The amount of people who inhabit earth who have been to outer space is shockingly small, which probably is for the best. Yeah, OK, because you need years and years of training, and you have to have the proper mentality to go out there. I mean more because we’re such horrible stewards of our own planet, the rest of the galaxy doesn’t need us destroying anything else out there.
While I’m pretty sure no members of Blut Aus Nord are a part of any space program (hey, I could be wrong), I have a strange suspicion its members have visited the deepest reaches of the cosmos and have used their records to report back and deliver that energy. It takes no time at all to dig into their new 14th record “Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses” to think they’ve done some travelling beyond this rock. This seven-track, 46-minute album is one of the strangest yet most immersive of their nearly three-decade run, which is mind blowing considering the creative clip this band has been on from the start. If you’re not prepared, this thing will break you brain as this trio—guitarist/vocalist Vindsval, bassist GhÖst, drummer/keyboard player/electronics master W.D. Feld—rewire your expectations of these black metal wizards who long ago left behind convention and rules. My first listen was after some mind-altering substances, and fuck, was I not ready for this. I’ve had repeated listens in various states, and every one of them has been unique as I’ve uncovered new layers I didn’t before.
“Chants of the Deep Ones” gets the record off to a rapturing start, the melodies swirling through the cosmos, and on my first listen, this was a total adventure. Growls hiss behind the wall of chaos, riffs continue to slip into stardust, and the track slowly dissolves into your blood. “Tales of the Old Dreamer” amplifies the psychosis as it punches into smeary fire, filling your brain with strange tales unfolding before you. The guitars explore and hurdle power jolts, and your dreams spill from your eyes as the magic catapults and swallows you whole. “Into the Woods” enters in a disorienting aura as the playing drips and melts, the guitars moaning out of intergalactic stimulation. Hisses are hidden behind the ghostly presence that continually increases as choral sections infect, and the bizarre final moments snake through your psyche.
“Neptune’s Eye” brings warped riffs and time seemingly consumed in front of your eyes. The drums splatter as the growls emerge, and the numbing presence that gains steam increases the pressure and the imaginative hell that’s unraveling around you. “That Cannot Be Dreamed” starts with guitars gusting and the atmosphere getting more volatile, your brainwaves bending wildly. Growls gurgle as the weather patterns threaten, the pace pulls back, and sounds whir and flow into nightmares. “Keziah Mason” swims in deep space rock oceans at first, moving through shadows and onto alien surfaces that feel inviting. The playing smears as electronics sting, a hypnotic attack spins your brain, and the final strains mix into a sound haze. Closer “The Apotheosis of the Unnamable” is miasmal goo creeping near you, the pummeling working to increase your madness. Guitars work into a thick fog, and the playing slowly chugs until psychotic spirits engulf, alien rubber proves more flexible than guessed, and the last minutes slip into a chemical spill and turn to unrecognizable elements.
Blut Aus Nord don’t seem to have an off button as far as their extraterrestrial creativity that is smeared all over “Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses,” their challenging and haunting 14th record. This creation is following on the same astral pathways as their last couple records but finds new ways to be wonderfully warped and something that makes you feel disoriented for your entire journey. There’s no sign this band is anywhere near slowing down, proof of which is in this stimulating record that’s something only this entity could create.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Vindsval.official
To buy the album (North America), go here: https://debemurmorti.aisamerch.com/
Or here (Europe): https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/12-eshop
For more on the label, go here: https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/
Meat Mead Metal 