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By AK Bergwanderer and GOS
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GOS: Well, well, here we are, back again. Straight off the finale of the AULD RIDGE review, AKB and I decided that we gotta take life by the horns and yolo / inertia / all that stupid shit and roll right into a review of O.W.G.A.‘s concurrent release from brother project ALBIONIC HERMETICISM, in a blatant attempt to brainwash readers into loving The Hermetic Order of Ytene family as much as we do. *motions of worship commence*
AKB: Hell yes, I’m all aboard The Hermetic Order of Ytene train, and have no qualms keeping this one rolling along.
GOS: I feel like we should do some preliminary conceptual groundwork, but without giving away too much, because at the time of writing this, access to information about this concept of the album is limited. Nova Nativitas Mundi is being described as “a space opera in 3 acts”, which, briefly, revolve around a cosmic quest for divinity, the encountering of Satan, and subsequent Satanic galactic imperialism. Now that we have that covered…
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‘Prologue’ / ‘The Devil In A Conical Flask (Or His Unholy Formula)’
GOS: Oooooohhhhhhh this is spacy and cozy, psychedelic. Or is it just me? Floaty synth with acoustics creeping in… AAAAAAEEEEEEEHHH!!!
AKB: And BOOOOOMMM, it goes off. The first actual track certainly didn’t fuck about starting off… but man, this got a bit trippy. ‘Spacy’ is a very apt term, describing both the intro and now barely a minute into the first proper track! But man… not unlike the AULD RIDGE, the guitars are NOT messing around. None of it is messing around, if we’re being honest.
GOS: Yeah, as expected, it is riffing all over the place. It reminds me of something… Oh it’s WINDIR! And these initial vocals remind me of ESOCTRILIHUM. But more rudimentary sounding. In a good way, if that makes sense.
AKB: There’s also a murkiness that is different from the AULD RIDGE record, but then again, that’s been one of the differing factors between these two specific projects. ALBIONIC HERMETICISM is a bit more raw and “out there”, so to speak.
GOS: Definitely. This seems both more raw and more… abstract.
AKB: I can’t bring a specific comparison to mind, vocally, but did I just hear some clean vocals buried in there that was a bit Attila-like? This is already a journey. I expect nothing less from a self proclaimed “Space Opera” as stated in the booklet. And while this is more abstract for sure… this is so far the most accessible ALBIONIC HERMETICISM album to date, already. The other albums I have to be in a mood to sit down and listen to a whole album. This is already something I know I will visit again multiple times. I’m liking this. I’m really liking the more delicate moments, when there’s space (no pun intended), room for the song to breathe and guide us along.
GOS: There’s definitely something about this that feels more… I dunno… delicate? Pristine? But not in production, it’s just that there is some element that seems almost graceful or beautiful or something. I dunno. Maybe I am too high. Haha.
AKB: Nah man, I hear it too. It sounds vast. This is what other “space themed” black metal acts strive for, I assume, but it comes off… muddled. There is an underlying beauty to the proceedings so far. And… that was 12 minutes of music already??
GOS: THE FUCK? That was like a goddamn time warp. Really? Dude. I think I might be a little too high. Or maybe just right for this I dunno. Whew. Aaaanyway… It’s strange, because compared to AULD RIDGE, this definitely seems more, well, all those things we mentioned up above. In a word, let’s say ‘atmospheric’ or ‘cosmic’. But, prior to this I have always thought of ALBIONIC HERMETICISM – Psalms to the Father, anyway – to be more aggressive and heavier, like AULD RIDGE but a little more deathy. That is NOT what is going on here.
AKB: Yeah, this is not like the previous efforts at ALL. I hear that same kind of… ’avantgarde’ vibe the other albums of this project have, but yeah, it’s not nearly as harsh. As I stated before, I have to be in the right mood to sit down with the other ALBIONIC HERMETICISM albums. And, I think we’re seeing this continued trend of these projects under this Hermetic Order banner becoming more homogeneous. I hear AULD RIDGE, I hear SKARE, but it still stands out as different from those other two monikers of O.W.G.A.
GOS: It almost seems to me like AULD RIDGE is sort of the backbone, it seems more consistent and predictably awesome album to album, while ALBIONIC HERMETICISM is a bit of a grab bag. Sometimes deathier, sometimes cosmic (apparently), sometimes… what do the earlier ALBIONIC HERMETICISM albums sound like? You know them better than I do.
AKB: Simply put, the earlier efforts are raw black metal, with a tendency to get off into some weird headspace. Never too far *out there*, but there’s a feeling of experimentation. They have some rather bipolar moments. And keep in mind I’m only speaking of the two splits and the preceding two full length efforts. The very first full length… ehhhhh, I’m not a fan. O.W.G.A. was definitely trying to find his footing, and he hadn’t found it yet. It’s pretty standard stuff, but not particularly interesting. But, it’s probably still better than any number of projects out there. You know, it dawns on me; without knowing what O.W.G.A. is all about in his day-to-day life, and in thinking about the prior AH albums, I wonder if AH is a project he does the compositions for when he is under the influence of something mind altering. Be it drugs, alcohol, both, whatever the case may be. AULD RIDGE is so much more straight laced and focused (as you alluded to previously), while this has more of a “free form” thing going on.
GOS: Perhaps! I hope we get a chance to ask him. I do know that I’m currently experiencing a good amount of… ummm… *saturation* with this Nova Nativitas Mundi!
AKB: Speaking of which, the title track is up next.
GOS: *mentally buckles up*
‘Nova Nativitas Mundi’
GOS: Wow this riff is… all over the goddamn place. Is this a riff? Or is he just doing whatever? I’m having trouble finding a solid pattern repetition. Jeezus. I’m gonna have to listen to this so many times to try to figure out what the guitar alone is doing.
AKB: Woah… I like how this kicks off!! It’s almost… ’70s prog. PROGRESSIVE. That’s another way to describe this whole album so far. I am a bit annoyed that there are no lyrics to read along with. I can call there’s something conversational happening with the vocals. Like there’s different characters speaking. And here we go… a little more aggression and beef in the 3min mark.
GOS: Yeah it sort of solidified into familiar territory for a second there but that guitar is STILL all over the place.
AKB: Let’s face it: O.W.G.A. is just showing off at this point. His guitar prowess and songwriting ability is off the damn charts.
GOS: Yeah this is some Faustian shit. I wonder if he “wrote” this beforehand or just fucking *did* it during the recording. The guitar work has a very improvised, almost jazzy feel to it (without sounding like jazz at all). There was some cool chanting that flew past there which I really enjoyed, and you are right, there is definitely a discourse happening within the music that we cannot make out.
AKB: I had refrained from saying “improvised”…but now that you say it. There is that kind of flow to it, just finding a groove, a track to fall into and is just playing what comes to mind. He’s pulling a Roman Saenko under his WINDSWEPT guise on us. OR, O.W.G.A. just has that big of a brain and is just a musical savant.
GOS: I’m gonna give the credit to his spirit, not his flesh! I just realized I heard about 15% of that song. I was so zoned in on the guitar that I don’t even know what the rest of it was. It’s tempting to replay it again, but for some reason it seems almost daunting, like I just know I’m going to get lost again.
AKB: Aside from the fact that it was a title song, and it should be dense as all hell, there’s just a ton of stuff going on musically with this entire album. It’s quite cinematic, really. My little computer speaker setup does this no justice at all. I think I need a massive 1980’s stereo and speaker system to fully appreciate everything that is happening. Not that I don’t appreciate it right now, but it needs a bigger room and much more volume! Haha.
GOS: I do have it playing loud on big speakers (small space, however), and I can tell you, it is quite overwhelming. Earlier I could have kept up with it, but as I’m getting more tired, there is SO MUCH going on that it is pretty disorienting.
‘Agios! The Cosmic Temple of Satan Is Born’
AKB: What in the name of ABIGOR is up with that song title? I’m sure it will be another mind-melting, lengthy slab of spacy insanity. And I love the thought of it. This is by far my favorite ALBIONIC HERMETICISM to date. I feel I can say that with confidence now that we’re this far along.
GOS: I’m on the fence. This is trippy and cool, but so different from Psalms, and I like Psalms a LOT. I’ll have to do a side-by-side someday, and it’s a little strange to anticipate that it might be apples and oranges even though they are both ALBIONIC HERMETICISM.
AKB: For me, I think it’s the accessibility of it. It’s not quite as much a strain on the ear as the earlier albums, and… maybe due to this concept album thing going on with this one, there’s a consistency between the tracks that I can latch onto. Whatever the case, I just love it. Anyway, so we have this ABIGOR-inspired song title, let’s see what an audio representation of a Cosmic Temple For Satan sounds like… Oh this is nasty, vicious. Much more assertive.
GOS: YES! I can dig this. Way more straightforward than that meandering of the last track. Now THIS reminds me a bit more of the last album of AULD RIDGE. I like the more upbeat groove and the chanting vocals, but also when it slows down into this almost meditative psychedelica.
AKB: This interlude part… this has to be real drums. Yes, I’m still stuck on that. I like this ethereal, trippy vibe going on. AND BOOM. What an explosion back to the blasts!
GOS: Yeah I like this better than the last track fo sho.
AKB: If I didn’t know better, I’d say it makes sense this track is like THIS, as this story is starting to get to its final stanzas. A climax of a track. Once again, I long for the lyrics to this madness. And I do not typically say that about a black metal album.
GOS: Let’s ask him! I got an email reply from O.W.G.A a few days ago that he is interested in an interview with Black Metal Daily! Man this song is great. A great closing track… except there is actually still the Epilogue to go.
AKB: I’m still mind blown about that news. And oh yeah, there *is* an Epilogue, isn’t there? Haha.
‘Epilogue’
GOS: … an epilogue which is layers of reverbing riffs across an easy-flowing tempo and perfectly audible bass and keys. Even as an album outro, this is very enjoyable.
AKB: It sounds like a dirge of sorts. Satan has won, the defeated are marching to their doom… but what is this..? There’s a bit of piano and an uplifting melody emerging? This is rather epically cinematic. Oh man, I’m really liking this riff pattern happening now…and the synth touches… I get ’70s vibes. OOOhhhh… this gets a bit… ominous… in the closing bit of this, eh?
GOS: Yeah, very beautiful towards the end… overtaken by feedback… then beauty again for the fade out.
AKB: What a ride of an album.
GOS: Definitely demands subsequent listens to try to grasp what is going on. At the very least with the pretty significant variability between tracks.
AKB: For sure. I’m definitely going to be diving in on this one a few more times. There is variability between the tracks, but there’s still a cohesion that ties it all together. Perhaps a *CHAOTIC* cohesion, but it’s still cohesion. Man, ‘Agios!…’ and the ‘Epilogue’ really steals the show here. Everything prior was just a big build up to these tracks, which does make sense as part of a concept album. Once again, I do hear elements of O.W.G.A’s other projects in the mix. And yet, this still stands on its own legs as quite the entity itself. Bravo!
GOS: I’m not sure that all of what is offered here hits the same as the parts that I like the best, which is basically the more straightforward and aggressive element, but I would be lying if I said that the album concept and the corresponding divergence of different styles isn’t intriguing.
AKB: I can certainly appreciate that train of thought. I’m with you, in regards to the more straightforward moments on this album. I obviously like those parts the best. HOWEVER, the super trippy free flowing riff fest presented for the majority of this wasn’t a big ear strain for me. My big issue with a lot of the more “avantgarde” styles of black metal is the pure note density that tends to happen. There’s space for the notes to breathe (as we had talked about earlier), and you actually can hear what O.W.G.A. is doing at any given point in time, instead of having to decipher layers upon layers of tracks and murk to figure out half of what’s going on with other artists. May not be a big deal for some, but that’s huge for me and my particular tastes. If more of these types of projects had a similar approach to the production as *this*I would be a much bigger fan of this particular subgenre of black metal.
GOS: I’m with you. I think it happens when the avant-garde style ends up being too technical or progressive, too complicated, and usually too sterile. In this case though I would describe it less as that and more borrowing elements from, like, psychedelic rock or something, with a very stripped-down, organic feel. I approve.
AKB: That’s a fair point. Maybe I’m a bit loose, or even unknowing with the “avant-garde” tag, but then again I don’t really listen to many of those kinds of bands. The progressive element should have been a more obvious descriptor for me, as now I’m reminded of the earliest Arcturus albums (ok, the first album), and maybe even ‘Vikgingr Veldi’-era Enslaved. You know, where it’s obviously black metal but there’s much more complex musical backbone underneath it all. I did pick up on all those ’70s psych-rock flourishes as well. I bet O.W.G.A. has quite an extensive music collection in his abode. And I suppose that is something that could be asked in a potential interview!
Nova Nativitas Mundi is available now via The Hermetic Order of Ytene and Dark Adversary Productions.
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Purchase Nova Nativitas Mundi on CD and digital from The Hermetic Order of Ytene Bandcamp HERE or the Dark Adversary Productions webstore HERE.
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