Wolvennest has resumed its ritual.
Two years after their last trial, Shazzula (vocals/theremin), Corvus von Burtle (bass/guitar/keyboards, Cult of Erinyes), Michel Kirby (guitar/vocals), Marc De Backer (guitar), VaathV (bass), and Bram Moerenhout (drums)—still assisted by Déhà (additional instruments)—have signed with Consouling Sounds to unveil Procession, their fourth album.
Another Nail is the first track to weave its spellbinding riffs accompanied by strange noise elements created by the theremin, then Shazzula’s unique vocals, who starts off very cold but then skillfully blends in with the dissonance created by her bandmates. The mix is both intoxicating and, at the same time, so expected when you know the band a little that it naturally lulls you to its abrupt finale, which leads into Purple Poison and its disturbing introduction that leads to a heavy and oppressive but also very heady cloud of sound as soon as the lyrics appear. I personally didn’t even try to resist this mystical trap, welcoming it with open arms to transport my mind with its psychedelic tones to a calmer final, then to The Shadow on Your Side, which follows suit and seems more determined to create a playful atmosphere with its drums amid all this darkness. The rhythm remains fairly constant and easily captures us, leading us to Damnation where the sound calms down for a brief moment, taking advantage of the length of the track to instill mystery and even unease in the less seasoned listener before imposing a tension specific to Black Metal while placing its harmonic peaks. The heterogeneous mix gradually develops new complementary touches before letting Décharné feed us with its more majestic ecclesiastical tones under the few French lyrics that sound like a painful lullaby to my ears. The track is long and experiences a moment of emboldening, then Things that Breathe are Death appears and begins to weave its web of dissonance accompanied by a vocal sample that responds to the fairly simple melody that serves as an interlude before Burial takes over the riffs, offering its suffocating and complex saturation after a gentle introduction. The sonic fog that the musicians develop serves as a nest for the intoxicating leads that appear from time to time, relaying or doubling the vocals before finally letting us loose on Famadihana, the next composition, which opens the doors to its intriguing darkness. Keyboards, vocals, and other ambient noises make the whole thing quite dreamy, though still very dark, progressing at its own ethereal pace until its unexpected end. A few screams in the background keep us on the edge of our seats before Hunters takes over, quickly proving to be much heavier and more threatening, using growls to accentuate this feeling of suffocation despite a less intense central passage. The merry-go-round then resumes, as unhealthy and persistent as ever, then suddenly gives way to Tarantism, where the band welcomes Hekte Zaren (Adaestuo) on vocals, who perfectly complements the gloomy atmosphere with his vocals, invoking the heaviness of Wolvennest. The theater of the strange intensifies so much that it eventually falls apart and brings us to The Last Chamber, which, as its name suggests, is there to close the album, but also to open up unexplored corners, such as the long, gloomy roars that come out of nowhere, or the musicians sometimes preparing the ground for the harmonics that live within this very long final track until total silence.
No one listens to Wolvennest “by chance” anymore. If you try Procession, it’s because you want to discover or relive an extraordinary mental and sensory experience that transports your mind ever further.
90/100