Black Metal, Bushisms And A Broken Compass, An Immorium Analysis: M H Thomson

 

Black Metal, Bushisms And A Broken Compass, An Immorium Analysis:

M H Thomson

Canberran melodic death metallers Immorium have recently released a new album titled Rose Water Black. The following are my thoughts on the record, strap in folks, this ones a doozy:

 

The album’s opening track “No Returning To The Fallen” commences with a moody very Opeth style acoustic guitar passage before careening into brutality with some sadly rather generic sounding but well executed black metal overtones; mournful, fast, brooding with tension, the double bass drum pedals cranking along at full belt in the background. All very reminiscent of what you’d expect of a Woods of Ypres record from yester-decade. From here it kicks off into an altogether more metalcore style riff that faintly alludes to something off of Parkway Drive’s Deep Blue in terms of feel. This then smoothly transitions into the building of a big epic sounding conclusion only for a fade out to kill the epicness by not letting it resolve to its deserved triumphant conclusion. An intriguing start to the record.

 

The second number “Chains” promptly starts with more or less the same Opeth Damnation era style intro as the previous track did before then merging into a sorrowful sounding black metal riff accompanied by a blaring double bass drum pattern. Anyone starting to notice a pattern forming here? The rest of the song mostly follows a very similar structure and feel to track one, there are however a few unique highlights in this piece, most notably the mid-sections beautiful and calming folky flute solo with complimentary whisper vocals and the fantastic late bass interlude that sounds more akin to something Tony Levin would have played on a King Crimson record. By no means a bad tune but its moments of differentiation are too meagre to overcome the overwhelming similarities with the record's opening track.

 

Former US President George W. Bush once famously fumbled his way through a proverb saying “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me…, a fooled man can’t get fooled again”, this meme of a moment came immediately to mind upon hearing the start of “Gone To Early Doors”. This tune largely pulls from the same ol’ bag of tricks from which the prior two tracks emerged albeit this time with a much heavier emphasis on the influence of the aforementioned Deep Blue record by Parkway Drive. It was at this point I was beginning to tire of the band’s compositional formula; having had my hopes of some diversity in song structure well and truly dashed.

 

Alas I spoke too soon, finally on track four of five, titled “Withering”, Immorium breaks from tradition and treats the listeners to something a little different. The almost Iron Maiden style folk feeling guitar riff that opens the tune is a breath of fresh air that sets a tone of purposeful hopeful vigour. Then after an uneventful midsection, at about the 2 and a half minute mark the song switches to an Amon Amarth (AA) style viking metal vibe which defines the feel of the rest of the track. All of the classic AA tropes are present and accounted for, the chugging melodic string skipping riffage, the passionate and planted low bellowing vocals (which for once didn’t sound like Winston McCall attempting to cover Bloodbath), and the steady backline tempo locked at just the right speed for perfect headbanging flow. Moreover, all of this AA and Maiden influence doesn't feel forced at all, but slots in perfectly with Immorium’s sound and style, the band taking full advantage here. What a belter, now we’re talking.

 

Just as things were heating up the winds changed again, blowing us right back in the direction from whence we came. The album’s title track “Rose Water Black” whilst probably my favourite of the blackened melodic death metal arrangements on the record, ideas wise it adds nothing not already heard in the previous tracks. Once again returning to the safety of Opeth deepcut inspired materials. Even the title feels very Opeth, a mixture of “Blackwater Park” and “Black Rose Immortal”, two old Opeth epics. The song's considerable length didn’t help matters either as I was certainly living up to the title of track four by the end of it. Oh dear.

 

Generally I like this style of melodic death metal but “Withering” aside none of the songs really feel distinct enough from one another for me to ever want to return to this record. Which is a shame really because everything on here is beautifully performed and the mix of the album is excellent. At every turn there was such potential for this record to go in any number of cool and interesting directions, ‘tis a real pity then that the bands compass seems to have broken and left them running in circles.

OUT NOW:

https://immorium.bandcamp.com/album/rose-water-black