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.

Warthur I've never explored The Ruins of Beverast before, but the notes of those who've previously delved into that particular dungeon suggest an interesting progression on the part of its architects. Records suggest that the Ruins began on a foundation of atmospheric black metal, before the Beverastian ruler Alexander von Meilenwald took a turn into death-doom territory.

Certainly, the treasure I found in the region known as Exuvia bears out this idea, because the foundations of atmospheric black metal - blast beats and ambient influences mostly - are frequently evident even amid the towering structures of death-doom, lending them a certain stark majesty which makes the Ruins stand apart from the pack.

There's also a certain tribal influence detectable - mostly in the form of distant chants; I am not particularly well-placed to judge whether these inclusions have been chosen with care to ensure an apt selection appropriate to the material being presented as well as respecting the original source, or whether it's some cheap cultural appropriation of some cool-sounding noises which von Meilenwald doesn't even understand and inadvertently renders the material hilarious if you actually knew how inappropriate the choice was... but gosh, does it sound cool.

"Exuvia" refers to the discarded shell of an arthropod - you know, crabs or spiders or insects, those kind of critters - after it's moulted, much as the Beverastian people moulted their old atmospheric black metal ways for a more experimental path. Having come away from the Ruins of Beverast bearing these intriguing samples, I think I will be exploring more of the fallen city sooner or later.

Vim Fuego Elevator music is much scorned, and for good reason. It is generally bland, soulless crap which is so inoffensive it is offensive. It is music so stripped of vitality and life it can be, and usually is, ignored. Occasionally, if your thoroughly bored mind wanders far enough, you might find yourself whistling along to “Hammond Organ Hits of the Swinging Sixties” or “Pan Flute Prairie Party”, entirely without meaning to. It is your unconscious mind trying to wake you from your blank-eyed stare.

‘Exuvia’ by The Ruins of Beverast seems to start off in the vein of black metal elevator music, featuring an ancient sounding Native American chant, and a ringing guitar tone, eventually underscored by a subdued black metal beat, and it seems like this album is destined for droning atmospheric black metal dullness, coming soon to an elevator near you.

To assume this and stop paying close attention is a mistake. Before you know it, ‘Exuvia’ has you trapped in a sticky spiders web, hypnotically entranced by the sheer depth and breadth of this work. This album covers so many bases. It has long, almost ambient drones, crushing doom/death sections, black metal both atmospheric and raw, devastating sludge passages, and compelling samples. Like a savage dog, straining on its chain, you know when it gets loose it’s going to hurt you, but you’re still surprised as you feel the canines sinking into pliant human flesh.

This whole lengthy album seems it should be the work of a modern day metallic orchestra, yet it is all the creation of just one man. Alexander von Meilenwald composed and played almost the entirety of this album himself (there are two guest keyboard players listed in the credits) and it makes for an incredibly cohesive album, despite the plethora of sub-genres explored.

Don’t take this too lightly. It might not seem like much at first, but when it has crawled up your trousers and taken bloody chunks from your genitalia like a rabid ferret, you will definitely take notice. Approach ‘Exuvia’ as a single massive multi-faceted work, like a modern symphony.

Wilytank This is the album I've been the most hyped about in 2013. After scouring The Ruins of Beverast's first three full-lengths and basically playing Rain Upon the Impure to death, I was ready for more. Finally Alexander von Meilenwald, one of the best black metal musicians in Germany, released Blood Vaults. There's always been album each year that's made me hyped up to the max, and in 2013 it was Blood Vaults.

That sums up my thoughts as I was about to listen to this album for the first time. I'm going to say now though that I'm disappointed in the outcome. Even on the first listen, I was underwhelmed. I wasn't expecting Alex to top Rain Upon the Impure, but I was hoping for something that sounded like a step up from Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite; I didn't even get that. In the months leading up to the release, "Malefica" and "Daemon" were released as teasers and I listened to them almost every day because both those songs are awesome. Unfortunately, they're the best songs on they album, a fact made worse by the fact that they're also right at the beginning of the album; there's still 60 minutes of music left that can't compare to these two tracks.

One of the things Alex got right...again...was the atmosphere though; I'm sure now he can't get it wrong no matter what. It's dark and brooding once again. If you've been following the band you're going to be used to that by now. This time however I listen to this album and think of some radical Ordo Malleus Inquisitor from Warhammer 40k, a daemon hunter scouring forbidden texts for a way to fight the otherworldly monsters. Given the lyrical content and overall theme of the album, I find this setting extremely appropriate. The keyboards and choral effects really bring out this feeling as they do sound really church-like especially with the pipe organ. Alex's harsh vocals also add to this atmosphere. Though his tone hasn't changed much from Foulest..., the delivery on this album makes him sound more narrative like he is indeed reading from the Inquisitor's journal or directly from the forbidden text.

The music as a whole is most clean sounding Ruins album yet, which is fine by me. All the better to hear that menacing guitar tone that I love hearing from the band. There are some really great riff passages here that benefit from the cleaner production, especially in "Daemon" and "Malefica". However, the production doesn't save some of the more lackluster moments of the the album where the fault is indeed songwriting. Following the first two songs, most of the material on the album is doom metal and it isn't interesting doom metal either for the most part, it's the kind that just turns into a drag to listen to. I know Alex has done doom metal on Ruins in the past and some of his best songs are in this style such as "Soliloquy of a Stigmatized Shepard", "I Raise this Stone as a Ghastly Memorial", and "Arcane Pharmakon Messiah". "Ornaments on Malice", "Spires", and "A Failed Exorcism" aren't bad but they aren't nearly as interesting as those past songs. I feel that some of these songs go on longer than they should, especially "Monument" which is easily the weakest link here which is a pity because it's the closing song and I get disappointed by weak closing tracks.

I can't even listen to this album from beginning to end anymore. I go up through "Malefica" and then stop. Sometimes I'll go into "Ornaments on Malice" as well but rarely further. I could listen to the other tracks if I just picked them out and just listened to just the track, but I really don't want to. What's the point? I feel that if Blood Vaults threw more fast moments into these songs, they'd be better. "A Failed Exorcism" does have a fast section, but the riff is so weak and it exists so briefly that it's not even worth it. As much as I hate to say so, I have to say that Blood Vaults is the weakest Ruins of Beverast album yet. I hope Alex continues to evolve as a musician though. He's come a long way and I can see him going even further.

It's been almost a year since its release now. If you're a fan of the band and haven't listened to this yet, don't go with high expectations. If you're totally new, I suggest you check out Alex's earlier material first.

(75/100)

Conor Fynes 'Blood Vaults - The Blazing Gospel of Heinrich Kramer' - The Ruins of Beverast (9/10)

Only in regards to a band of monumental calibre like The Ruins of Beverast could I call its latest album arguably the weakest of the four so far, and simultaneously laud it as one of the year’s strongest musical contenders. The Ruins of Beverast have long been black metal’s best kept secret, and since the gloriously psychotic “Unlock the Shrine”, the one-man act- a longtime creative outlet of former Nagelfar drummer Alexander von Von Meilenwald- he’s been releasing music that’s consistently blown me away for its ambitious scope and atmosphere. Of the three albums The Ruins of Beverast have already released, I have, upon different occasions, thought of each one as potentially being the greatest black metal album ever made. I’ll try to keep background introductions brief, but if you haven’t yet heard “Unlock the Shrine”, “Rain Upon the Impure”, or “Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite”, you have yet to hear some of the most impressive and atmospheric metal ever pressed to vinyl. Now completing a transition towards doom metal that began with the last album, “Blood Vaults” is another expectedly excellent achievement, an hour-plus of music that’s as haunting and crushing as anything I’ve heard in the metal sphere this year. Incredibly high expectations aside, The Ruins of Beverast have delivered another masterpiece of atmosphere and intensity, with enough stylistic innovation to distinguish it from past work. This is blackened doom metal of ferocious quality.

The sound of The Ruins of Beverast has evolved beautifully over the course of four albums. Although Von Meilenwald was performing something more along the lines of psychotic black metal in 2004 with “Unlock the Shrine”, each album has reinvented the project as something new. “Rain Upon the Impure” took the black metal to arrogant extremes of atmosphere and composition, verging on a degree of ambition rivalled by Western classical tradition. 2009’s “Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite” was another necessary reinvention; now that one summit had been topped, Von Meilenwald began infusing his brand of black metal with doom metal and psychedelia. To summarize, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that The Ruins of Beverast have drifted this far away from black metal conventions; even if TROB retains the same malefic atmosphere in the music, the means to getting there have certainly changed.

The Ruins of Beverast’s familiar blend of choral sampling, chaotic production and cinematic vigour are made anew with a crushing heaviness and funereal pacing. Disregarding the fury and aggression inherent in the music’s execution, Von Meilenwald has taken a relatively reserved approach in writing the music this time around. Especially when compared to the sporadic rapture of “Rain Upon the Impure”, the pacing is kept fairly conservative, offering more vested concentration and fewer surprise turns. Although part of me misses the pleasantly mild shock of hearing something unpredictable, the songwriting enjoys a new maturity through its focus. A stunning example of this can be found in the pristine “Malefica”, a dirge-like piece that meticulously erupts with equal parts dread and melancholy. Latin choirs and pipe organ are used brilliantly as a sonic contrast with the thundering metal instrumentation. Orthodox instrumentation is a painfully common trope in black metal, but it’s rare that it ever functions so well as this.

In addition to “Malefica”, “Daemon”, “A Failed Exorcism”, and the unsettling interlude “Trial” all stand out as highlights of the album, and some of the most memorable pieces Von Meilenwald has ever composed. Unfortunately (and this is a first for my experience with a TROB album) I don’t find myself as consistently amazed by each of the tracks. I’m not immune to the fact that a doomier approach entails with it a slower pace and behests a different kind of listening attitude than that of Beverast albums past, but a few of the ideas on “Blood Vaults” feel less profound and engaging than I’d expect from the band. For instance, “Spires, The Wailing City” and “Monument” are both crafted with excellent ingredients, but feel somewhat overdrawn past their due; the ideas themselves are almost homogeneously superb, but even the strongest structures wither given time. While Von Meilenwald is no stranger to long compositions- “Rain Upon the Impure” had even longer average track times than this- the sometimes plodding pace of the compositions can make some of the musical ideas feel less awe-inspiring than they actually are. I felt that Von Meilenwald struck a sublime balance between black metal and doom with the last album, a middle ground between crushing heaviness and exciting dynamics. “Blood Vaults” only sees The Ruins of Beverast tread deeper into doom territory, and while the devastating atmosphere and progressive scope are still here in full, I don’t find myself quite as blown away by this stylistic shift as I have been with his past work. Then again, comparing a pristine mortal vintage to the ambrosia of the gods has never been a fair deal, has it?

Although “Blood Vaults” represents a markedly more reserved take on composition for Von Meilenwald, his execution sounds heavier than ever. I strain myself to think of another guitar tone that has sounded this heavy and crushing. Even though most one-man acts feel fittingly one-sided in their delivery, “Blood Vaults” feels remarkably well-rounded. The orthodox instrumentation is integrated to a haunting effect, and the drums- Von Meilenwald’s flagship instrument- are as intensely performed as ever. As it is made clear from the opening incantation “Apologia”, Von Meilenwald’s vocals take a hideous life of their own. Laden with echoes and a viciously malevolent tone, his growls are plenty evocative and fit the album’s sinister atmosphere and malefic interpretation of Christian theology. His clean vocals- when used- are deep and ominous, and mirror the Latin choirs nicely. Compared to past albums however, it feels like his vocal delivery offers a little less range however, focusing on the low, echoed growls and dismissing much of his higher shrieks. It’s an understandable transformation however; Von Meilenwald understands the implications of this stylistic shift, and The Ruins of Beverast reflects that.

As difficult as it is for me, I feel the only fair way to approach this album is to do one’s best to dissociate it from TROB albums past. Clearly, it’s much harder said than done, but to compare “Blood Vaults” against its predecessors would reveal this as the least vital of the four. With that in mind, I do not mean or hope to say that The Ruins of Beverast has broken its streak of relative perfection; this is a marvelous work, and I have no doubt that Von Meilenwald will continue to release masterful work in his own time. To put it simply, the album is devastating.