Contouren van het niets

Although “Contouren van het Niets” is only the first demo from White Oak, there is already something stirring going on with this Dutch black metal band. Perhaps this is a welcome side effect of black metal’s tendency to favour a ‘raw’ sound that most demos boast, but here, there’s a sense of composition and focus that you wouldn’t hear on a typical basement product. Having been around as a duo since 2008 and ultimately fleshed out into a quartet by 2010, White Oak have had time to consolidate their style. The sound is strikingly familiar, but there’s an intensity to this half hour that makes it a worthy listen for any fan of the atmospheric black metal style.

From the first listen of the demo, I was reminded greatly of Agalloch’s early work, particularly the melodic take on atmosphere throughout the “Pale Folklore” record. Looking to the European continent for comparisons, the atmospheric Burzum or even Drudkh would be worth mentioning. If you’re familiar with any of these three, you should have a good picture of where White Oak take their music. There is no sense of malefic darkness in the music. Emotion runs heavy throughout each of the four compositions; some could call it ‘depressive black metal’ but White Oak never let the despair escape without a bout of hope following closely behind. Vuygh’s vocals are wretched and grief-stricken, and they’re tempered with a suitable amount of reverb. Instrumentally speaking, there’s nothing here that will impress a veteran musician from a technical standpoint. Of course, this is never what White Oak intended. Rather, “Contouren van het Niets” finds itself completely through the way the instruments and vocals come together.

The guitars here deliver some much needed melody, which sound drenched in folk tradition. The bass and drums tend to take a step back into the background, preferring to back up the guitar pair with some rhythmic power. Where I think “Contouren van het Niets” demonstrates White Oak’s promise most fully is with the songwriting itself. Although the compositions all generally fall around the seven minute mark, there’s no filler to speak of. This remedies one of the greatest problems I have had historically with the atmospheric black metal genre as a whole; too often, compositions will stretch good ideas out until they are stripped of excitement. I get no such impression with White Oak. The pacing of the songwriting is leisurely, but never passive.

Although the production is normally the first thing I would criticize with a demo, the rough texture fits White Oak’s sound rather well. At less than half an hour, “Contouren van het Niets” is defining something of a teaser for what is to come. I have some high hopes for whatever this band releases in the future. The angle from which they approach atmospheric black metal does not feel particularly original, but when music stirs such emotion, it’s a sure sign of lasting quality. An easy recommendation for its strength of composition and raw atmosphere.