ALBUM REVIEW: All Colours Retract – Offernat

For the non-Danes amongst you, OFFERNAT translates to ‘night of sacrifice’ – the state in which one removes oneself from being human and embraces nature. On their debut full-length All Colours Retract, that’s precisely what this Copenhagen trio sets out to convey. Their work is heavily inspired by nature and the greedy voices that are exploiting both nature and humans. In fact, their ultimate message is that the very basis for human existence is approaching its doom.

It is fitting then, that their chosen vehicle takes as much from the doom metal wheelhouse as it does from black metal, progressive metal and post-metal. The result is a brooding, sulking lump of a record on which the shortest of the four tracks is still 10 and a half minutes long, and tallies up a total runtime of almost 50 minutes. Inside The Fog is a slow burn opener that sticks layer upon layer to create something that feels urgent and pointed, if slightly safe and familiar.

What is worth bearing in mind though is that OFFERNAT consists of just three members, though there are times when it sounds like a whole lot more. Their rich and varied backgrounds and influences have created a bubbling cauldron where each of those aforementioned sub-genres ring out clear and true and they’re melded to staggering effect at times, spewing forth this unholy mass of dark, oppressive elements to try and really make their message stick in your skull.

The Winds is a far sharper and more affecting number, winding its way through breakneck deluges of sound, anguished roars and dissonant atmosphere, as well as a suite of meaty riffs that encompass everything from stoner and desert rock to death-doom. The longest track on the record at 14 minutes, OFFERNAT keep things ticking along with a grandiose soundscape woven into the middle of the track, giving something of a cosmic-meets-funeral vibe, again adding more blocks to the influence stack. And the final two minutes see one final outburst that has been carefully built back up to, including an almighty animalistic cry that seems to stretch throughout eternity. It’s a stunning performance and one that you will be sure to revisit whenever you have a spare quarter of an hour.

Truth be told though, as noble as their intentions may be, there’s something hollow in the overall execution of this record. This is felt most of all through the final two tracks, Harvest Return and Caught In Existence. These grand, sweeping lamentations for the natural world do possess some fantastic qualities: Harvest Return opens with a harrowingly mournful instrumental passage and incorporates further moments of stunning tranquility and sadness. Caught In Existence is an exercise in stamina, and sees the whole band play out of their skins. But ultimately, each of these tracks become somewhat meandering on the whole, whether it’s a case of cutting a minute or two of filler out, or the tracks feeling like they lose their way a bit as they battle through the myriad inspirations and aspired sounds.

All Colours Retract in turn lacks the intensity and heart of the similarly themed INDIGO RAVEN record from late last year, or perennial eco-metallers GOJIRA throughout their storied and conscientious career. On paper, OFFERNAT‘s offering is carefully considered and curated, but in practice it doesn’t quite connect as well as the world might need it to.

Rating: 6/10

All Colours Retract is out now via self-release.

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