By Dear Hollow
Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, while short, is nothing short of perplexing in its evasion of genre trappings, ultimately making some form of drone metal with folk instruments, imbued with post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. However, the value lies behind these descriptors, with a distinct ritualistic heart beating beneath as its Middle Eastern modal traditions guide the movements—a divine and otherworldly experience. Don’t misunderstand, Apsides will still crush you, but just as much in its serenity as its dense guitar riffs—the weight it conjures is a suggestion and anticipation of punishment rather than a rod brandished. The result is haunting and unique, but brimming with more potential than it capitalizes upon.
Black Aleph is a trio from Australia, its Sydney- and Melbourne-based members comprised other acts from the country’s weirder underground offerings. Aside from respective solo offerings, guitar and effects wizard Lachlan Dale hails from maqam-centric acts like Hashshashin and the Arya Ensemble,1 cellist Peter Hollo lends his eerie drones in post-rock/electronic collectives like Tangents, Haunts, and FourPlay String Quartet, and dar player/setarist Timothy Johannessen plays in the folk-inclined Mehr Ensemble. Johannessen and Dale’s respective roots in Arabic, Iranian, and Persian folk music pronounce the motifs that Black Aleph utilizes. The trio has been compared to renowned experimental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Justin Broadrick, and Jesu, while associated with members of We Lost the Sea and Sunn O))). However, Black Aleph plays more in line with Hashshashin or countrymates Omahara in the blurring of drone and folk, ever-punishing and ever-organic.
Black Aleph deals in a style that balances weight, tension, and melody. Just as in Godspeed’s Lift Your Skinny Fists…, chord progressions throughout Apsides are layered with tension, bated breath between dissonance and harmony. While layered with ominous droning doom riffs (“Descent,” “Precession”), the crescendos within its micro-movements prove the most intriguing. Whether it be its dancing and complex rhythms (“Return”), climbing arpeggios (the “Ambit” duo), or gradual uses of volume and curious motifs (“Separation,” “Return”) the best uses of the percussive daf are utilized in quieter moments, creating a pulsing undercurrent of mystery and frailty rather than the punishing drums they pretend to be in the more droning cuts. These more gentle movements gradually increase in girth with post-rock intention, erupting in satisfying droning climaxes (“Ambit II (Aphelion),” “Return”). While droning guitars are relatively straightforward, their acoustic instruments—setar, daf, cello, and violin2—provide Black Aleph an easy and effective bridge between droning metal and folk motifs, as the songs are constructed safely and neatly.
Black Aleph’s voiceless music creates a greater impetus to focus on the songwriting, and unfortunately, Apsides suffers from moments of directionless meandering and awkwardly curtailed movements. In general, the lack of vocals is a critique depending on the listener. In a manner of songwriting, however, the best crescendo occurs in “Ambit II (Aphelion)” and no track following lives up to this peak, although others attempt to scale it (“Separation,” “Return”). While noodling occurs throughout (i.e. “Ambit I (Ascension)”), it overwhelms the moments of climax, leading tracks plummeting to the ground, especially in the limp closer “Occultation,” whose wonky rhythms and skronky setar rob the guitars of needed weight. Most frustrating with Black Aleph is that, although each track is neatly composed and competently executed, the album at large feels too short and abrupt. Apisdes’ thirty-minute runtime feels too short like Black Aleph missed the chance to adequately flesh out their ideas when eschewing drone metal’s tendency towards lengthy offerings.
Apsides offers a unique sound, hindered by its own ambition. Although the songs are too short and performances can be shortsighted, Black Aleph has an endlessly intriguing premise and unique execution. Ritualistic rhythms, Middle Eastern motifs, droning riffs, and otherworldly drive collide in an album that largely succeeds. It’s good that I want to hear more of Black Aleph, because I think their next album will be better than Apsides.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: blackaleph.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blackaleph
Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024
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