Album ReviewsBlack MetalReviewsSymphonic Metal

ALBUM REVIEW: A Lightless Christ Shuns The Crown Of Divinity – Golden Ashes

Throughout the last couple of years, Maurice de Jong has kept himself incredibly busy. On top of his his work as the mastermind behind the seminal black/noise act GNAW THEIR TONGUES, he’s managed to put out albums for a slew of other projects, most recently GRAND CELESTIAL NIGHTMARE, CLOAK OF ALTERING and PYRIPHLEGETHON, all of which showcase a trademark rawness and intensity that listeners have come to expect from the man and his music. A Lightless Christ Shuns The Crown Of Divinity, the third album by GOLDEN ASHES, is his newest record, and sees him begin to push his sound into a decidedly more symphonic sound.

A Lightless Christ Shuns The Crown Of Divinity starts things off with a heady blend of ethereal keyboards and cacophonous guitars and drums, making for a noisy yet grandiose first impression. The brilliant interchange of the vocals between shrill shrieks and denser gutturals makes this song all the more immersive, lending plenty of intensity to the music and adding a dramatic flourish to proceedings. The Spectral Catatonia Of Unbearable Despondency continues in a similar vein, with vast keyboards dominating the sound while the harsher black metal provides a caustic counterpoint to the angelic edge that they possess. It’s clear by this point that the album’s sound is heavily inspired by classic symphonic black metal, with the production having just the right amount of polish to allow the more bombastic elements within the track to come to the fore.

The Day Of His Glorious Wrath has a tighter sound, with particularly intricate drums and sonorous vocals giving this a more focused feel. This, much like the opening two offerings, is a track defined by the cavernous keyboard sound, to the point that the guitars are almost imperceptible throughout. Nonetheless, it’s a great track that is at points both glorious and dark in equal measure. Our Skins Hanging At The Gates Of Ctesiphon has a noticeably more subdued approach, with the overblown keyboards being significantly more minimalist than they were on previous songs, although they still act as the cornerstone of the sound. The slower pace works well, and results in a track that has a brilliant, cinematic side to it.

Bewildered We Watched The Christ Ascend takes the more reserved style of the previous affair  even further, with the keyboards adding more of an ambient quality to the music. For the rest of the song, the vocals and the murky guitars take a more prominent role here, making for a great change of pace whilst remaining true to the record’s core sound. In Agony Beneath The Stars proves to be a more energetic slab of symphonic black metal, with the drums especially injecting an urgent pace to the mix, and the vocals matching the more frenzied musicianship extremely well.

The Essence Of Your Body Became Celestial sees the music take a brooding and decidedly more Gothic turn, and this slight musical shift really elevates this song above most of those that have preceded it. It sees the music in general get a lot closer to the engrossing, atmospheric feel that the vast majority of the songs on this album have hinted at, but never fully possessed. The Twilight Pilgrims pushes this approach even further, with the keyboard hooks especially becoming far more effective at adding a touch of bombast to everything, making for a fantastic, catchy sound, and a great, dramatic conclusion.

This album is on the whole fantastic and has some impressive keyboard and vocal performances that keep it interesting throughout. The guitars, unfortunately, are buried quite deep in the mix, and this  lessens the impact of the music at points. Other than this, A Lightless Christ… is incredibly solid, showing a shift towards more symphonic black metal territories which are not unlike de Jong‘s GRAND CELESTIAL NIGHTMARE project. This works really well. It serves as another powerful and aggressive statement that showcases de Jong‘s musical talents, and a far catchier side of a man who’s more well known for pushing music to its most extreme outer reaches.

Rating: 7/10

A Lightless Christ Shuns The Crown Of Divinity - Golden Ashes

A Lightless Christ Shuns The Crown Of Divinity is out now via Improved Sequence Records.

Follow Maurice de Jong (GNAW THEIR TONGUES) on Bandcamp.