Ominous and embracing…
Review by Jason Guest
Release date: 14 April 2015
Formed in 2012 and with two impressive works to their name already – the debut EP Tranquility, and a split with the mighty Thaw – the first full length from Poland’s Outre is the work of a band whose capabilities far beyond that of its relative youth. Like Thaw, they deal in dense atmospherics, the bounds between music and sound imploding and many a darkened shade and blackened hue enhancing the experience of the band’s ritualistic and all-consuming black metal soundscapes.
With ‘Chant 1 – ‘Departure’, the skies bruise and the mystical forces that are summoned in its dark incantation give full weight to the savagery that unfolds with ‘Shadow’, a majestically commanding piece that boasts a ferocity and fire of incredible magnitude. From here on in, the strengths of this acidic slab of black metal continue to reveal themselves. In ‘The Fall’, it’s the use of a simple but effective structure to urge the listen through the blaze; and in ‘Lament’, it’s the insistent drive of the piercing riff and the spectral melody over the unremitting beat. Slowing the pace for the atmospheric interlude of ‘Equilibrium’, it’s perfectly placed in the running order. Offering both a respite and an opportunity to absorb and appreciate the otherworldly place that Outre have lured us into, the line “We belong to the Earth” is simultaneously ominous and embracing.
Through the burning fires of ‘Vengeance’ we continue and emerge somehow purified for the incredible closer, ‘Arrival’. With its affirmative, assertive and defiant lyrics – “I’m what is behind / I’m what is ahead / I’m the future / I’m the past / I’m the light / I’m the darkness” – Outre close the album with an imposing track that embodies all that is best about it. Hauntingly atmospheric, mystical in its depth and balanced between the dark and the light, the journey of Ghost Chants is one to abandon oneself to, completely and without hesitation.
8 out of 10
- Read MR’s interview with bassist/lyricist Marcin L.th Radecki here
- Outre on Facebook
- Outre on Bandcamp
Track Listing:
- Chant 1 – Departure
- Chant 2 – Shadow
- Chant 3 – The Fall
- Chant 4 – Lament
- Chant 5 – Equilibrium
- Chant 6 – Vengeance
- Chant 7 – Arrival
