BLUT AUS NORD — 777 - The Desanctification (review)

BLUT AUS NORD — 777 - The Desanctification album cover

Album · 2011 · Atmospheric Black Metal

4/5 · 2012-08-28
Wilytank

(Originally posted by me to Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives; http://www.metal-archives.com/)

Blut aus Nord's dark '777' trilogy continues with 'The Desanctification', and I definitely am not as impressed with it as I was with 'Sect(s)'. Though the freaky, nightmarish atmosphere is brought over from the other album, the schizophrenic quality is not and this album is a good bit weaker because of it. It's still a good album, but it's close to the ass end of the BaN quality spectrum which, though not meaning good news for 'The Desanctification' in its own right, is still a statement that even Blut aus Nord's worst album are still really solid.

When I say schizophrenic, I'm referring to 'Sect(s)' fast tempo chaotic songs that really drive in the feeling of a nose dive into utter insanity. There is none of that here on 'The Desanctification'. All the songs are rather slow in fact. "Epitome VIII" is the fastest one here and it still doesn't tread anywhere near "Epitome I", "III", or "V" on the pacing department. But slowness by itself isn't a damning quality especially when I do like the slower 'MoRT' album more than the faster 'Mystical Beast of Rebellion'. One interesting observation for 'The Desanctification' is how the drums in all of the songs are Blut aus Nord's most forward on their musical quest to become a trip-hop band, something they seem to have been working on as far back as 'The Work Which Transforms God'. There's zero details on this W.D. Feld guy (including if he really exists at all) who allegedly handles the drums in the band, but whoever worked the drums must have used a drum machine because these drums sound incredibly inorganic. They've also got this trip-hop beat going on in most of the songs that sounds rather awkward at times, particularly the opening few minutes of "Epitome VII".

What's good about this album then? A good amount of things actually. The majestic sound of the guitars are still in here and there are some pretty epic sounding leads, particularly in "Epitome VIII". The keyboards sound really nice as well. And these two instruments together add a thick, dark atmosphere with an interesting pinch of light to the songs. Once again, the vocals are nothing but another layer of sound in the music with no lyrics provided; but the various assortment of murmurs, growling, screeching, and clean choir passages have worked well with Blut aus Nord in the past and work well now. "Epitome IX" is rather worthless though as an uninteresting interlude. "Epitome XII" isn't that cool either with the lack of vocals actually stripping it of its musical and atmospheric substance.

Either way, 'The Desanctification' is a pretty solid album, but it didn't meet the expectations I had for it following my enjoyment for 'Sect(s)'. Hopefully, Vindsval and co. (or his imaginary friends, nobody knows) can pull together a little tighter for 'Cosmosophy' and end this '777' trilogy on a higher note than this album.

(82/100)