Album Type: Full length
Date Released: 16/06/2017
Label: Season of Mist
If you had hopes
Carach Angren could dig that hole back in your heart that their previous
full-length could not, you will certainly not walk away disappointed. The overall composition is simply
superlative.
"Dance
and Laugh Amongst the Rotten" CD//DD//LP track listing:
1.
Opening
2.
Charlie
3.
Blood Queen
4.
Charles Francis Coghlan
5.
Song For the Dead
6.
In De Naam Van De Duivel
7.
Pitch Black Box
8.
The Possession Process
9.
Three Times Thunder Strikes
The Review:
Black
metal has many signifiers. The harsh thunder of the music itself. Lyrical
themes oriented around the darkest corners of our imaginations. A vocal style
that is unmistakable. Lost in this cacophony – and to history for some – is a
cornerstone of what we regard as black metal, a flair for the presentation.
Consider
the classic black metal image in your mind’s eye. Performers like Venom,
Bathory
and, of course, Mercyful
Fate surely spring out first. Their fidelity to the visual even
before the ascendance of music visuals made them infamous. Today, with all
manner of indie and international horror films engulfing what would otherwise
be our wildest mental pictures, not as much black metal is as adept at setting
the blackened altar as back in the days of the founders. That assertion could
be heresy to some devotees. Still, many black metal bands are gifted at
carrying on the story just inside the fearless, and feared, basement of a house
that metal music built.
Dutch
black metal trio Carach Angren offer their fifth release, "Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten,"
amid much anticipation, not to mention high expectations. The multilingual act
is lauded worldwide for its symphonic brand of black metal musicianship.
Although its 2015 recording, "This
is No Fairytale," was regarded by critics as a disappointment, the
band’s body of work is enthralling. Blistering guitars, an ominous build,
delicate violins and a dash of piano have long been part of the canon. It was
nevertheless unclear if this nine-song release would return Carach Angren
to form.
In
addition its music, Carach Angren has cultivated a rabid following
through their incredible music video presence, which combine crisp, quality
visuals with crushing and often sublime music. No sleeveless t-shirts in an
empty warehouse here. The group carries forward textured storytelling in the
vein of some of the many greats. You can find online many terrifyingly dazzling
visuals already for songs from "Dance
and Laugh Amongst the Rotten," and they’ll be worth your search, if
you do not mind a sleepless night or two.
Many
of Carach
Angren’s best music has been rooted in folklore and other tales.
Such is the case with "Blood
Queen," a sonic departure for the group though its themes of death,
despair and infernal dealings appear in other cuts here. The specter of a Ouija
board floats through the many stories here too, mostly as an usher to that
aforementioned despair. It is the vehicle for a malevolent spirit in "Charlie" and reaches its
zenith in the album’s closer, "Three
Times Thunder Strikes." "Scrambling
for matches/Determined to burn it to ashes/She threw the Ouija board to the
flames and kneeled to pray/’I wish I never ever, ever listened to my
friends’/’Who had said it would be fun to play’/’Now the one that follows
me’/’A predator, and me its new prey.’
There’s
so much than can be said about the performances, completely separate from the
group’s imagery or lyricism. The overall composition is simply superlative.
Guitar and drums are fierce as they are jarring on "In de Naam Van de Duivel" (“In the Name of the Devil" in Dutch, though the song is in
English). The orchestral crests in "Song
for the Dead" are haunting. If you had hopes Carach Angren could dig that
hole back in your heart that its previous full-length could not, you will
certainly not walk away disappointed.
"Dance and Laugh
Amongst the Rotten" is available here:
