ALBUM REVIEW: My Plateau – Profane Burial
Considering just how densely saturated with great black metal bands Norway is, there are definitely going to be those that don’t gain the attention they truly deserve, meaning that the country possesses more than its fair share of stunning hidden gems. PROFANE BURIAL are certainly one of those bands. Developing a powerful yet ferocious brand of symphonic black metal on their debut album, 2018’s The Rosewater Park Legend, the band quickly asserted themselves as not only an impressive creative force, but with arguably one of the most impressive symphonic black metal records to be released in recent years. Their second album, My Plateau, builds even further on the solid foundations of its predecessor, pushing the band’s coarse and layered sound to new and stunning heights.
My Plateau starts things off with an abrasive, disjointed wall of noise made up of grating guitar work, thunderous drums and searing vocals, with keyboards that range from haunting ambience through to subdued symphonies adding a murky layer over the more visceral and biting elements at the core of the music rather than being the source of many hooks themselves. It makes this a powerful and bellicose opening statement that stands apart from the more polished and melody-driven sound that is often expected from symphonic black metal. Moribund veers towards a more classic sound, with the keyboards playing a much more significant, gothic role in the music, and the guitars especially taking on a more polished and catchy feel, whilst still possessing the feral aggression and caustic flourishes that made the preceding track so distinct in its approach, again embracing a denser, more vitriolic brand of black metal with lots of interesting twists and turns making this unpredictable at points.
Fragments Of Dirge adopts a thicker, more rhythmic guitar style, interspersed with chaotic bursts of brutality, once again allowing the more traditional metal elements to carry the music, with the belligerent riffs and snarling, rabid vocals being the focal point around which the weightier components are built. There’s some more grandiose, soaring passages peppered liberally throughout the middle of the song, but for the most part this is another fantastically savage and blistering effort with some imaginative, noxious musicianship. Righteous Indoctrination reverts to the intricate gothic bombast that defined Moribund, with lighter leads and a prominent keyboard sound to match. Only the vocals and some of the harsher moments from the guitars and drums deviate from the expansive, awe-inspiring symphonic black metal style that is prevalent here, providing a sinister take on a tried and tested formula.
Disambiguate Eradication – a relatively punchier but nonetheless virtuosic piece of dramatic, bestial black metal – proves to be a streamlined take on the band’s more savage and biting side, using the keys to create a more cinematic feel that makes this instantly memorable, drawing the listener in without sacrificing any of the underlying ferocity to achieve its beguiling effect. Horror Code initially begins on a much more minimalist note, but gradually builds to a sprawling, domineering sound with tonnes of belligerent and grand sounding touches that help make this a simultaneously vibrant and visceral offering. It ebbs and flows between the two extremes of the band’s sound and manages to inject lots of stunning musical shifts into the mix, making this final adventurous track one of the most ambitious and magnificent songs on the whole record.
In a world where many newer symphonic black metal bands and albums have started to take on a formulaic sound rather than trying to push the music forward, albums like My Plateau come along and do an excellent job of introducing a fresher and more imaginative take on this tried and tested side of black metal. The focus on a more abrasive guitar sound and driving bass and vocals, as opposed to crafting a subdued backdrop that relies on the keyboards for many of its hooks, gives this album a much more distinct and imposing sound and creates a jarring juxtaposition between the more discordant core of the music and the decidedly more ethereal and grandiose keys – a relatively small but impactful musical choice that makes this by far one of the most impressive symphonic black metal records of the last few years.
Rating: 9/10
My Plateau is out now via Crime Records.
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