With Ascending Hate (AFM) the Italian Symphonic Black Metal band Graveworm presents their ninth studio album – a beastie that has been three and a half years in the making, but well worth the wait!
One of my favourite elements on this album is the piano which is overlaid on the music, for instance in ‘Downfall of Heaven’ or ‘Rise Again’; the contradiction between the black metal and the more sensitive piano really adds depth to the compositions. Another contradiction that really made me happy was that between the music and the lyrics in songs like ‘Blood Torture Death’ as never before have lyrics like those been sung of such a cheerful melody.
The opening track, ‘The Death Heritage’, is one of the highlights on this album, and sets the bar really high. It has a nice acoustic intro on classical guitar, which is then penetrated by heavy, electric distorted guitar before the metal ensues, with blast-beats and grunts, and you can really appreciate the skills that went into the composition. The guitars add melodies that support the growls, and the synth-heavy breaks are also very tasteful and mysterious.
‘To The Empire of Madness’ has very good drumming, and a lovely acoustic break which is interspersed with more metal. The guitar riffs are once again excellent and the grunts, like the rest of the song, are very dynamic, meaning that it holds the attention from start to finish. The acoustic outro is one of the many points on the album where you really get to admire the skill and tastefulness of guitarists Eric Righi and Stefan Unterpertinger.
‘Stillborn’ features yet more incredible instrumentation from all musicians, with a slower pace but is very intense. ‘Liars to the Lions’, on the other hand, is very fast, but it also contains those intense melancholic sections that Graveworm excels at, while despite the clear and polished sound, ‘Sons of Lies’ has a lovely gritty atmosphere. The switch that Stefano Fiori makes between his low and high grunts is one of the reasons I really enjoyed this track.
The closing number of the album is ‘Nocturnal Hymns Part II’. The first Nocturnal Hymns featured on the 1999 As Angels Reach the Beauty album (Serenades), and this new version uses the old motifs to create a more modern and heavy song. It is once again very dynamic, and the guitar riffs halfway through really build a lot of tension. I think this is a very strong finish to what is a very strong album, and it is great to have older work reprised this way.
8.0/10
LORRAINE LYSEN
