Band: Urfaust
Title: “The Constellatory Practice”
Label: Van Records
Release Date: 4 May 2018
Country: Netherlands
Format reviewed: FLAC
Starting with just a reminder,
“Urfaust” is known as an earlier forms of Goethe’s “Faust”, so let’s not be
surprised – this is very accurate reference to what we can expect from the
music of the band – Hell.
As stated on their FB page, “Urfaust is an occult audial vessel
of delirious madness that was invoked in 1999. Ranging from Cruel Black Metal
Ambient to Bombastic Drone Rituals, to minimalistic low-fi Black Magick:
Urfaust does it all…”
Though all these years, Urfaust have
achieved a super loyal fan base awaiting and accepting their release as almost
a fetish, something out of this world. And indeed with their five albums since
2003, the band’s music and art proved to be extremely interesting and not just
for everybody. If you like them, you will love them. Otherwise, you will
probably skip and/or hate them.
With “The Constellatory Practice”,
Urfaust again are taking us to another trance journey, a ritualistic, spiritual
descent
into the void of nothingness. With 6 tracks and 53 minutes of pure terrifying soundscaping,
touching the territories of doom, ambient, drone, IX (guitars and vocals) and
VRDRBR (drums) deliver a genuine transcendental occult experience, abounding of
minor sounds, blackgazing and constantly drawing and piling dark musical
pictures, for the small soul to drown in. Actually this album is even different
than I expected, compared to Urfaust’s previous work.
The 13-minutes opener “Doctrine of
Spirit Obsession” is a pure doom track with clear vocals, low choir’s parts and
ritualistic choruses. The vibrato of IX could be found almost in the whole
album, which only completes the horrifying overall feeling of the abyssing in
these 53 minutes. “Behind The Veil Of Trance Sleep” is an absolute nightmare
track – noises, screams, echoing drums - abyssal again, low, drone. “A Course
in Cosmic Meditation” is the shortest track in the album and calms down a bit the
overall falling through for a while, but just to add an enormous pain and grief
during the playing of this record. “False Sensorial Impressions” is heavy,
drone-black-ambient track with distorted sound, screams and abyssal (did I say
abyssal before?) nightmarish (did I say nightmare before) fall through (did I
say fall through before?). “Trail Of The Conscience oF The Dead” continues for
another almost 13 minutes the doom line of this record including clean and operatic
vocals, crushing funeral melody and heavy as FK slow tempo, and twisted end.
The last track “Eradication Through Hypnotic Suggestion” includes twisted (did
I say twisted before?) keyboards track, screams and whispers from the abyss (here
it comes again!) and nightmarish (and again!) feeling.
“The Constellatory Practice” is
another experimental album by both musicians, a very dark hypnotic journey,
with doom, black, drone, ambient patterns, to complete another black circle,
another ritual. It is an experience which either could bore you to death or
actually could take you to unknown territories and bring out some unknown
feelings. For me it is a great record. Another epic album to play when I want
to let go off this world. I recommend to you, light some candles at home and
spend time with it. Blackgaze. Drown into the abyss.
7.5/10 Count Vlad
7.5/10 Count Vlad
Band:
Label:
7.5/10 Victory is Possible
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