The Ruins Of Beverast awakens once again.
Active since 2003, the project led by Alexander von Meilenwald (vocals/all instruments, Truppensturm, ex-Nagelfar, ex-The Nest…) unveils its seventh studio album, Tempelschlaf, in collaboration with Ván Records.
The eponymous title track Tempelschlaf welcomes us with a heavy and oppressive mix of Black and Doom Metal, allowing the clear vocals to emerge naturally while the drums set a rather heavy tone, creating a contrast with the rest of the strangely calm instrumental. The riffs know exactly how to get carried away without becoming too present, as on Day of the Poacher, which offers an almost playful and rather surprising touch that, coupled with the Old School approach, ultimately proves raw and catchy, allowing itself to accelerate at will to punctuate the troubled flow. There are mystical passages and ghostly harmonics to complete the picture, then Cathedral of Bleeding Statues offers us a much calmer sound to start with, followed by the return of slow and unhealthy riffs. Growls and clean vocals overlap and respond to each other, but the violence eventually prevails and tosses us around in its devastating blast until Alpha Fluids takes over, first gently, then with the dark and infectious energy we know from the band, which eventually explodes, coloring even the softest parts. The keyboards are not to be outdone, reinforcing the anguish of certain moments of aggression before abruptly stopping and resuming more intensely on Babel, you Scarlet Queen!, the next track, which offers us a much fiercer and, above all, faster rhythm. The harmonics remain present, offering mysterious, ethereal touches before the base becomes even thicker, finally transforming into a veritable lullaby on Last Theatre of the Sea. Although the introduction is very soft, it quickly darkens and allows the different vocal parts to haunt it, provoking waves of darkness that are more or less intoxicating or aggressive, but which will eventually lead us to The Carrion Cocoon, the last and by far the longest composition, which takes its time to get started but once underway hypnotizes us and imposes its changing rhythm, which shifts without warning from the utmost gentleness to a wave of darkness.
With its dark and oppressive Atmospheric Black/Doom, The Ruins Of Beverast has already won over many listeners, but Tempelschlaf will accentuate the phenomenon by spreading like wildfire just waiting to be ignited. Its coldness is matched only by its beauty.
90/100
