We had to wait six years for it, or four if you count the EP, but finally Gaahl showed his new ‘woven stories’ with a second album. The debut GastiR – Ghosts Invited by the Trelldom singer and ex-Gorgoroth frontman was a fine release, which was full of diversity in genres. The man himself does not want to pigeonhole it, but that does not take away from the fact that the approach is still dark and the link with black metal, be it in an atmospheric or melodic form, still dominates. It is understandable that he does not want to refer to a pounding darkness like the gentlemen of Gorgoroth still present. Does that band actually still exist? Gaahls Wyrd is in any case alive and kicking and from start to finish it is clear that Satan is the driving force behind it all. We find this in everything, starting with the release date on June 6. It is also dark, menacing, undoubtedly all written with a glass of red wine in hand, and delivered with spiritual depth.
After the intro, Braiding The Stories immediately starts with an avant-garde form of meloblack with nice layering and where the deep clean vocals of Gaahl make it a spiritual affair. Perhaps a bit monotonous, but halfway through there is a certain build-up in which the interplay of the guitars reaches a nice atmospheric depth. Ambient plays an important role as a binding agent on this record anyway. On a song like Voices In My Head I get an older Shining vibe (at the time of record IV or V), but where the horror ambient goes its own way and of course no explosions follow. Those only come with Time And Timeless Timeline, which gives me a 1349 feeling for a moment, but this driven black(death) does not carry the fire of that band. Gaahl and his cronies rather focus on conducting an experimental argument. I am not completely convinced.
That starts to improve a bit with the last tracks. Visions And Time, with Through The Veil that feels like a long introduction, does have some ritual vibes that remind me of a band like Behemoth for a moment, but how quickly this feeling fades and I regret the comparison. Suddenly I listen to a spiritual resting point with atmospheric guitars that climbs up again to warmer atmospheric black with a lot of American references. Root The Will then pounds on with fairly progressive black that might be food for fans of later Enslaved to move on to melancholy from the older Satyricon infueces towards the end of the track.
To give you something completely different, there is Flowing Starlight. Crunchy, melodic guitar and bass lines provide a nice vibe that goes as deep like a Wolves In The Throneroom song. Delivered with clean vocals, which gives the whole a certain gothic vibe, but where hazy interludes and ambient still keep playing with your head. In any case, I think this is the supreme masterpiece on this new work, because here Gaahls Wyrd not only knows how to do his own thing, but also goes much deeper through that interaction of musical styles.
The experimental nature of the band simply has to be admired and the most beautiful ode to the devil since LaVey is still that you follow your own will. That is addressed on this LP in woven stories that are full of dark metal experiments and where the interaction between the charged and the deeper mystery really grabs you by the neck at certain moments. Still, some of these songs feel more like a build-up to a next song or an interlude. Sometimes the compositions are also just a bit too dry or repetitive. Fortunately, you will also find gems on it such as the title track and the three closing tracks, with the last track in particular. Good for a ticket to Roadburn.
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