Opening with a scream of pure primal fury is always a good hook with which to grab your audience’s attention. Here, on ‘Vector space of desires’, Quintessence Mystica use such a tactic to good effect eschewing any form of build up to leap straight into violent, bloody action. The debut album from this Ukranian project, ‘The fifth harmonic of death’ boasts a strong sound and a keen desire to evolve the black metal sound and it’s clear from the off that Quintessence are something very special indeed.
The opening track, then, does a grand job of setting the scene. Thunderous blast beats propel viciously icy guitars courtesy of Master Alafern (who plays everything on the album) while Dromos Aniliagos provides the typical scarifying vocals which are brutal indeed, yet well-disciplined giving the album a professional edge which belies the fact that this is the first outing for the project. It’s a strong opening gambit that promises great things from the album as a whole and Master Alafern doesn’t disappoint. A sudden ending sees the listener propelled straight into the darkly symphonic ‘triumph of cold steel’ which convincingly replicates the raw sound of early Dimmu Borgir (where the synths were still subordinate to the guitars) where the guitars and keyboard flourishes represent a whirling vortex slowly sucking the listener down to the depths of hell. It’s a grand, ambitious track that succeeds through a combination of imaginative production and the band’s own obvious determination and self-belief and it sounds monumental. Sounding equally bombastic is the thrilling ‘Aspects of contemplation projected onto the eternity’ which is rather more straight forward until classical elements creep into the mix allowing for an element of creepy discordance which is pure horror-soundtrack material. The changes of tempo are also welcome as they break up the flow of the track and allow the heavier passages to sound utterly ferocious in contrast.
Nothing, however, could prepare the listener for the utterly disturbing ‘Entropy of sanity’ which features an introduction comprising damaged, underwater vocals and the sort of grating, unnerving violin playing not heard since John Cale let forth on ‘Heroin’ it’s three minutes of depravity that is guaranteed to make you feel unclean followed by the epic ‘crossroads of time’. Next up is ‘the metaphysics of war’ whcih is no less filmic standing by way of a brief introduction to ‘unleashing the dogs of war’, a dark, dense, multi-layered piece that incorporates massed vocals and sweeping gothic elements to grand effect. That soundtrack feel continues with ‘when sacred flame inspires the souls of heroes’ which, much like the rest of the album, pulses with ambition and stretches beyond the stagnant boundaries of puritanically traditional black metal while still retaining that beautifully icy guitar sound which makes the genre so appealing. Then comes a beautiful, unexpected interlude in the form of ‘memorial’ before the final two tracks suddenly explode into life, both of which are fine pieces that offer up a continuation of the musically excellent, blackened metal that forms the body of the album. Indeed ‘Frankenwald mystery’, with its crazed violin and piano parts, clean vocals and driving rhythm is one of the best tracks on the disc which is no mean feat considering the quality found elsewhere.
In all honesty one look at the production credits for this album tells you that it’s going to be something special. With Master Alafern having worked with respected acts such as Triglav, Thunderkraft and more it’s clear that he has the respect of his peers, and deservedly so for this is a truly excellent album that incorporates the cold, desolate regimented darkness of black metal with a frightening ambition and a dalliance with the progressive that will undoubtedly see the project develop out of all recognition over the coming years. A violent, icy masterstroke this is a savagely beautiful album that will continue to fascinate and exhilarate for months to come.
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