Wesenwille signs its third album.
Entitled III: The Great Light Above, the album of the Dutch project led since 2013 by Ruben Schmidt (vocals/guitar/bass, Verval, Apotelesma, ex-White Oak…) will be released in 2022 by Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions.
On stage, he is accompanied by D. Schermann (Wrang, Weltschmerz, live for Verwoed) on drums, N. van Noort (Gizah, ex-Divine Sins) on guitar, Y. Snel (Gizah, ex-Divine Sins) on bass, and sometimes Galgenvot (Wrang, Nevel) on vocals.
The album begins with Revelation of the Construct, a long and oppressive composition which quickly reveals its darkness and coldness while offering aggressive and unhealthy parts. The vocals are perfectly anchored on the dissonant and sometimes haunting base, then majestic keyboards come to silence the rhythmic before raw rage expresses itself again, followed by heady melodies and then by Transformation, a more energetic track which places a groovy basis under heavy martial sonorities. The voice will soon resurface, slowing down the rhythmic which will let some soothing leads bewitch us, then the track will progressively ignite until The Legacy of Giants brings its oppressive madness out. The constant and dissonant sound crushes us before disappearing to let the voice allow us a moment of respite, then the rhythmic resurfaces with more raw tones. The track’s length allows it some rhythm, while Trinity, much shorter, immediately envelops us in a heavy fog of sound with Gothic and Post-Metal influences before fading away. The sound comes back to life with Our Sole Illuminator, another long composition which starts with a few soft notes before releasing its murderous and dissonant rage to strike us full force. The Old School influences are very strong on this haunting but raw track which will still let us breathe a bit before lead parts throw us into the hurricane of violence, ending when Eclipse comes to deliver us. This interlude’s soothing sound quietly carries us to The Specular Gaze, the ultimate composition, which will not take long to return to the haunting and heavy tones in company of these heady leads, then devastating blasts and aggressive screams. But once again, the atmosphere calms down and then it slowly progresses until the final, which leaves us with silence as only companion.
The universe of Wesenwille is very regular. Sometimes aggressive and sometimes more dissonant, III: The Great Light Above cultivates an oppression and a very raw darkness which seems to live by our side before ending to give way to softness.
85/100