Celestial Lineage

Another epic album from the Pacific Northwest’s premier black metal-gaze band. Adhering to their eco-friendly aesthetic, the band continues with their usual “Cascadian” style: bleak, introspective songs full of gorgeous harmonies that fit the spacious, atmospheric parts just as well as the harsh, screeching black metal. The lush interludes of synth and guitar (and for the first time, bells and female vocals) evoke images rolling fog and majestic forests rather than the Scandinavian blizzard feeling usually associated with the genre. Soaring, triumphant, meditative but also chaotic—for fans of Taake, Dissection, Krallice, etc.
FCC clean. Try any track, the whole album’s a winner.
2x12” 45rpm (WATCH OUT, DON’T PLAY THIS ON 33)

1. (11:42) A lush, operatic intro with bells and Christina Carter-esque singer, followed by an epic black metal opus with a wide range of dynamics and great lead guitar
2. (1:55) Fading in from the previous track, a brief interlude. Chanting “ohhhh”, some scraping sounds, gusts of blizzard wind
3. (7:10) Abuptly starting with lightspeed blastbeat black metal, incorporates some symphonic wintry synth like in Emperor’s debut. Rawer and grittier than usual.
4. (1:28) Interlude: discordant sound effects, static, and distant synth
5. (5:26) Soaring, atmospheric—synth, droning guitar, bells, forest priestess incantations
6. (10:17) Epic, triumphant harmonies with rumbling, chaotic drums; major and minor-key shoegaze harmonies; harsh wintry black metal with gorgeous, folksy interludes (woah, is that a harp?)
7. (10:58) Slow, droning crescendo—the song drags along at a grueling pace, eventually becomes vaguely black-metal but also ambient, with very minimal drums.