What's that thing on the cover? Is that a flying telephone booth? I haven't a clue. Anyway, Hellébore is a new black metal band from that part of Canada where they don't speak English. I guess flying telephone booths are an everyday occurrence in that part of the country. Their first release is self-titled and consists of only a single song named Aootw. Oh, come on. Flying telephone booths, unpronounceable words, are they pulling my leg here? Let's listen and see if their music is better than their strange aesthetic implies.
Since it consists of only one song, I'll just give you a play-by-play breakdown of events as they happen. It begins with an ambient landscape, gliding along the soft rays of the sun, looking above at the quiet void. At the 1:35 mark, KABOOM! Black metal chugging! I think these guys use a drum machine. Above the chugging soar some melodic riffs that amplify the atmosphere. The vocals then come in and he sounds like a visitor from a distant star. The blast beats pound away with clockwork efficiency.
Around the 4:15 mark, it attains a mid-paced tempo that allows you to put your thoughts back in logical order, and the lead guitar further enhances your cognitive abilities. Around the 5:30 mark, things reall slow down and build the tension. Space is beautiful, isn't it? What's truly remarkable is how untouched it is. At the 7 minute mark, the visitor speaks. I have no idea what he's saying, but I think he's saying I'm going to die. I don't know when, though. At 7:53, the pace picks back up. The riffs combined with the ambient elements create such a hypnotic effect.
The hypnosis continues until 9:44 when the mechanical double bass drills into you accompanied by a whirling and winding solo. The world spins and twirls around us. Everything is so fast-paced nowadays. “I demand immediate results!” they say. Underneath all the swirling chaos, an odd keyboard plays a haunting melody. Everything's going so fast it fades into a blur. Then, silence.
This is some crazy shit, I tell you what. And I love it. I can't wait to hear more of their unorthodox black metal. Quickly! Into the flying telephone booth! Fantastic adventures await us!
You can download this from their official Bandcamp page.
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