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Haeiresis: Transparent vibrant shadows

24/03/11 || cadenz

People in Lithuania have awesome typing skills. I’m just guessing here, but why the fuck else would you name your band fucken Haeiresis if you weren’t bored with typing words containing the usual fucken amount of vowels and wanted something more challenging to do? Huh?!

From Vilnius with love comes the debut album of this one-man constellation, and the contents reveal chaotic and in some senses progressive black metal, coupled with ambient tracks. Mr. S.B. (Satan’s Bulldozer? Sultry Baphomet? Sean Bean? Shit Break?) has done/performed all instruments himself, and herein lies one of the biggest problems of this record. More on that later.

Some of the tracks are ambient mood setters, and some are dissonant and somber black metal. The idea is noble, but the execution could use some work. The ambient tracks are way too long, and many a time you just wish that they would be over and the next “real” track would kick off. Not a good sign. Seems like all Norwegian black metallers in the 90’s have passed on their belief that ambient tracks are easy to make, and you don’t need to focus on them as hard as on the metal tracks. Fucken idiots.

So what about the real stuff, the black metal bashings? Mostly the guitars churn out entropic and asymmetric riffs with lots of let-ring chords and arpeggios that create a cold, bleak and sinister feel. There are many jagged rhythms and odd periods that create a sense of unease. This is the meat-and-potatoes of “Transparent Vibrant Shadows”, and that’s what SideBurn should focus more on in the future, as here lies the quality stuff. Nothing is mind-blowing or extremely good, but with some honing and boning Haeieieieieieieresis could become a force to reckon with. The potential surely is there. A few mellower parts with faint tendencies towards post-rock moods bring variation as well.

Let’s talk about the production, shall we? Sick Bondager has put an extremely irritating effect on the vocals that makes them totally incomprehensible and muffled, like… a muff inside a muff. Yes, the good kind of muff. No, the bad kind of effect. What about the drums? Well, the kicks sound idiotic. Obviously the drums are programmed, and when ultra-ultra-fast kicks are being used in abundance, they just sound stupid. Real mood breaker, especially on “Surreale”. All in all the plastic sound of the drum “kit” makes the music much more sterile, and that can’t possibly be good. It isn’t. The guitars sound OK, but the bass could very well be programmed as well. Sometimes the artificial soundscape coupled with the muffled vocals give me the feeling that I’m listening to a Guitar Pro song, and that is never a good thing. If Santa’s Bride would’ve enlisted some real musicians, and possibly a producer, in the process this album could have been something much more enjoyable.

If you’re looking for music that reaches for the same stars as e.g. < c o d e >, DHG, Emperor, Deathspell Omega or even Enslaved, you might want to check out their MySpace page for some tunes. If you’re not a genre connoisseur, you’ll do better with the already mentioned names.

5,5

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Inferna Profundus Records
Website: Haeiresis MySpace
Band
S.B.: all instruments

Tracklist
01. Emitting Memories
02. Hallowed but Hollow
03. The Coming of Wake
04. Mirrorstains
05. Traces of Decay
06. Transmigrating Corridors II
07. Surreale
08. Emptyroom
09. Transparent Vibrant Shadows on the Breathing Walls

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