VESPERITH
Vesperith is the creative alter-ego of Finland’s Sariina Tani, a lady who's labelled herself as plying her creativity within the realm of “experimental audiovisual mysticism”. Label blurb with this promo, however, claims this is “experimental Black Metal”, although this is only part of the story for her Svart Records debut. What, in fact, she's created with this eponymously titled work is music that’s enriched with menacingly dark and pervasively abject atmospheres, yet adorned with mystical allure throughout. It’s this very blend; this at-odds duality, that makes the album such an engaging and intriguing listen.
Roaring gallops of blast beats pummel forth during certain tracks (first appearing within ‘Fractal Flesh’), and are adorned with contrasting layers where both dissonance and harmonic grace combine to unsettling affect. Likewise for the tracks and passages of music that don't veer towards black metal idioms; such as the lengthy opener, 'The Magi', where the ambience and grace of Tani's voice is underlain with sinister sounds and an aural malice. It's all very unsettling throughout. As much as the album has an ethereal lure and enchanting beauty, there's also a layer of finely crafted discordance, with the fusion of the two proving to be a wonderfully unsettling experience. It's a duality that Vesperith has forged to perfection, on an album that offers both euphonic, bewitching comfort and dissonant, cacophonic assault. I get the impression there’s been some sort of self-catharsis at work here, through her creative process when making this album.
Co-produced with fellow Finn, Jun-His, vocalist/guitarist with psychedelic black metallers Oranssi Pazuzu, the album has a generally great sound, where resonance and rawness combine as part of the disquieting experience. At the forefront of each and every track, though, are some ever-intriguing atmospheres, which carry with them a sense of ambivalence; kind of veering towards musical esotericism, where both darkness and light collide in explosions of affective equivocations. And it all sounds very glorious indeed. It’s just a shame the label seem to want to market this under the black metal banner as there’s so much more going on here; black metal idioms have only been used sparingly. Check it out… hear for yourself!
Roaring gallops of blast beats pummel forth during certain tracks (first appearing within ‘Fractal Flesh’), and are adorned with contrasting layers where both dissonance and harmonic grace combine to unsettling affect. Likewise for the tracks and passages of music that don't veer towards black metal idioms; such as the lengthy opener, 'The Magi', where the ambience and grace of Tani's voice is underlain with sinister sounds and an aural malice. It's all very unsettling throughout. As much as the album has an ethereal lure and enchanting beauty, there's also a layer of finely crafted discordance, with the fusion of the two proving to be a wonderfully unsettling experience. It's a duality that Vesperith has forged to perfection, on an album that offers both euphonic, bewitching comfort and dissonant, cacophonic assault. I get the impression there’s been some sort of self-catharsis at work here, through her creative process when making this album.
Co-produced with fellow Finn, Jun-His, vocalist/guitarist with psychedelic black metallers Oranssi Pazuzu, the album has a generally great sound, where resonance and rawness combine as part of the disquieting experience. At the forefront of each and every track, though, are some ever-intriguing atmospheres, which carry with them a sense of ambivalence; kind of veering towards musical esotericism, where both darkness and light collide in explosions of affective equivocations. And it all sounds very glorious indeed. It’s just a shame the label seem to want to market this under the black metal banner as there’s so much more going on here; black metal idioms have only been used sparingly. Check it out… hear for yourself!
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Svart Records
Album
VESPERITH
Review by Mark Holmes
RUNNING TIME:
45:57
RELEASE DATE:
22nd Nov 2019
TRACK LISTING
1) The Magi
2) Fractal Flesh
3) Refractions
4) Valoha¨ma¨ra¨
5) Quintessence
6) Solar Flood
2) Fractal Flesh
3) Refractions
4) Valoha¨ma¨ra¨
5) Quintessence
6) Solar Flood
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Finland
"...music that’s enriched with menacingly dark and pervasively abject atmospheres, yet adorned with mystical allure throughout."
