...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI...


..::OPIS::..

Dziś mam przed sobą kontynuację bardzo dobrej EP-ki z roku 2015 zaserwowaną przez Litwinów z Au-Dessus.

Dwa lata temu muzyka zawarta na debiutanckiej EP-ce o tej samej nazwie zrobiła na mnie spore wrażenie. Słychać jednak było, że Au-Dessus to zespół młody i musi jeszcze „okrzepnąć”. Okazało się, że te dwa lata faktycznie wyszły muzykom na dobre, bo najnowsze dzieło zatytułowane „End of Chapter” podoba mi się znacznie bardziej. Muzycznie jest to ta sama mańka. Transowy post black metal inspirowany soczyście Mgłą. Dla fanów takiego grania już to wystarcza za rekomendacje. Muzycznie poziom jest ten sam, co na poprzednim wydawnictwie, różnice robi kompozycja. Numery są dogłębnie przemyślane, słucha się ich znakomicie. Każdy ma jakiś swój wyraźny element. Ciekawy motyw, riff, wokal, który wbija się w mózg jak gwóźdź. Moje ulubione numery są jednak na końcu płyty. Mozolnie startujący „XI”, który z upływem czasu rozrywa czaszkę „piłującym” riffem i kapitalnymi wokalami. I ostatni kawałek tytułowy oznaczony numerem „XII”. Tu schemat ma się podobne, ale to niesamowicie chwytliwe zwolnienie nie może mi wyjść z głowy. Nic dodać, nic ująć: Litwini po raz kolejny pokazali klasę. Nawet wyższą niż poprzednio. Można sobie pierdolić pod nosem o kolejnym klonie Mgły i o zakapturzonych beztalenciach, ale tak to tylko robią zawistni czołgiści.

Dla mnie ten zespół wart jest dłuższej uwagi. Do płyty będę na pewno często wracał. Podobnie jak to ma miejsce w przypadku debiutu: nie ma szans się zakurzyć.

Pathologist


Lithuania’s Au-Dessus‘s debut album “End of Chapter” is a haunting, moving piece of post-black metal mastery. Conceptualised as both sequel and conclusion to their 2015 self-titled EP, “End of Chapter” sees Au-Dessus push deeper into the realms of dissonant, unsettling extreme metal. Comparisons with bands such as Blut Aus Nord, Deathspell Omega, and Schammasch are natural and appropriate, but Au-Dessus more than do enough to carve out their own niche in this flourishing style of black metal. Jarring, dissonant guitar riffs metamorphose into crushing passages of atmospheric sludge metal brutality; inhuman, tortured howls give way to melodic, passionate singing. Make no mistake about it: Despite the sleek visual aesthetic, this is challenging, harsh music that requires patience and careful attention to appreciate and come to grips with. With “End of Chapter”, Au-Dessus have crafted one of the most fascinating and powerful metal records in recent memory.

“End of Chapter” is certainly not a record for the faint-hearted. The tortured and inhuman snarls and howls of vocalist Mantas are enough to send chills down the spine of even the most seasoned extreme metal connoisseur, and could give many of the scene’s veterans a run for their money. The unrestrained black metal fury of ‘VII’ is positively frightening to behold, all violence and malice, snarls, blastbeats and anger. It is an utterly bleak, unrelentingly fearsome composition. IX follows suit, and yet like all of Au-Dessus‘ music, the song resolves itself into an equilibrium in its dramatic conclusion, slowly building its way to a crescendo of epic proportions with crushing, churning guitars, demonic howls, crashing cymbals, and a chorus of backing vocals.

The album’s success is in large part due to the equilibrium achieved between the band’s varying influences and styles; between the reflective, cerebral moments of contemplation and beauty; and the punishing, dissonant black/sludge metal aggression. The opening track ‘VI’ demonstrates the band’s capacity for dynamic song structures, opening by building up dissonant Blut Aus Nord-ian guitars, crashing cymbals and droning choral vocals. The effect is magnificent. The song spreads its wings with dizzying melodic guitar leads and throat-shredding screams. It later segues into impassioned clean singing while the guitars take on an almost jazzy character over thunderous percussion, which push the song’s crescendo above and beyond. The build-up and crescendo on the almost ten-minute centre piece ‘X’ is the sort of thing so many bands have attempted but ultimately failed to really execute in a truly compelling way, but Au-Dessus deliver one of the most cathartic pieces of metal in recent memory. It’s utterly enthralling.

‘XI’ is a furious, thrashing black metal piece; violent and unstable, dissonant and unnerving. The vocals are inhuman, twisted and feral. The crushing sludge metal influence reasserts itself, pushing the song even further to the limits of extremity. The album closes with ‘XII: End of Chapter’, one of the most deeply evocative tracks the band have ever recorded. It opens with menacing, orthodox black metal riffs and a militant drum-march, the snarls and screams as terrifying as ever. The first half of the song is a musical journey into hell: the atmosphere grows ever more rancid and suffocating, almost claustrophobic in its demented, tortured downward spiral. But at the half-way mark it begins its magnificent ascent towards the living. The latter half of this song is one of the most emotionally powerful sections on any metal record of recent memory: utterly tortured screams, howls and cries, unrelenting blastbeats, and soaring guitarwork. The album ends with the fading, haunting guitar melody.

It’s a fitting end to a devastatingly powerful metal record. “End of Chapter” is an incredible accomplishment, a haunting journey to the musical fringes of an already extreme genre of music, and one of the finest metal records in recent memory. It has enough experimentation and complexity to keep things interesting, with enough punch to keep it satisfying. It is equal parts unsettling, visceral, beautiful, and cathartic, and I love it.

forfrosne


Hooded metalheads from Au-Dessus are moving forward quite quickly in the metal world. Barely two years after releasing their first EP, I hold in my hands their new album called End of Chapter, and it feels more like a great beginning rather than an end. Au-Dessus is determined and focused in what they do, and all of the hard work is paying off.

In existence for only about three years, they already have two strong collectives out in the world and managed to play some shows outside of their homeland of Lithuania. Three out of four members of the band played in a death metal band called Paralytic before starting Au-Dessus, while the fourth one is not a newbie either; the experience can certainly be heard in their music even though they jumped over a couple of genres.

The music of Au-Dessus can be defined as a combination of black metal with lots of ‘post’ elements and some occasional psychedelic sections. Once you read the lyrics it may not be appealing or inviting, but in this musical case only a few words explaining what is going on within this album are simply insufficient. Let me elaborate, if you will: tracks are numbered VI to XII as a continuation from their previous EP, and with a running time of around 45-minutes these guys are taking us on a ride through a variety of emotions and styles. I’ve mentioned black metal at the beginning of this paragraph, and it seems to me that everything is built on or emerges out of it. Fast and aggressive riffing, combined with devilish shrieks and demonic howls, meets truly intriguing atmospheric parts that are enhanced with clean vocals; the music then moves into some sludgy passages and envelop everything in progressive or post-black concepts.

Most of the songs on the album are based on vicious and all-out 'rage-riffing' to start, only to then introduce more experimental structures and expand more unconventional ideas. All compositions are remarkably coherent and straightforward, making them powerful and aggressive. Unfortunately, lyrics are not available to me at the moment, but in the interview I’ve read with the band it’s been said that they are subjective, pessimistic views of the world and touch on the sense of uncertainty, with an evident awareness of the surrounding hypocrisy.

After numerous listens I am confident in saying that Au-Dessus is a master of balancing between slow, progressive, even unsettling segments coupled with their ferocious, crushing counterparts. As challenging as it may sound, they came up with fascinating material that, once it grabs you and sinks its teeth into you, won’t let go. Au-Dessus delivered an album that keeps giving every time I play it. It's a fantastic album with tremendous atmosphere offered with such skill and passion that it should bump those guys up to the front of the charts easily; it is surely not something you want to miss. I am going to watch out for those guys with high hopes and my fingers crossed because there isn’t much that can be done better in this sphere.

Tomecki666



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. VI 06:12
2. VII 04:44
3. VIII 05:28
4. IX 07:26
5. X 09:39
6. XI 06:30
7. XII [End of chapter] 06:36



..::OBSADA::..

Mantas - Vocals, bass
Simonas - Guitar
Jokūbas - Guitar
Džiugas - Drums




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3o5vjrx1RI



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