Offerdier

Galloping, melodic, heroic black metal of cinematic scope and ambition is somewhat cloaked by obscurantist production values. But true to the lo-fi philosophy of the form, this only serves to enhance the presentation, positioning the music as mystical, liminal, othered within the mind of the listener. The sonic offering is therefore paradoxically enriched by the active suppression of its true dynamics and power taking place at the mixing desk.

This EP is spliced into chunks of dense but easy to follow triumphalist black metal and eerie ambient pieces in ‘Rituals I and II’. This contrast serves the creative purposes of Ossaert well. The black metal is of such a hi-NRG brand that it requires the gentle curation of ethereal dungeon synth (sorry, but it is) to create space for the listener to fully digest the compositional information thrown at them by the lengthy opening riff salvo that is ‘De lichtkrans en de waan’.

The metal numbers betray a marked degree of technical ability, knitting itself between the sparse, minimalist tremolo riffing. Heavily accented licks and trills thread their way between central melodic themes that are themselves far from simplistic, but are at their core accommodating to the listener, attempting to take them on the journey rather than pummel them with tight punches of activity and surplus virtuoso displays.

With the closing number ‘Het geschenk en het bestaan’, heroism completes its journey and drifts into melancholia, an overbearing threnody takes the place of bracing, energetic melodic revelry. The package is no less panoramic for the fact, offering a vast, complete sonic picture for the listener to inhabit without fear of reaching a limitation. All this makes ‘Offerdier’ an interesting pocket of not only escapism, but a profound rumination on the limits of this pursuit, the sorrow felt in the knowledge of its end, and a reflection on achieving the mental tranquillity required to fully live with this fact.

Originally published at Hate Meditations