Black Honey is a perfect name for this release, as boy is it smooooooth. It’s more alt rock than ‘metal’ especially with lone remaining member, guitarist/vocalist Michael Schindl using clean vocals exclusively, but the black part of the moniker is a depressive, moody undercurrent that recalls the The Smiths, Depeche Mode and The Cure, something Schindl’s vocals further cement with every croon.

Don’t get me wrong, the more discerning metal head will still like this, especially those that enjoy The Ocean‘s recent out put as well as the likes of Day Without Dawn, At the Sounddawn etc, just don’t expect any monolithic crumbling moments of heft. Black Honey is all about the slow seep of riffs and evocative vocals. Sure, this sound might steam long time fans, especially those craving more direct Isis/Neurosis-isms like the band’s earlier work, but in the large scheme of things, the albums stands alone and forges despondently silky new sound.

Still, the band can be furtively metal when they choose, either a more angular, but softer, more svelte Mastodon-ish lurch (“Grand Gendarme”, Mute”) or something different-  just listen to  “Submersible Words or “Uncomfortable Life”, yup- those are tremolo  picked, black metal blast beat right there. But for the most part the album jangles, shimmers and soothes with a patient, somber post rock elegance that’s wonderfully layered and engaging., as heard on the likes of “Chest”,  Church-y “For the Man That I Love”, introspective “Black Horse” and personal favorites “Joseph” and “Courageous”, which seem to be the tracks that structurally most closely resemble Prayers and Arsons. That all being said 11 minute closer “God Rules His Empire” is the lone track on the album which is more of a throwback, with even a single roar  and slower, monolithic riffage. It’s a bit out of place  amid the album’s albums newer glimmer, but a nice ode to a past sound.

The slightly nasaly, mopey vocals will be the sticking point for most, beyond the softer hues the band now delivers, but they fit in as a whole with the pacing and mood of the music and complete Black Honey, making it a perfect album to relax to and take a break from death metal. Let’s just hope a label picks this up for a international/US release and expose their elegant throngs to the unwashed masses.

Former Digitalmetal writer John Gnesin had always told me to check these guys out, long before the genre exploded into what it is now, and now I wish I had heeded him, and will definitely go back and check out the bands back catalog (1999s Afraid, 2003s I Can’t Believe I Was Born In July, and 2005s L’Amour, La Mort, L’Enfance Perdue) after hearing this superb album.

With the obvious starting point of Neurosis and Isis in so much the band play an atmospheric form of light/dark Post Rock hues, but like Burst, Impure Wilhemina are able to gravitate away from the expected ebb, flow, build, peak mantra of their peers and inject some clean rock, some metalcore, some angular hardcore and some simply gorgeous harmonies and layers into the mix. The end result, like Lazarus Bird is an album that’s almost unrecognizable as post rock, but instead simply delivers stunning music of its own discourse.

I’ll admit, three minutes into opener “Continental Breed” and its rather standard, almost Helmet meets new Poison the Well styled alternative rock, I wasn’t impressed, However, at the 3:50 mark the band unravel a layered, melodic melancholy riff that just rends you inner being, and I’m hooked. Then “Hide Your Anger, Give Your Mouth” suddenly erupts with a jagged hardcore lurch and screams and the layered melodies found right before the songs shift into acoustic introspection are to die for. “Poisons and Blades” really cements the albums similarity to Lazarus Bird with a jangly melodic intro before exploding into epic riffage, clean and screamed vocals and an emotional rumbling/shimmering climax delivers one of the albums many standouts. “The End Within” delivers the albums first real moments of what I would call atmospheric doom or pure Post Rock shoe-gazery with some truly draining, drawn out harmonies, not to dissimilar to Samothrace’s recent debut. “Travel With the Night”, like the opener, initially comes across as sort of an alternative rock track before the track shifts into somber acoustic bliss. “As We Kneel” is arguably the albums other standout track, getting right to it with piercing screams and just a monstrous, shimmering mid section that made me wilt a little. “Cover Me With Kindness” yet again reeks of Burst mixing a varied vocal attack, epic, churning power chords with delicate threads of introspection and artful, melancholic threads of brilliance. “The Rope” offers a short sharp before the lengthy closer “Drift”.

As well as the sheer depth of the song writing, the band has to be commended for getting to the point as Prayers and Arsons wanders little, coming in at around 50 minutes and most of the songs under the 7 minute mark with a couple in the 3-4 minute range. Aforementioned closer “Drift” is the albums longest cut but also is the albums weakest, being the albums only really wandering track, with a odd discordance to its first three quarters that’s a little grating compared to the grace and elegance of the prior tracks (even though the cuts last couple of minutes are superb).

Still, it’s those prior tracks that make Prayers and Arsons one of the most evocative and magnificently artful albums of the year and of the genre, with only Samothrace and Burst topping it.

If the first half of the album perfects the formula the band has established on previous releases, the second half of the record fearlessly fucks with it. “Before A Dream” is a slow bass driven, spoken poem drowning in its own perpetual gloom, whereas “Sunburst” is an explosive, driving piece of Weezer-inspired power punk, complete with radiant harmonies and rich texture. “Diaspora” is a blind fury of uncomfortable questions (“Should I kill myself? Should I rape you first?), while “Everything is Pain But You” somehow manages to be emo and muscular at the same time, forcing its tales of loss and loneliness down your throat via a rumbling and thick overdriven chorus. “A Man in the Light” closes the proceedings with a very somber tone, plaintively coming to terms with man’s helplessness in the wake of fear, tragedy and heartbreak.

Bands that play a mix of metal and hardcore and sing about human relationships and the accompanying heartache are a dime a dozen these days, spewing out soulless records filled with cliche clean/hard dynamics by the bucketload. Impure Wilhelmina is the exquisite transcendence of these stereotypes, their songs are remarkably well-concieved, adventurous and lush with raw and genuine emotion. What Opeth brings to progressive death, what Mastodon brings to metallic sludge, is directly analogous to what Impure Wilhelmina bring to emotional metalcore. It does not get better than this.