Visions of a Lost World

I've got a real soft spot for well executed black metal, especially when it's got an old school, DIY touch to it that recalls the legends of old. Labyrinthian brings in a number of the best elements of vintage black metal in the form of rough production, blizzard guitars, epic synth, and some savage drumming.

This is really Norwegian in nature, taking the barebones style of Dark Throne and laying on Emperor's cascades of keys, but brief bursts of melody and acoustic grandeur also recall Sweden's finest (and by that I mean Dissection). In short, it's the perfect thing for the wild expanses of rural Wisconsin that produced it. It feels like this thing crawled out of some corner of time between '93 and '95 on cassette--perhaps a lost demo of some band, but whatever, it fucking rules!

If you're familiar with drummer Mason's primary band, Abamath, you'll instantly recognize his raw, yet precise drumming, that features a number of clever fills and barbaric beats. The guitars are rather simplistic, clearly a nod to the nascent days of second wave black metal, and never approach the lightning speeds that defined the more refined days of the movement. The bass is mostly audible as well, fuzzy and sometimes providing interesting counterpoints to the main elements.

There are three instrumental tracks, that being the intro, outro, and the goregous acoustic piece "Autumn's Return," and with a run time of slightly under half an hour, I wish there were a few more songs, but the material is overall extremely strong. "The Dreaming Forest" and "Haunted Planet" both feature the greatest amount of diversity in the songwriting, as well as effective seques. The Swedish melodies on the former and acoustic interlude on the latter are great turns that highlight the natural element of Labyrinthian's take on black metal.

This is another case of me wondering how Labyrinthian will top this masterpiece, or what they could do to improve their overall formula.