First things first, I’m a bit bummed that a new logo is on the cover or rather a non logo. It’s a simple font of the band name but the artwork a woodcut, an etching of sorts, like a page torn from an  ancient grimoire, it’s  different but intriguing. Its more subdued and not all satanic and evil. The words spoken by the band be the writings and verses from this ancient tomb of spells. Hence I feel, this gives a different representation for the music, which is a good thing because it’s the vehicle that carries this deeper into your soul.

The music is more dramatic and more mood driven, it’s not all kult bedroom black metal. Shades of Secret of the Moon and touches of Watain come to mind when listening to this.The album starts off a bit different and not very black metal like with the beginning of the song “Blood of the Moon”. It seem to be almost post black metal in its approach, as if the band was purposely luring you to a different form of blackness, leading you away from one abyss to another of their making, but at around the 4:00 minute mark it begins to coalesce and more familiar sound takes place. Not familiar in a basic typical black metal album but more in the sound itself.

“Of Serpents Embrace” continues the same approach, drawing you deeper into their spell. “Seed of Inanna” is really representative of the aforementioned bands sound. New vocalist Vanitas has a lower pitched growl and more of a deeper representation and fits the mood of the music with its more subdued pacing. Listen to “Scorned Ascension” and you will get my drift immediately. Such a dark energy from this more moodier riffing and with the slower rhythmic start and mid song about the 4:00 min mark the song picks up a pace to end the song on that note. As I further delve into this I am reminded of the darkened pulse of Samael’s Ceremony of Opposites, I wouldn’t say the exact same level but we are beginning to see the formation of that evil ritual in the IV sound.

“Sink the Ark of Knowledge” has such energy and dynamic with drummer A.L making his presence known and also marking his recording debut with the band. The song ends with a acoustic outro of sorts that reminds me of something from Led Zeppelin, imagine that. “The Circle” ends the album with another entry of diverse mood and elements. Starts fast, then mid song goes more mid paced with some excellent riffing  and time changes. The album as a whole maintains this constant interplay throughout the album and is welcomed because you don’t want to get too bored or have another typical black metal release on your hands.

Much like the earlier review a bit back, off the latest from Lux Ferre and also from bands like Schammasch and Farsot (Hey guys!, release a new album already!) we are beginning to see a new, well, maybe not new necessarily but a welcomed growth of black (dark?!) metal bands that incorporate mood and atmosphere and a different form of darkness instead of satan, necrogoats and beheaded christs all the time.

The first track “Pillage de Tombe” is a literal feast, a banquet of sounds fit for a Jesus-sized Last Supper event.  This sucker starts off overpowering and overbearing, riding your constitution like white on rice until you collapse into extinction.  The production is exquisite, each instrument so damn heavy, so clear that every note hits with tsunami like force.  Tempo and stylistic changes are frequent and often sharp on the eardrums in the best possible ways.  Trainwreck’s high-register, damage dealing guitar-work nails formidable melodic crests which are always rich in tone and texture.  His arsenal includes minor-chord abuse that incorporates frenetic speed runs, bottom-feeding crusty doom riffs, cataclysmic melodies which are damn catchier than they have any right to be, distortion free passages and a screaming lead that drags the song off into the abyss from whence it was spewed.  Incredibly complex in its own right is the drumming…at first it had me a bit fooled, it’s damn authentic but the 365 bpm on a few of the blast/double-bass beatings gives the programming away (I think anyways…).  Still, it’s not offensive in the least.  Perhaps the dark horse in the project’s framework is the vocals…fuckin’ love ‘em.  Not as sneering as a lot of black metal singers, relying on a dirty, grime smattered mid-range to get the job done.  Even the speech samples and atmospheric nature backdrops feel implemented with purpose.

“Pistanthrophobia” has an acoustic intro with a nice bass-y heft to it, additional melodic layers added slowly before the music snakes into the kind of wailing, dead in the fall, folk harmony guitars of early Fall of the Leafe circa August Wernicke.  The hint of much missed legends is faint, but I swear I can hear it.  Vocally, this a lot sleazier and the faster melo-tremolo shredding is more rough-hewn less uplifting, but not drastically so.  That grumbling doom-riff at 2:22 is a real motherfucker, definitely heavier than a bucket full of shithammers.  It’s the midpoint arrangement that sticks out farther than anything…captivating clean chord accents on the guitar places the mind in the depths of a mystical forest cavern with the bass lines uprooting every tree in the grotto.  This whole arrangement is very suspenseful, foreshadowing the vengeful return of ripping riff-chugs.  Draped in a veil of reverb, lightly dabbed with keyboards (very lightly), lathered in delay, “Harvest in June” has this peacefully dissonant and distant feel even when the rallying riff/lead decimation midway through incites a dangerous fist-pumping, fuck yeah sentiment from yours truly, while never shedding an inch of its melodic skin.  Folk-y melody is no stranger here, though those hoping for Bodom are certainly at the wrong kegger.  The 4:00 minute mark ushers in a calamity of detuned, palm-muted power chords with a dancing, glassy-eyed lead piled on top…the ying/yang effect in full force without jumbling the teetering balance.

Trainwreck jettisons his rabid scream for some damn fine singing during the beginning of “Manifest XII.”  Ceremonial synths occupy a leading role momentarily before that combo of dirty riffage and shrill blackened melody curses the very air you breathe.  A parallel path is tread on “Down with the Wolves” but I’m so damn satisfied with material on display that I have no complaints about Jay dropping a pair of relatively livelier jams until closer “Bonjour Tristesse” pulls out nearly as many death defying stops as “Pillage de Tombe.”  …Almoooost as many, it’s about a pube hair shy, but it’s a son of a bitch nevertheless.

Stabwound is a pretty badass record.  The complexity level is deeper than a lot of similarly minded one man bands are willing to dredge.  Melody is always the prime focus, though that abrasive, slightly crusty deviance gives it a unique, edgy nervousness all its own.  Seagrave had me hooked on the first song, so it was a pleasure to take the entire journey and find that no major quality drops are present.  This one’s got my recommendation for damn sure!

Acacia is a new name for a not-so-new group of moody Swedes. They’ve actually been together since 2007, releasing one full-length and two EPs as Livsnekad. I don’t know the reason for the name change. Maybe it has something to do with their previous moniker’s resemblance to the words “lives naked.” Or, they could just want a fresh start, which is exactly what they’ll get from me here since I never heard their previous material.

It wouldn’t be hard to lump this in with the current crop of romantically downcast, black-rooted metal/rock spearheaded by Alcest, but there’s not really anything post or shoegazey about this. Acacia’s approach is more in line with the mid to late ‘90s stylings of Novembre, EverEve, and even Theatre of Tragedy with their affinity for female vocals and piano. As you’re probably realizing at this point, this is brazenly dramatic music, but something sets it apart from the throngs of gothic imitators that took the style to embarrassing levels of sugary flamboyance. Amongst all of the acoustics, synths, and silky voices is some seriously depressive menace à la early Forgotten Tomb.

Like a beautiful sunrise over a scorched wasteland, “Dods man mask” ascends with piano-driven elegance and smooth, somber, Swedish voices. Even though it doesn’t contain any metal, this is not just some unnecessary filler to exercise your skip button. The following four lengthy tracks carve similarly dark paths through the bleak landscape, but each one contains pockets of sullen beauty, propulsive rage, and everything in between.

Every band member’s performance on this album is exceptional in some way. The guitar work of Andreas Thorén and Christian Larsson (both also handle bass and vocals) overflows with emotion as it effortlessly shifts from sorrowful melody to anxious tremolo and back again. The two guitarists’ extended trade-off solos in “Amourens Redoxreaktion” are an especially moving highlight. Drummer Richard Schill has a background in brutal/tech death (most notably, Spawn of Possession) and it shows. He fills the album with an energy that you don’t often get with this style and handles everything from plodding doom to intense blasting with aplomb. Seiya Ogino’s sensitive sprinkling of piano adds just the right amount of fragility, as do the beautiful female vocals provided by Moa Thorén. And, the various male vocals provided by one or both guitarists are just as expressive as their playing. Clean, gruff, shrieking, guttural…all are powerfully executed. There was a lot of room for error on this album, but they managed to get everything right. My only nitpick would be that the use of crying baby samples to open “Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt” is a little heavy-handed, but it’s easily overlooked.

There’s a lot of depth here to absorb. And, at roughly an hour in length, it risks being too long for its own good, but not a minute of that is wasted and the unpredictable, linear song structures prevent any chance of boredom. If you appreciate melancholia, this is something that’s worth the time it takes to fully grasp. Now, if they can just improve their distribution for those of us who prefer physical copies…