The Obsidian Gate

Praise the Plague are a relatively new band from the Berlin area. After their debut full length from 2019 the are now back with album number, titled “The Obsidian Gate”. To begin with the cover art and the whole design here is amazing and perfectly sets the mood for what to expect. These five young and talented gentlemen play a conglomerate of mainly classic black metal and a few doom ingredients. To be perfectly honest I have not discovered a material portion of sludge that has been mentioned in the promo text, but those kind of descriptions should anyway just give a vague idea of what to expect. What we got here are six tracks and over 40 minutes of really dark and emotive music which might work even better in a few months’ time when the days are shorter and colder. This is their first release on Lifeforce records, a German label specialized on melancholic and sinister music.

Praise the Plague are compared among others to their label mates Ancst and there are quite a few elements which rekindle those thoughts, but also reveal other dimensions that are more overtly melodic and atmospheric. Hammering percussions, roiling riffs, and strangled growls and shrieks are an important presence in the music, channeling full-throttle hostility and sulfurous viciousness. That being said the dwelling and brooding guitar harmonies are what make the music of Raise the Plague so enjoyable in the first place and helps them stand out from the pack. Quite often, these melodic through-lines are cold, bleak, and desolate and will leave a lasting impression on the listener.

Sometimes Praise the Plague down-shift the drum rhythms in order to introduce filaments of eerie guitar dissonance, creating a strong feelings of hopelessness and despair. Those melodies are more frightening than they are glorious, which is meant in a positive sense in this context. While the songs prove to be quite dynamic in their momentum and the album ebbs and flows from peak to peak the overarching atmosphere and the stoic overall mood represent unearthly menace. There are the classic black metal patterns we are familiar to be found here as well, presented with cold precision and never overly chaotic. Praise the Plague are fantastic in infusing disparate sounds into a cohesive whole in such a way that the band seamlessly switches up aesthetics and brings different sentiments into play.

The sorrow conveyed e.g. by the track “Beyond” is unmistakable, and immediate. The slow, soft, haunting reverberations of the guitar and bass are descending into a whirlwind of crushing riffs, though that lonesome melodic and mournful element persists and evolves in searing fashion. These kind of harmonies are spellbinding, and the spell persists even when the tempo is upped with the drumming erupting in pummeling gallop, and the rest of the instruments joining together in a spectacular, heavenly crescendo. It is fairly impressive how the band is able to get the listener’s blood pumping and pulse racing while simultaneously casting spells of spectral beauty and channeling tension and pain via their music.

“The Obsidian Gate” comes with a strong and dynamic production. The guitar tone is thick and corrosive and together with the pounding rhythm section the overall sound is vicious and devastating. Thanks to the fantastic mix the stunning harmonies are not buried beneath a wall of sound, but instead have been perfectly integrated into the complete picture. If you are a fan of cleverly written and tightly played dark music, offering vicious boiling riffs, jolting fretwork, heavy grooves and melodies that are both gloomy and soaring then you have to give Praise the Plague a listen. Certainly among the year’s best.