ALBUM REVIEW: ...In the Absence of Light – Grief Symposium
East Anglia, a region steeped in history and folklore. Jutting out into the North Sea, it has played host to a plethora of different peoples that have made the region distinctly unique. Famously home to Anglo-Saxon resistance fighter Hereward the Wake and the demonic black dog known as Shuck, this is a place that has seen its fair share of darkness, blood and destruction over the years. Adding to this emporium of blackness is GRIEF SYMPOSIUM; the band’s debut album …In The Absence Of Light is a brutal musical journey that is uncompromisingly powerful yet morosely uncomfortable as it explores the outcomes of the small personal decisions that can have life changing ramifications. Far from straightforward, this chaotic monstrosity of sound is not for the faint of heart.
GRIEF SYMPOSIUM have an abrasive, cold and brutal sound that shakes the ground you walk on, yet they aren’t afraid to explore the darkness of their emotions with some beautiful composed melancholic melodies and atmospheres. An amalgamation of influences from across the metal spectrum collide violently throughout …In The Absence Of Light alongside the enigmatic lyrics; it is an intense and savagely bruising listen. Conceptually the album is ambiguous, as vocalist SJT utilises a veritable feast of metaphors and poetic language as the lyrics address personal topics that highlight the savage nature of humanity and how small decisions, good or bad, can lead to unexpected or expected consequences that can change your life. GRIEF SYMPOSIUM extract metal from its darkest, blackest ores and forge it into monolithic riffs that waste not time in crushing your skull. The dynamic variation that transcends the album does keep you on your toes, as the notes of the devil’s tritone ring out through layers of distortion, it feels like this is what CANDLEMASS and BLACK SABBATH’s riffs would have sounded like if they were a death metal band in the 1990s.
However, …In The Absence Of Light’s strengths lay more in its spacious atmospheres that bring together eerie soundscapes and haunting piano tones than the death metal side of things. The incorporation of these elements offer some interesting dynamics and as a result make the heavier sections more impactful. This is really where the band push the boundaries of what death-doom can be. Moving away from more stereotypical musical devices they take the time to build up the atmosphere, as a result you’re fully immersed in the tense hellscape that some of the tracks carve out so ruthlessly. While it is clear that GRIEF SYMPOSIUM have gone to great depths to deliver something brutal and piercing, when the band work within the realms of the doom and drone side of their sound it gives the enigmatic concept more emotional resonance. As you explore the softer, more atmospheric and doomier sections, you feel the chill up your spine more prevalently as there’s a gothic splendour that is quintessentially British. The primary examples of this are on the the album’s longest songs In The Shadow Of The Sleeping Monarch and The Amber Kiss Of The Sun.
Among Dead Gods opens the album with a horrific sounding scene of demonic ravaging; a singular church bell rings out ominously over the screams of terror. Then the song launches into some gigantic, trudging riffs that build on the intense atmosphere established at the beginning. Temple Of Decay is all out death metal; brutal and savage, it feels like you’ve had your head caved in from start to finish. In The Shadow Of The Sleeping Monarch opens up with another cryptic soundbite and haunting atmospherics. The ever-changing dynamics take you an emotional rollercoaster between calm and chaos. Veil Of Transformation is a sludgy, grimy beast emerging from The Wash, slow, primal and raw. Descent Into Pandemonium has a more blackened feel, with its anthemic opening sounding like it could summon a demon. It interestingly gives way to ritualistic atmospheres instead of raucous riffs, as they come in halfway through the song. Esoteric Mirrors follows a similar formula, as it leads into the most enigmatic track on the album, the 18-minute atmospheric drone track The Amber Kiss Of The Sun. With its celestial and ethereal atmospheres slowly evolving over its duration, it is an uneasy moment of calm after the relentless chaos that you have just experienced.
GRIEF SYMPOSIUM have produced a strong and intriguing debut, yet its strength isn’t in its heaviness but its rich conceptual themes and beautifully crafted atmospheric sections. While the band are very proficient in writing skull crushing death metal riffs, it is within their exploration of melancholic doom that they really show what they are capable of.
Rating: 7/10
…In The Absence Of Light is set for release on January 27th via Church Road Records.
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