I gotta be honest, I really struggled with ‘Under The Spell Of The Unlit’, the 2008 release from Finnish symphonic black metal crew Gloomy Grim.
On spec, it pretty much ticked all the boxes, however despite the excellent playing and disturbing moments of atmosphere, its elaborate kitchen-sink delivery left me irritable. A good line in mood and storytelling was pretty much dashed by video game dramatics and Scooby-Doo tackiness.
Eight years later, with a single and demo release in the interim, have Gloomy Grim managed to rein in their wedding cake approach on sixth album ‘The Age Of Aquarius’?
Well yes, to begin with anyway.
Opening track ‘The Rise Of The Great Beast’ is surprisingly straightforward and upfront, with some Gorgoroth style chug and Agathon’s vocals switching from guttural to screech, and ‘Germination’ offers some thrilling thrash licks and urgent vox.
…So far, so good…
However, the piano intro of ‘A Lady In White’ hints at things to come, unfortunately.
Various time changes and unnecessary forms of instrumentation mean that even by ‘Beyond The Hate’, interest starts to wane, and lyrics that should invoke apprehension and fear (“I had an eerie feeling about The House”), come across as amateur and trite. While tracks such as ‘The Shameful Kiss’ and ‘The Mist’ show their fair share of dynamic, the persistent tempo swings make things hard going and Agathon’s Nattefrostian rasp starts to annoy.
Even the sinister, morbid drone and Paradise Lost feel of ‘Time’ is let down by yet another first-person diatribe, and ‘Light Of Lucifer Shine On Me’ appears to have an 86 piece orchestra on it for some reason.
…As for the 4 minute instrumental piano dirge that closes the album (that I keep expecting to morph into a version of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’)…
No…just, No!
The real shame here with ‘The Age Of Aquarius’ is the ruined potential. With some cracking riffs and inspired touches losing the battle against over-complicated arrangements and lyrics that verge on black metal Jackanory.
Oh dear! It all started off so well…
(3/10 Stuart Carroll)
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