Stretching out over the cosmos and imagining galaxies we cannot even see with the most powerful equipment on earth really does something to the imagination. There are places and things we’ll never see, that we don’t even know exist, and there’s a great chance no one alive at this time ever will experience those things. But we can dream.
“Heavenly Down,” the new record from long-running Hungarian metal force Sear Bliss, is a collection that should push you beyond earthly boundaries. For a band that’s been around for three decades and now nine records, they keep finding ways to expand their own horizons, which we hear on this eight-track excursion. You can get lost right away as this force—vocalist/bassist/guitarist András Nagy, guitarists Márton Kertész and Zoltán Vigh, trombone player and backing vocalist Zoltán Pál, drummer Gyula Csejtei—pushes you into the stars and beyond, rushing you into places never before visited, impossible to conceive, and accessible just by indulging in these fascinating 44 minutes.
“Infinite Grey” is murky at first, but then the synth sinks in, and the growls unfurl, and we’re off to a spacey death soup. Horns blow as ugly howls sink in their teeth, a mystical presence that spreads its wings and soars, mangling with glorious power before disappearing into clouds. “Watershed” starts with keys before blows land hard, dark and plodding as the growls curdle. The playing grows more vicious but also gets more melodic, glorious horns ringing out, a synth sheen spreading, dripping into prog puddles. “The Upper World” drills and smears, immersing you in their power, the trombone pulsing as the driving pace picks and pushes even harder. The pace pulls back some, letting you breathe, before the band unloads again, pummeling and stabbing, the fluid pace swallowing you whole. The title track flows heavily, drizzling while shrieks rain down, blistering and swimming in the chaos. The gaze thickens as melodic layers create a solid foundation, landing deep in colder waters, shimmering to the end.
“Forgotten Deities” is an instrumental that lands with soft keys, deep space synth creating a greater lather, easing and plinking, the trombone pumping notes, the pace lightly drubbing. “The Winding Path” tears open, shrieks knifing toward you, the guitars taking off toward the stars right after the brutality leaves bruising. The guitars bask in light as the keys plink, working through thick steam and humidity, meeting up with viscous, generous melodies that gust before bleeding away. “Chasm” is punchy and burly, fire breathing from throats, the howls crushing with precision. Clean singing cools before wild wails grab throats, sweeping into larger melodies, the horns sparking emotional highs, static and keys ushering in a softer landing. Closer “Feathers in Ashes” feels gothy out of the gate, and then guitars charge, vile black metal melodies making their way toward you. Keys liquify as the leads flex muscles, the playing dashing with energy, the filth suddenly multiplying, chants following a mysterious fog into the void.
Sear Bliss’ cosmic force is as engaging and intoxicating as ever on “Heavenly Down,” a record that transports the band into even more fascinating worlds than ever before. It certainly keeps in tact Sear Bliss’ black metal roots but pushes even further into more exploratory terrain and alien worlds. This is ideal music for late night contemplation where the spasms of brutality that mix in with the immersive melodies create a soundtrack to trying to reach something beyond yourself and this world.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/searblissband
To buy the album, go here: https://hammerheartstore.com/collections/vendors?q=Sear%20Bliss
For more on the label, go here: https://hammerheartstore.com/
Meat Mead Metal 