Back in October 2012, a one-man black metal band named Hellebore released a one-song demo, and I loved it. It was a trippy black metal adventure. However, one song wasn't enough. I wanted more. Sure enough, I got more in the form of their first full-length, the even more oddly-named anouof thwo. I kept thinking that was an anagram for something, so I looked up an online anagram program and punched it in. The most reliable result I got was “A Fun Hot Woo”. Perhaps I should start using that as a funny euphemism for sex. Anyway, onto the music.
The first great thing about this album is that it features the song “Aootw” completely unaltered. That song was trippy as fuck. Another great thing about this album is the fuzzy lo-fi production. This helps to enhance the atmosphere and makes you feel like you're drifting through space, gazing upon all its wonders, basking in the untainted light of a billion stars.
The new songs are excellent. Due to the lo-fi production, it can be rather hard to hear the instruments, but if you listen long enough, they'll shine through. Since this is a one-man band, it's a given that he uses a drum machine, but it's very well-programmed. The blast beats and slower rhythms have a great sound to them and they don't sound so artificial that they distract from the music. The vocals don't show up often, but they're shrouded in reverb and sound like the croaked proclamations of an ancient sorcerer who is invoking the power of the stars.
The guitars are easily the best part of this whole affair. The lower end of the spectrum houses rhythm guitar that glides along at a moderate pace. The lead guitar was what really got my attention. They exude powerful melodies that help to enhance the space-like atmosphere, and on my favorite song of the album, “Les Martiens etaient la...”, they play a lot of super fast high-pitched tremolo riffs that sound like gamma rays being fired off from a distant quasar. Rounding it all off we have dreamy ambient keyboards that sort of act as the icing on this space cake.
This was an awesome album. The atmosphere is amazing and so were the lead guitars. Listening to this album feels like a fun hot woo. If you're a fan of esoteric atmospheric black metal that pours the cosmos into your soul, then you'll love this album. You can get it as a name-your-price download on their official Bandcamp page.
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