In 2010, an unknown one-man Russian band named Melankoli released their first song, “Ode to Death”, and I was blown away by it. Never before had I heard black metal played so beautifully. I wanted more. Unfortunately, he wouldn't release anything big for two years. He released a compilation, but I couldn't find it anywhere on the internet. Then, in 2012, Melankoli released their first full-length album, Wind. It. Was. Glorious.
First of all, Melankoli exudes some of the best atmosphere in all of black metal. When their music comes forth from the speakers, it fills the entire room. It's more than just music, it's an experience. Melankoli implements a great deal of piano and ambient sounds to conjure up a dream-like world. Very few bands can do this right, but Melankoli pulls it off perfectly. They use a drum machine, but it mainly only plays slow rhythms, so it doesn't sound distracting at all.
The guitars are impeccable. The tremolo riffs create a dark feeling to the dreamy atmosphere. At other times they sound proud and triumphant such as the solo at the halfway point on the song “Wind”. The vocals consist of both a raspy scream and a clean style. The raspy scream exhibits the agony all humans feel deep down inside, and the clean vocals reflect the kindness within us all that gives us the strength to overcome our agony.
Go forth and get this album. Now. Melankoli is one of the greatest black metal bands to ever exist and they deserve to be heard by the world.
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