hard; every single one is a highlight. The vocals are immensely quiet to the point where I would have suggested taking them away all together, the music being so engaging as to not warrant them. However, reading over some of the lyrics this would be a loss. The short five or six line poems offered here are truly bizarre and unique.

The multifarious string and synth sounds rule the show on this one. The guitars back them up now and then but only provide additional texture and serve to add a degree of harshness. In their absence I would be reluctant to call this a metal album at all, more ambient neo-classical. The other thing to note is how positive it is at times. We are taken through passages of uncertainty and tension that are reminiscent of previous works, but remain infinitely more mature and complex in terms of melody, production and execution, but they often build to triumphant crescendos that carry on unfolding before us and just fail to get boring despite the tempo remaining slow. The whole thing is a journey much like one Summoning would take you on. However, here we are not limited to the world of Tolkien, incredible as that is. I would say further that I Shalt Become has mastered the art of dynamics which is so rare in extreme metal in general and really illustrates what a little imagination and outside the box thinking can do. In short, not only has production, musical talent, writing, techniques and the overall execution been improved dramatically, but the musical substance is there to back it up.

I had almost lost faith in black metal by the early part of this decade. Burzum’s newer material failed to impress me greatly, Summoning have not released anything for a good few years now and other ambient black metal projects are only occasionally interesting, but one has to trawl through much dullness to get a reward. ‘Poison’ has proved many of Holliman’s contemporaries to be light-years behind him in terms of...well, everything. This really puts many critically acclaimed modern black metal acts to shame.

To conclude then, this is a great triumph for I Shalt Become and metal as a whole. I would go further and say that this is a triumph for music as a whole that dares to explore, I would not hesitate to recommend this to any music fan as its appeal transcends the genres it was spawned from. I only remain apprehensive for the future of this outfit because such a grandiose work will be desperately hard to follow. As much as a fan of I Shalt Become as I was before the release of ‘Poison’ I will now be watching its future even more closely. I had better stop writing now to avoid over selling. My intention is simply to bring more attention to this most overlooked of releases and recommend it universally.