ALBUM REVIEW: In the Lugubrious Silence of Eternal Night – Golden Ashes

“Every profound spirit needs a mask,” and in the case of Maurice de Jong, several are called for. GOLDEN ASHES is among the guises which the Surinamese musician performs under, though he is more widely known for his work as GNAW THEIR TONGUES. De Jong is highly prolific – by our count, this will be his fourth full-length release so far this year, including the latest record from the aforementioned GNAW THEIR TONGUES, I Speak the Truth, Yet with Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die – and so each project he develops represents a new and different facet of his creativity. With GOLDEN ASHES, de Jong creates atmospheric black metal, emphasising synthesised textures and employing oodles of reverb.

So far, de Jong has produced a pair of EPs and the album Gold are the Ashes of the Restorer under this moniker, each independently released, but In the Lugubrious Silence of Eternal Night will be released on Oaken Palace Records – a registered charity, which donates all proceeds to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. GOLDEN ASHES thus joins an impressive roster – including WOVEN SKULL, PHURPA and MERZBOW – where each artist selects the species/habitat which their record will support. Befittingly, In The Lugubrious Silence Of Eternal Night will raise funds for the protection of the Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus).

The album’s artwork cues the listener for an atmospheric ascent; up from the blackness, through the mire of clouds, before reaching the pale golden sky above. In the Lugubrious Silence of Eternal Night manages to achieve symbiosis with its cover, sustaining an ethereal and triumphant atmosphere throughout its half-hour running time. This is a black metal record, to be sure, but rather than dragging the listener down and into the earth, GOLDEN ASHES pulls you up into a swirling void. With time the mechanical drumming becomes immaterial, and the ears attune to the densely layered synthesizers which carry major-chord melodies in amongst the drone.

Musical ideas are thin on the ground – you could probably count the progressions in each track on one hand – but there are moments of fanfare and reprieve from the suffocating din. From Grace Into Utter Ruin stands out as an especially dramatic movement in the album, just ahead of the poignant plateau in the title track; choral voices can be heard in amongst the maelstrom, a salve to de Jong’s desperate shrieks and anguish. While there are some moments of contrast within the album, these could have been more fully realised to give the sense of an overall emotive trajectory, which is sadly lacking. With such a straightforward musical approach the mix is everything, and for the first time with GOLDEN ASHES, de Jong has got it just right. The mechanical, rhythmic backbone has been tempered with just enough reverb that it falls to the back of the mix, allowing over-saturated synthesised sounds to take the fore.

With In the Lugubrious Silence of Eternal Night, de Jong has brought GOLDEN ASHES forward to become one of his more interesting projects. While this album falls within the broad church of atmospheric black metal, de Jong has managed to create something rather original from sparse stylistic resources. The balance of rhythm and drone, fragility and beauty, becomes uplifting – transcendent, even. While the effect is superb, the execution could have been better; a clearer focus on overarching themes and motifs would have taken In the Lugubrious Silence of Eternal Night from admirable to awe-inspiring. GOLDEN ASHES has become the gilded embers of something exciting: let’s hope de Jong is able to stoke the flames sometime soon.

Rating: 8/10

In the Lugubrious Silence of Eternal Night is out now via Oaken Palace Records.