siLLy puPPy It’s been four years since the one-man act Alexander von Meilenwald has released anything under his THE RUINS OF BEVERAST project but a four year gap is pretty much the norm as Mellenwald clearly favors quality over quantity of material not to mention the two splits that emerged in 2020 with Mourning Beloveth and Almyrkvi. THE THULE GRIMOIRES is the sixth full album experience from the mighty BEVERAST which has consistently cranked out a slew of highly sophisticated and enticing examples of extreme metal that continue to defy classification. Is it atmospheric black metal? Is it death-doom? Or is it avant-garde progressive? Well, throw in all of the aforementioned and a healthy dose of dark ambient in the proper doses doused with the fertile creative mind of a dedicated musician and voila, you have the recipe for some highly innovative 21st century metal in the making.

THULE refers to the location farthest north in ancient Greek and Roman world but with the advent of the concept ultima THULE acquired a metaphorical extensional meaning of any place beyond the borders of the known world, a perfect concept for the murky blackened sonic storm of sound to wrap themselves around especially when paired with the term GRIMOIRE which is a textbook of magic and serves as an instructional guide on how to create magical objects such as talismans, amulets as well as a guide for casting spells and summoning supernatural entitles ranging from diving angels to hellish demons. THE TULE GRIMOIRES as a concept offers a glimpse into a terrifying world beyond our comprehension where demonic wizardry and the realities of the hellish underworld provide the inspiration for this collection of seven sprawling tracks that collectively exceed the 69 minute mark.

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST albums are notorious for being lengthy atmospheric compositions that embark on darkened journeys and employ the sounds of various metal styles as well as ambient sounds to craft an otherworldly soundscape that perfectly synchronizes with the subject matter at hand. THE THULE GRIMOIRES is no exception in continuing this tradition however the beauty of this project is that Mellenwald never relies on the copy and paste method for crafting new music magic. THE THULE GRIMOIRES features the recognizable black metal guitar fuzz, the sprawling ten minute plus compositions teased out into meandering musical form as well as the expected extreme metal vocal style of previous BEVERAST offerings. This album however adopts more of a gothic metal approach with clean ghoulish vocals often replacing the raspy growls and calm icy slow tempos inching the album along in death-doom procession.

With less emphasis on the overall metal elements of THE THULE GRIMOIRES, Mellenwald casts his gaze on the potentials of a production job that amplifies the grimness value with oscillating guitar distortion, engaging atmospheric contrapuntal sound swarms as well as placing the focus on the flow of the album and the overarching psychological effects rather than on any particular track. The album is technically demarcated by the chapters Aurora, Than and Sad Chapel and is noticeable less bombastic than previous albums and in many ways sounds like a more experimental version of Type O Negative during the gothic excursions to Transylvania and back. Despite the black metal tag awarded, THE THULE GRIMOIRES feels the least black metal of the entire BEVERAST canon as blastbeats are for the most part tamped down in favor of a plodding procession into the darkness with guitar chords sustained in glacial drone metal perpetuity.

While i cannot honestly declare THE THULE GRIMOIRES to be the most exuberant or compelling chapter of THE RUINS OF BEVERAST canon, i can definitely appreciate that Mellenwald doesn’t simply rest on his laurels and continuously crafts a completely differing musical experience from one album to the next, a talent he has showcased ever since his Nagelfar days. As with all BEVERAST releases, this is not one to rush through and to expect it to sink in immediately. This dense package of sounds is so intricately designed that you could probably drive yourself crazy analyzing the minutia but despite the lack of the desired bombast of yore, still comes off as an interesting and unique excursion into the gothened RUINS OF BEVERAST universe and one that is worthy of attention for those who love the more modern high brow compositional fortitude of experimental metal.