Ensepulchred - Suicide in Winter's Moonlight Review
by Mark Hensch
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Hints of autumn abound on Ensepulchred's full-length debut Suicide in Winter's Twilight. The Frankfort, Indiana band's somber, starry brand of depressive black metal hisses like wind through dead leaves and shimmers like a flitting ray of moonlight on a cloudy night. Quiet and ghostly, Suicide in Winter's Twilight is a phantom lurking outside in the dark, just waiting to be heard.
Ensepulchred's phantom conjurations combine many disparate elements into an unusual and chilling musical experience. The vocals, for example, are the sort of blurry rasps and howls made famous by peers in Xasthur, Leviathan, or Striborg. In an intriguing twist, the guitar and bass are pushed behind layers of clean, forceful synth melodies, the likes of which chill souls. These otherworldly, twinkling keys are backed by an apathetic drum machine and well-spliced horror movie samples. Combined together, these murky traits form a detached, hovering sonic template as alien as it is wistful.
Though fresh for the style of music, it is worth noting that Suicide in Winter's Twilight is not without its flaws. Clocking in at 54 minutes with sixteen tracks, this is a lengthy listen. This large expanse of time illuminates the weakness in some of the songs, which are either forgettable or repetitive. Even at its most unusual and captivating, Twilight feels a little long in tooth owing simply to the nature of the music. There is, after all, only so much stark and frosty metal that a person can take in one sitting.
Despite these stumbling points, many eerie songs emerge as being both solidly crafted and passionately delivered "Sorcery," for example, serves as an excellent introduction to the band, creeping out with its Striborg influenced tones of cryptic fear. "Asylum," arguably the album's best track, features one of the most phantasmal background melodies in recent memory while churning out some grim, catchy black metal in the meantime. "Macabre," meanwhile, hums with palpable menace yet never rises past levels of dull roar. "Blood from the North" is a song which dances between soothing transparence and blistering lo-fi fury. Lastly, "Coffin Door" conjures epic grandeur with what many consider a bedroom derivative of the black metal formula.
Eldritch, phantasmal, and mysterious, the music of Ensepulchred may contain a few kinks but overall Suicide in Winter's Twilight is a fine debut for such a young band. This is an album well worth hunting down for its serenely horrifying take on the depressive black metal genre. Check this out if you get the chance.
Ensepulchred's Suicide in Winter's Twilight
1. Sorcery
2. Eyes and Shadows
3. Asylum
4. Silent Gates
5. The Tormented Mind
6. Macabre
7. Where Ghosts Dwell
8. Departed Spirits
9. Land of the Unholy
10. Blood from the North
11. Suffer in the Embrace of the Cold
12. The Cruel Silence of the Sky
13. Coffin Door
14. Twilight of War
15. Flesh
16. The Eulogy of One Poignant Ra'Por
CD Info and Links
Ensepulchred - Suicide in Winter's Moonlight Rating:8.0
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