Briefly, Alunarian Bellmaster is as a lot an ambient album as it’s a metallic one – and I just like the ambient stuff extra. Not many can boast an “atmospheric” introduction that isn’t gratuitously totally different from the rest of a launch’s music. However Aureole should not most bands and “Solariis Strike” is without doubt one of the best introductions I can bear in mind. It’s sluggish, unusual, unsettling, and unpredictable, throwing down a marker of the kind of atmosphere to comply with. A piano, guitars, bells, distant screams, choral chants, and quite a lot of synths coalesce throughout the report’s softer palate, creating a way of remoteness and eschewing predictable melodies. Although Aureole doesn’t sound like every one act, “Arrival of Deathless Interlopers” and passages from “UGC 2885” pull at a string of grander synths that remotely recall Celestite by Wolves within the Throne Room.
In contrast to “Solariis Strike,” “Alunarian Ghosts of Bellmaster” options the primary metallic passage from Alunarian Bellmaster. This approximates atmospheric black metallic with which you’ll be extra acquainted, mixing a few of Aureole’s ambient qualities with tremolo-picked guitars and a rhythm part that’s combined low within the soundscape. This lack of backside finish leads to music that’s nice however toothless, regardless of its unsettling howls. The combination is unusually heat, missing the coldness conveyed by a lot of the atmosphere. After the layered and unpredictable opening, I’m left disenchanted by how uncreative the metallic is by comparability. In truth, among the denser synth-led passages really feel heavier than the metallic ones. “Arrival of Deathless Interlopers” and “Beware That Which Inhabits the Belltower” include heavy reverb and distortion in primarily ambient passages that convey a extra highly effective and ominous environment than the metallic passages. I like Aureole extra once they’re attempting to be an ambient, atmospheric band and never a metallic one.
Alunarian Bellmaster affords music for lonely moments, not thrill-seekers. It’s essential to let the music wash over you and ignore your want for hooks. I take pleasure in its fluid really feel the place textures and layers regularly assemble and deconstruct, flowing from gentle to heavy and again once more. A complicated composer controls the emotive impression achieved. However any such launch isn’t an thrilling one, which is able to at all times hinder its award. Alunarian Bellmaster is extra like a tapestry in the way it seamlessly bleeds between tracks, and musical motifs recur. However whereas a tapestry tells a narrative – and the one sheet right here particulars a narrative apparently informed – the relative lack of distinctive particular person passages signifies that I battle to differentiate one a part of the album from one other. It’s notably vague, blurring melodies, devices, and textures all through. Little question that is compounded by the size and repetition. “Beware That Which Inhabits the Belltower” captures among the finest music of the report, doing so over 4 minutes somewhat than 9. Repetition and minimalism are an vital a part of the Aureole sound and this observe demonstrates these are doable in shorter type. By the point you’ll attain the penultimate observe, there are nonetheless 25 minutes left.
Aureole is a greater digital band than it’s a metallic one. I benefit from the emptier, spacier ambient passages wallowing in mild piano melodies, background vocals and synths. Letting this materials relaxation within the background is how Alunarian Bellmaster is finest consumed. However the focus round what quantities to temper music will at all times restrict what I can award. Aureole don’t do sufficient to carry my curiosity as I decide to lively listens to hold out this assessment. And when the overtly metallic passages strike, I don’t prefer it as a lot. There’s loads right here for those who take pleasure in ambient music however the existence of further materials of decrease high quality drags down the discharge.
Ranking: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps
Label: Prophecy Productions
Web sites: fb.com/aureole | markovsoroka.bandcamp.com
Releases worldwide: February ninth, 2024