The more I listen to Black Metal, the more I understand the details that differentiate the bands and their generations. As someone who met Black metal for the first time in the 1980’s, I had that conception of a raw and, most of times, low-fi production. For many reasons, I missed the 1990’s revolution that brought a Totally new kind of Black Metal making it what it is now. Therefore, now I am trying to keep up with the avalanche of new bands that sound nothing like I have heard before.
I have to say my experience gets even more outstanding when I have to review two Black Metal bands in a role like I am doing right now. By quirk of circumstance, that happened this week, I mean, just yesterday I had Nattverd with “Tidloes Naadesloes,” which as I said, are a raw and brutal band with very few modern features, and today, I have Paths to Deliverance with “Ten,” a band with such a complex music that makes me believe we are not talking about the same genre, but, in fact, we are. “Ten” is very complex with some beautifully written movements. On the other hand, “Tidloes Naadesloes,” was direct, straight-ahead. Interestingly, both albums have very minimalistic covers with minimal details. Make no mistake Paths to Deliverance and “Ten” are also brutal, but in a very different manner. To some extent, I guess I have to say Paths to Deliverance sound much even more malevolent because they are not direct, it is the evil in disguise we all say.
“Ab Initio” starts “Ten” up showing everything Paths to Deliverance got which is their ability to masquarade their malevolent music into something taht may sound fragile and subtle. But, again, make no mistake, it’s not because some tracks as “Solitude” have their delicate sonancies that evil is not present. In fact, it is in the mix of the subtle moments with the straight-ahead that evil comes up. Maybe, tracks as “Reveries” showcase better the real face of Paths to Deliverance as it starts slow and kind, but in a sudden all hell break loose showing their real ugly face. The band is just proving that evil is much more clever than many people think. A famous pope once said that evil’s most clever movement is to make us think it does not exist. True.
“Ten” is an album full of music movements. because there are lots of shifts in tempo and cadence and in mood. “The Storm” has a fantastic acoustic guitar strumming with classical inspiration in its beginning to burst into a fantastic wall of sound with a great drumming which carries out all the heaviness of the song. Pay close attention on how the drummer accelerates the pedals. Remarkable. Grand finale “Redemption,” for instance, is one of them by going from very subtle instrumentals that sound almost not Metal to a final outburst ripping the mask off with lots of noise even though intertwoven with some really beautiful chantings. Evil can also be pretty…
Paths to Deliverance “Ten” via Malpermesita Records.
Track Listing:
01 Ab Initio
02 Resonances
03 Solitude
04 The Calm Before the Storm
05 Alone in the Dark
06 Reveries
07 Delirium
08 Here Lies…
09 The Storm
10 Redemption
Watch “Reveries” official music video here:
Source: metaladdicts.com
