Reviews: SAT338
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Embattled Donetsk in the Russian-controlled Donbas region of eastern Ukraine is home to Andrey V. Tollock, the man behind the genre-bending metal band Haissem (which is the inverse spelling of Messiah). It is easy to imagine that life there has been… difficult… over the last eight years, and especially now. But while continuing to devote himself to family and to paying work (he was employed as a miner at the time of what seems to be the most recent interview he gave in 2018), he has managed to be a prolific creator of heavy music.
Beginning with Maze of Perverted Fantasies in 2016, he has released five albums, and a sixth one — A Sleep of Primeval Ignorance — is now set for release by Satanath Records and Exhumed Records on April 14th. We’ve hosted premieres of music from some of Haissem‘s previous albums and today we do it again, as we present a lyric video for “Bleak Heaven Aloft” from the newest full-length.
As anyone knows who has followed Haissem’s musical progression, there have been variations in style from album to album. Although ingredients of melodic death and black metal, as well as thrash, could be said to form the backbone, the albums reveal experimentation with other ingredients. The new release is no different.
Compared to previous albums, A Sleep of Primeval Ignorance reveals increased use of keyboards to render symphonic and choral parts, and as the labels accurately report, the sound has became “even more massive, dense and weighty”.
The lyrics of “Bleak Heaven Aloft” are themselves bleak — and diabolical — and their supernatural setting is augmented by the film clips in the video. The music is quite multi-faceted, and the song’s significant length provides ample room for Haissem to move.
Those movements take the listener through episodes of turbulent, fire-breathing black metal in which cascades of grim and desperate melody flow like dark waves capable of carrying the listener away, far from stable shores. At times, the trilling guitar melodies are moody and downright heart-breaking, and they become intensely memorable.
The music is also frequently swathed in sinister and supernatural cloaks, and it soars in theatrical grandeur. It also delivers muscular jolts and head-hammering beats, and it dances in macabre delight. Part of what makes the song so captivating is that Haissem manages to present all these varying and often elaborate experiences in such a cohesive fashion.
The album comes recommended for fans of such disparate bands as Cradle Of Filth, Old Man’s Child, Rotting Christ, and Dimmu Borgir. It was recorded and mixed at Vetkin Records Studio, and features artwork by Hellcatfairyart, with layout by Aleksey Satanath.
Check the links below for pre-order information, and then also listen to the previously released song “Dieu Le Veut. Chaoseed“, which is free to download at Bandcamp.
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2022/03/11/an-ncs-video-premiere-haissem-bleak-heaven-aloft/
This is a review of an album from Ukraine's solo project Haissem which showed the music going for a melodic and progressive mixture of black and death meta and the album was released in 2022 as a joint effort between Satanath and Exhumed Records and called "A Sleep of Primeval Ignorance"
Atmospheric sounding synths start off the album and also mixes in with the heavier sections of the songs. When clean playing is utilized they also give the songs more of a progressive feeling while the solos and leads are also done in a very melodic style and all of the tracks are also very long and epic in length.
Vocals are mostly grim yet high pitched sounding black metal screams while the riffs also add in a decent amount of melody. Death metal growls are also utilized at times along with the faster sections of the songs also adding in a decent amount of tremolo picking and blast b eats which also gives the music more of a raw feeling.
Throughout the recording you can also hear a decent mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with the synths also adding in some symphonic touches when they are utilized, orchestration, Gregorian chants and spoken word parts can also be heard briefly. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and philosophical themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Haissem and if you are a fan of melodic and progressive black and death metal, you should check out this album.
http://occultblackmetalzine.blogspot.com/2023/03/haissema-sleep-of-primeval.html
Ukraine artist Haissem is out with the album "A Sleep Of Primeval Ignorance", and extreme metal is the style explored on this production. This take on the form revolves around long and rather elaborate compositions, most of them stretching beyond the 10 minute mark, with a liberal amounts of changes and alterations throughout in terms of both pace and intensity. The material appears to be more atmospheric laden than technical as such though, and while the sheer number of alterations does give the compositions a progressive touch this isn't really a defining characteristic here. These are well planned and executed creations however, although the often busy soundscapes can be a tad challenging at times. A production that should appeal to those who enjoy a more complex and challenging variety of extreme metal where multiple alterations in pace and intensity is a key trait throughout.
Andrey Tollock est ukrainien. Depuis 2016 et déjà six albums, dont le dernier en date « A Sleep of Primeval Ignorance« , il compose un black death d’obédience mélodique qui a su séduire l’exigeant Satanath Records. Autant d’éléments qui ne peuvent que pousser à l’écoute de ces quatre longues compositions (entre dix et onze minutes, oui ça commence à faire long.)
Et c’est assez dingue de se rendre compte à quel point Haissem est une formation excellente ! Si je devine ici et là des influences Emperor de la période « Prometheus – The Discipline of Fire and Demise » tant au niveau du chant que dans l’aspect progressif des guitares, la formation conserve néanmoins sa propre spécificité, sublimée par des compositions serpentines, évolutives, pleine de circonvolutions et de variations.
Typiquement le genre de disques dont on n’attend rien et qui se révèle être une véritable petite perle, discrète et trop rapidement oubliée tant elle est noyée dans la masse.
A suivre et à encourager!
https://www.soilchronicles.fr/chroniques/haissem-a-sleep-of-primeval-ignorance