Phobos Monolith

This record perfectly encapsulates the cosmic vibes that we all know and love about this genre. The artist mixes a healthy dose of straight forward riffing that runs the gamut between death metal and old-school black metal with airy, zephyr-like atmospheres that punctuate the run time of this record with gorgeous aural vistas that provide breathing room after well-paced onslaughts of aggressive riffing.

The artwork perfectly sums up the kind of sonic adventure that Jacob Buczarski has conjured on this release. I was initially drawn to this record based on the artwork alone as I was browsing through Youtube recommendations after spinning WITTR's "Two Hunters"; one of my favourite records at the time. To say I was completely awestruck by the opening track is a huge understatement. I don't think I can name a more perfectly crafted atmospheric black metal song to be honest with you. It just... It's perfect is what it is. The pacing of the opening track is flawless. It picks you up off your feet and sucks you through a wormhole directly to an aural scene that matches the artwork and surrounds your mind with the same splashes of sonic colour that are so beautifully depicted by the album art.

If I may pick out a singular passage on the track that always sends chills down my spine; there is a crescendo section mid-track with a rising high register melody that peaks in a unique way that I haven't heard anywhere else. This climax arrives and it feels like the floor just drops out from under you as all the melodic content of the mix gets pulled into the higher octaves. The thunder of the bass and rhythm guitars is abandoned for a brief moment as they accompany the lead lines up to the high frets of the instruments and you're left feeling weightless for a few moments, spiralling weightlessly along with the cosmic stream of melody before returning to your feet to struggle in vain to pick your jaw up off the ground at the majesty of what you just experienced.

"Weaving The Thread Of Transcendence", in my opinion is likely to be the strongest ever single song ever created in the cosmic/atmospheric subgenre of black metal. Some might argue this point, but for me personally I can't think of a single more powerful track released before or after this album. Since 2014 I've held this opinion. I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong but I really doubt that's going to happen.

The album continues down the track listing with comparable quality and enthusiasm. Track 3 "Noumenon" takes a more laid back approach after the ferocity of "Entropic Hallucinations", more ballad-like but without any of the negative connotations of the term. A truly majestic track.

The only points I can take away from this excellent release are mere nit-picks. For the sake of balancing out my review I think it's important to bring up some reasons why this record might not be considered perfect.

Nitpick: The linear songwriting here can occasionally leave me wanting to revisit a riff or section of a song before the song ends. There's a few missed opportunities to substitute a novel riff/section to accentuate an already existing one.

Nitpick #2: 49 minutes doesn't seem like a run time that should draw any criticism, but I believe that track 2 and 4 could have had a little bit of fat trimmed off them to create a more poignant progression through the track list. It's extremely rare to find my attention waning at any point on this album but there's room for a bit more focus on these two tracks to elevate the track pacing (in the tracks themselves and on a from track-to-track basis) to perfection.

Truly a monolith of its own, standing head and shoulders above it's peers in the genre, this album is a must-buy. It is best experienced in full and uninterrupted in as meditative of a session you can arrange for yourself. Just let yourself get lost in this album's soundscapes and moods. It feels so good. This is escapism in music form and my life has been better for having heard it upon its release. It is the album that spurred me to write my own music and release an album in this same genre. Its influence is far reaching and its accolades are well deserved.

This will likely be the most impactful record I will have ever listened to in my life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Thank you, Jacob.