KHORS

As the remarkable ambient opener ‘Through the Clouds of the Past’ segues into the black metal might of ‘Black Forest’s Flaming Eyes’, this could easily be mistaken for another black metal album frontloaded with an atmospheric intro chillingly laced with a bunch of sounds intended to put the listener on edge in anticipation of the violence soon be unleashed. But the atmospheric mass that is ‘Wisdom of Centuries’ is a much more complex and rewarding beast than that. Shifting through a host of darkened moods and feels, Khors not only know how to create absorbing ambiences, dense atmospheres and rich textures, but how to craft an album that continues to develop and move the listener out of all that is familiar into a landscape through which they must journey in order to savour its spoils. Such is the quality of the tracks, this could easily be divided into two EPs – the first comprised of the ambient instrumental passages, the second of the heavier elements – and you’d have two EPs of two very different genres that would stand far and above what’s already out there. But to think of this as an album that’s made up of disparate entities would be to misunderstand ‘Wisdom of Centuries’. It must be taken as it is: a whole, a unified configuration that engulfs the listener completely with its twisted momentum, sheer intensity, and opulent complexity of the dark and the light woven together to produce a rich sonic splendour. A wonderfully multi-faceted creation, ‘Wisdom of Centuries’ is ambient and atmospheric as much in its subdued rhythms and soft density as it is in the most ferocious aspects of the album. The optimistic ring of the tremolo-picked melodies fuses into the galloping thunder that underpins the album and elevates it to a level of sheer elation that delivers the listener into a wholly different domain. From start to finish, this is an astounding journey. Essential listening.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Candlelight

Album

WISDOM OF CENTURIES

Review by Jason Guest

RUNNING TIME:

38:55

RELEASE DATE:

17th Sept 2012

TRACK LISTING

1) Through the Clouds of the Past
2) Black Forest's Flaming Eyes
3) The Last Leaves
4) Where the Grandeur of Mountains Embraces the Space
5) Horizong Glassy
6) Wisdom of Centuries
7) Th Only Time Will Take It Away
8) Twilight

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Ukraine

"The optimistic ring of the tremolo-picked melodies fuses into the galloping thunder that underpins the album and elevates it to a level of sheer elation that delivers the listener into a wholly different domain. From start to finish, this is an astounding journey. Essential listening."