Another dive into the world of Lhaäd.
Following its debut album in 2021, the project by Belgian musician Lykormas (The Nox Entity, Entartung, Rituals of the Dead Hand, Wolven…) unveils Beneath, its second chapter, in collaboration with Amor Fati Productions and Extraconscious Records.
Like the previous opus, Beneath is made up of six tracks on which the musician unfurls his darkness in the time allotted to him. Beneath I begins by hypnotizing us with a haunting melody and a few water noises, but it’s ultimately a massive Old School rhythm that hits us, while retaining the few intriguing tones in the background. The cold melodies are sometimes doubled by furious howls, as on Beneath II, where the contrast is reinforced with the much more majestic approach, creating a veritable dark hurricane populated by those intriguing, slow-flying tones. The sound calms down slightly as we reach Beneath III, where the waves return to reassure us in the opening moments before being crushed once again by screaming, tortured riffs, which nonetheless welcome slightly more modern, heady elements. Soothing choruses take us through to Beneath IV, which in turn plunges us into this cosmic tornado of mysterious elements coupled with an imposing base within which the vocals break out and become terrifying, before returning with the same power on Beneath V, the next part. Whispers break the hitherto uninterrupted flow of violence, which can’t help but adopt more massive elements, then the sound abruptly ceases, giving way to the wolf that guards the ponderous march of Beneath VI, which keeps its tenebrous veil albeit with a much slower rhythm, letting the vocals wander across the entire Black Metal landscape before invoking a devastating double kick to finally join the ocean one last time.
Although just beginning to make a name for itself, Lhaäd bears witness to a strong personality and an oppressive sound. Like the first album, Beneath is captivating, and I can’t wait to see how far its creator intends to take us.
90/100