The Mosaic Window marches forward.
After a first opus released in 2023, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Steven Brown (Mauled, ex-Montezuma) signed to Willowtip Records and called on Gabe Seeber (drums, Abigail Williams, Divine Heresy, The Kennedy Veil, Vale of Pnath…) to create Hemasanctum, his second album.
Weeping and wailing greet us on Incantation to Summon the Unstable, but furious Black Metal quickly takes over, unveiling frenzied riffs and ferocious vociferations, rapidly creating an oppressive climate. The melodic flow seems unstoppable, and throws us into The Pounding of Hooves, which uses much the same elements, with a heavier touch in the leads to match the heavy and brutal martial approach of the rhythm section. The rhythm remains very steady and perfectly matches the desired violence, but the musician finally gives us a moment’s respite with the introduction to Black Bethlehem, quickly overwhelmed by his usual rage, to which he sometimes adds a slower, heavier touch, as well as a few more complex touches. Turibulum opens with a new moment of gentleness, but the flood of darkness quickly resurfaces and sweeps us away in its heady charge of soaring leads, creating a contrast with Ash like Anvils, which immediately anchors itself in more suffocating tones. The opening percussion is reminiscent of a military march, but it’s with thick Doom influences that the track opens up to us, then returns to more aggressive and cold Old School roots before giving way to Night Disease, the shortest, most incisive composition on the album. It’s divided between rapid eruptions and small dissonant lulls before fading out, allowing Shrouded in Pain to start with its sampled vocals, then settle into a hazy, intoxicating slowness before resuming its usual speed. Harmonics dress the solid rhythm perfectly, before accompanying it to its final gentleness, which connects with Hymn to Silence the Light’s one, some kind of interlude before the tidal wave crashes down on us once again, offering brighter parts to nuance the galloping tide of darkness that makes it easy for us to understand where the musician’s main inspirations lie, before the tumult slowly dies down.
Whether The Mosaic Window is a discovery for me, its Melodic Black Metal is not. Drawing inspiration from the Swedish and American scenes, Hemasanctum is a moment of coldness and addictive violence.
90/100