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Saille: Ritu

07/03/13 || Ironpants

Black is the new white…

Symphonic black metal! The term is often pointed towards that specific band from Norway, and they are responsible for the evolution of black metal that has divided ”true” BM fans from ”noob poser” BM fans. Of course, my thoughts go immediately in that direction when I see the moniker ”symphonic” in front of black metal. But I don’t fucken care, I would like to quote that old bastard Lemmy Kilmister here. ”There is only two types of music, the one you like and the one you don´t like”.

What about these gentlemen from Belgium then? What’s their story? Are they worthy any attention, or are they just recycling what’s already said and done?
And yes, they play symphonic black metal, and yes i like it! I am a fan of well produced stuff and I’ve never really understood the reason with entering a studio, paying a lot of money to record stuff, and it comes out as a dirty, shitty mess. There are some bands that take pride in sounding like they have recorded it in some old mausoleum or an old crypt in Transylvania, but I will never understand this phenomenon. These guys take small bits of the good stuff from both worlds, and add some of their own. They have created a well produced sound, but it’s not really overproduced and they maintain a certain harshness which (maybe) could make oldschoolerz relate to it a little bit? In fact, the more you listen to it, more of that harshness comes out and contributes to the whole creation, holding it back a little before it gets too grandiose and over the top. A good approach for starters, ”…we want a modern sound picture, but still true and natural”. It’s possible, we have the evidence right here. Money well spent.

The first song ”Blood libel” begins with a majestic intro part, and some spoken words that first gave me cold balls. But when the song kicks in for real, the ”non-native-accent” is forgiven. It is exciting, fast, well executed and keeps you on your toes. The swirling guitars are there, the tempo is fast, and the keyboards are providing a massive constant wall of symphony. If you look up the term “Blood libel”, you will experience the fact that it is the word used in the good old days when Jews were accused for using baby blood as an ingredient in making food for big holidays. Well, been there…done that.

”Subcutaneous terror” is probably my favorite song, it’s intense and contains some German lyrics which is always ace. In the intro to this one you can also hear quite clear that they use real violins and cellos, not only keyboards. This is relevant for the whole album, and the ”classical” instruments sound really good where they are used. I also like the guitar work presented by these guys, not only in this song, but they use a lot of high note accentuation when bringing out the melodies. The lyrics portrays the famous exorcism performed on Anneliese Michel in the 70’s and the German lyrics is some of the actual words outspoken by her and her fellow inner demons in the possessed state.

The song “Runaljod” spins on with lyrics from the Viking history, and here they are dangerously near the booby-trapped area in my brain that contains “folk-metal”, but they manage to pull it off quite nicely and I actually dig the tender Norse female voice in the background.

And lyric wise they have put down quite an effort as almost all the songs is about different rituals or mythological stories from various countries and cultures. They also manage to make place for some obligatory H.P. Lovecraft and that old rascal is never misplaced in metal, although slightly overused. The song “Fthagn” for example is a chanting piece of work that is directly from the Cthulhu universe.

There are 9 songs on this baby, all around 4-6 minutes and that’s quite perfect. You get proper value for your blackened sweet earned money. This album is most probably gonna be dissed out as poser metal by all “in it for life” Black Metal dudes, but I think it’s a pleasant listen for anyone who’s into symphonic shit, and it’s well produced and wont let you down in the diversity department. I will most surely give it a spin when I’m in the softer mode of blackness.

7,5

Information
Released: 2013
Label: Code666 Records
Website: www.saille.be
Band
Dennie Grondelaers: vocals
Jonathan Vanderwal: guitars
Reinier Schenk: guitars
Didier Vancampo: bass
Gert Monden: drums
Dries Gaerdelen: keyboards

Tracklist
01. Blood libel
02. Subcutaneous terror
03. Fhtagn
04. Upon the idol of Crona
05. Sati
06. A titan’s sacrifice
07. Haunter of the dark
08. Runaljod
09. Ritual descent

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