We, as human beings, have not been kind to nature, and as we watch more and more governmental regimes peel away the precious land and resources, you can’t help but wonder how long it’ll be before the planet has had enough of us. We’re lucky to still have people fighting and returning to the natural world to send up praise and absorb every drop of it until their souls.
Olympia, Wash., black metal power Returning fall firmly into the latter, and on their great second record “Numinous,” they unload three epic journeys on a record that feels like your center point is reestablishing its ties to the earth. Comprised of Thuja and Heron, whose roles are not explicitly defined, they spend 46 minutes exploding with Cascadian power and also rootsy folk that colors the edges. You can feel every twist and turn, each dive into the valley and back, and it should light a fire in your belly if you’re like minded. Or perhaps it’ll help you find that spark. Finding a home on Bindrune Recordings, that platforms like-minded artists such as Panopticon, Blood of the Black Owl, Alda, Nechochwen and others, makes this a perfect alliance where the band has found welcome ground.
“Sacred Decay” opens immersed in atmosphere, the singing wafting as guitars drift, shrieks then knifing in as the pace combusts. A fury is whipped into a frenzy, howls calling, “Smoke rises skyward, a symbol of ruin,” as the ignition continues to get hotter. The playing settles into a percussive pocket, letting your blood flow, as the weight becomes oppressive and immersive at the same time. Gazey and soaring playing unite, and the call of, “Death will lead us to new life,” ripples down spines. “Ancestral Shadow Portal” is a quieter, more mid-paced piece that feels like a spiritual experience. Tribal-style drumming rouses as prayer-like passages wash over you, asking for guidance for new life that enters the earth. Wordless calls rattle as acoustics wash over and leave tremors, progressive playing jolts, and cymbals crash into our finale.
“Offerings to the Great Circle” runs 19:18, the longest of these three lengthy pieces, and it rushes in, howls already scarring, blistering before a wave of calm enters, and this push and pull is something we keep revisiting. The guitars blaze as clean singing bellows, rustic melodies flowing into the mix, melodies flooding as the playing growls, hulking and devastating, later melting into elegant power. “I am your forever,” calls into your psyche, and a massive deluge strikes, screams rip, and the guitars hit a volcanic high before washing into dreaminess. From there, sounds rise and fade, and it feels like you’re roused from a deep, cathartic dream, birds chirping to greet you into this updated consciousness.
Returning lure us into a deeper awareness of nature and spirituality on “Numinous,” and over the course of these three songs, it’s very easy to be drawn into the center of this effort. The band’s woodsy black metal and rustic folk flourishes are genuine and eschew the subgenre’s normal tropes for something more human, more compassionate. This is a record that arrives perfectly in time for the dawn of summer when spending time amid green grass and lush trees can reconnect us to a world humanity long has betrayed.
For more on the band, go here: https://returning.earth/
To buy the album, go here: https://shop.bindrunerecordings.com/products/returning-numinous-lp-pre-order
For more on the label, go here: https://bindrunerecordings.bandcamp.com/
Meat Mead Metal 