Reverb. This album has a lot of it. However, the more I listen, the more I’m convinced that it’s extremely effective for Elysian Blaze’s unmistakable style of Black Metal. Like the album cover hints at, the music in this release quite literally sounds as if it’s coming from down the hall of a large cathedral. Listening to it is recommended only with headphones, and as Mutatiis has stated in interviews, total darkness is also encouraged.

But there’s more to this release than meets the eye. Although some may argue that the production could be used to cover up sloppy playing, or a sign of lazy recording, it’s obvious that the haunting echo is intentional. It effectively has a way of making the drums seem even more intimidating than your standard metal blast beat. More often than not, the drum beats are accompanied by percussive piano melodies. The drumming makes great use of the cymbals as well, creating a crashing barrage. I have a feeling that Elysian Blaze will often be compared to Xasthur, even though they’re quite different. While Xasthur’s synthesized drumming is extremely prominent, Elysian Blaze’s seem quite a bit more subtle. But that’s what makes the drumming intimidating in the first place, because it’s hard to notice it at first, but after several listens, you may start to pick out more and more drum hits.

The vocals range from steady growls, chanting and almost a hissing shriek, but tend to stay fairly minimal in their inclusion to the record. Most of the writing is instrumental, letting the piano and drums take care of most of the percussion. The guitar at times can be a little bit on the quiet end, but I’m almost certain this was done so as not to drown out the piano melodies. In fact, it’s quite strange that an album with such little prominent guitar work would be considered Black Metal in the first place. However, the appeal of this album is downright blasphemous, and will definitely appeal to anyone looking for an atmospheric experience.

I don’t think this will be Mutatiis’s best work yet, but it’s certainly a strong one, and worth many listens. It can be extremely haunting and invokes a great deal of energy, despite being somewhat of a slower tempo than normal Black Metal album. Much respect.

Elysian Blaze’s Myspace
Asphyxiate Recordings