The poet Kahlil Gibran once wrote, ‘The Sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark’. But what is this calling that is deaf to others, yet audible only to some? And what language does she speak? For some, her speech is woven from the same mind wrought with sorrow, anger, and suffering, a dialogue that rends the mantle, yet one we wish would remain silent. Sooner or later, however, the soul must reconfigure itself to speak the same tongue and enter the same waters that were once but a droplet within its core, there to face the raging behemoth. For it is when we embark that we leave these shores, not knowing if we shall return; and if our feet do touch these sands again, they do so having learned to take new steps.
‘Waves’ by Severoth takes the woes of a weary soul, and from strife, an ocean is born, from the waves and winds that ravage the mind, from the inner turmoil that creates the inner war of man. For through sound, a vessel for catharsis is constructed, but not one that ushers the soul through a journey; rather, one that submerges the soul, forcing it to confront that which is unpleasant as it surrounds the consciousness. Drawing upon the currents of Atmospheric Black Metal, where the flow presents itself in an organic state, revealing its more volatile properties akin to those of bands such as Drudkh, White Ward, and Zuriaake, the sounds of Severoth let the soul peer into the waters to face that which invites sorrow. For it is through this confrontation that the soul lets go, becoming immersed in its own ocean.
The act of surrender may often be judged as a sign of weakness, for those may shun the action, thinking that to submit means to lose everything. But if one were to shed the scales that conceal sight, they would see through blinded vision that it is through submission we enter the unknown, to control not which cannot be controlled, and in turn we resonate with life’s currents as it flows through us, we feel it’s pulsation, it’s temperature as we loosen the reigns, only to come to the conclusion, it was never ours to tame. This abundance in energy and the course that flows takes the form of the guitars, through its language, where the dialogue of every human emotion becomes spoken. Through that which is spoken forms the sea which the mind treads and floats, through the sea forged from within.
An introspective aura encompasses the guitars, which become the zenith, as though the waters that flow into the vast ocean were drawn from the very fragility of man’s emotions, where sorrow, loss, anger, and despair each become a river flowing into the others, which, in turn, converge into the sea. The guitars often adopt a mantra-like motion, wherein a collection of chords is taken and, in a cyclic manner, morphed and repeated, its shape not drastically changed yet still bearing the resemblance of its origin. This creates one of the most memorable moments found on the album through the strings’ ability to entrance the soul, to commune with it in a manner that quells the storm but also feeds it.
Undertaking an ethereal tone, cosmic and shimmering in its resonance, the strings, in turn, carve out a livid soundscape, where the melodies slowly build, seeping and swelling, as though each note were a bated breath trapped inside the lungs until it culminates in an exhalation of air, bursting forth. So too do the guitars behave, as on the track ‘Stars Will Show the Way,’ whereby the tension built through the sauntering melody crashes into a crescendo. This trait is carried through other tracks, strengthening the bond between sound and emotion, as though these notes and their very flow mimic the raging waters from within.
The production, however, aids in articulating the strings, where the distortion and dissonance are amplified. Like garments soaked in water, their colors become bolder, so too are the riffs depicted through the production. ‘We Are Waves’ is an embodiment of this, where the actual tone of the guitar, steel-like yet gliding gracefully in its movement, is brought to the forefront by the production, especially in the soloing, which coils and spirals upwards yet, through its clarity, is able to suffuse itself through the senses as every note is absorbed.
Though one may brave the storms upon life’s oceans, within those storms, something is given unto us, and, within the same breath, something is also taken; thus, the cycle repeats. Taking away that which brings us despair, that which breeds sadness, through its barrage the storm cleanses the soul. For even though sadness may cling to the heart, as the salt washes away and the waves recede, the mind’s cacophony returns to stillness.
This very action, where the consciousness is baptized in the motion of these waters, becomes the essence of the percussion, where each beat batters the soul, yet, after its reverberation, all that echoes are the hymns of tranquillity.
The drumming evokes a voyage-like sensation, as though the culmination of beats carries the soul upon its waves, allowing it to feel their rise as the body becomes submerged beneath their resonance, where their glacial temperature is felt. However, the crux of the percussion is also found in the more minuscule moments that complement the guitars, especially where the music converges into a crescendo. A heavy emotional weight is placed upon the percussion, as this helps anchor the guitars’ meandering shape. Yet, in contrast, the drumming also exhibits an erratic movement, mimicking the guitars’ pulsating form.
Following the same track mentioned before, ‘Stars Will Show The Way,’ the drumming adopts an expansive sound, where the double kicks and cymbals, all working together in unison, render themselves in a crashing spirit. Here, you hear the sound in full, but also its trailing echoes, which hang in the air and dissipate. The manner in which the drums are used to build the climactic moments also magnifies the soundscape constructed, whereby each beat feels as though water were crashing against the flesh, like a body fighting against the current. This tension becomes present throughout the album in the bombastic moments of the drumming.
The beauty, however, resides naught in the drums’ ability to shade and highlight the volatile areas; rather, it presents itself through their transcendent energy. Through the production’s efforts to ground the drums and make them resonate in an organic manner, a connection to the mind is formed, whereby the percussion communicates with the raw emotions of the soul through each beat, each crash, and each eruption, bringing forth clarity through a maelstrom of sound.
‘Snowind’ demonstrates this in its slower moments, as heard in the intro of the song, where the drums maintain a simple beat. However, it is through their connection to the guitars and the overall instrumental architecture that they intertwine seamlessly, eventually transitioning into a more textured pattern. These dimensions bestow a more honest emotion, as though you are able to delineate, from the slow tracing of the rhythm to its eventual buildup, the essence of what is presented.
As the body lies adrift upon the waters, where the waves have become calm, a sense of tranquillity may be found. As the skies become engulfed by the ink of night, adorned by the celestial light of the stars, all that remains are the remnants of that which ravaged the mind, now transfigured into relief beneath closed eyes. The very luminous glow that renders peace comes forth in the ambient moments, found through several facets, such as the keys and even the jazz-like interludes.
‘Snowind’ is an attestation to the ambient pieces injected into the album, gracing the song with an eerie yet beautiful glow, where the timbre, through the production, echoes and dissipates into the air, as though you can feel its residue as it dissolves throughout the atmosphere. These particular elements enhance the energies of the other musical properties, as they introduce a contrast to the guitars and drums, giving off a more relaxed and serene tone—in other words, punctuating the flow and allowing it space to breathe and permeate.
This is experienced on ‘As Forest Dream ar Dawn,’ where the saxophone, combined with the slow tapping of the cymbal, alters the atmosphere, taking a heightened emotion and reducing it to a sombre breath that repeats in a meditative fashion. Combined with the crashing of the waves woven into the sound, this creates a tangible aspect through which the senses become intertwined, and therein, a discovery of repose is granted.
When the mind becomes plagued by the tongues of many voices, by many speeches that contort and muddy the waters within, it often leaves one crippled, where even to voice the battle that rages within is akin to speaking with a mouth full of dust, heavy upon the tongue. Through silence, the inner voice grows louder, until sorrow transforms into anguish, which, in turn, transforms into rage. And when the soul can no longer contain the woes that infect the heart, a sudden burst of emotion, raw and unfeigned, rips through the core of oneself. The voice that follows resembles naught of human language; instead, this is the voice of many years of turmoil left unanswered.
The vocals exhibited within ‘Waves’ become this viscera of human emotions, building a bridge with the hearth of the soul and connecting it to the actual art, flowing to and fro. Pain and sorrow feed into the actual voice, where the vocal patterns feel strained in their efforts. While this may sound like a negative, it is, in fact, a positive, as the ‘strained’ effect feels as though a torrent of emotions were trying to escape the body, rendering it in pain and agony. Thus, the sound that is heard feels organic, as though the human body were pushing its vocal cords beyond their limits to express this sonnet of melancholy.
‘Vyriy,’ as a track, becomes a testament to the vocal emanation, as the register adopts a harsh, ghost-like tone. Instead of the vocals being direct and outward, they expand like mist, spreading and clinging to every reverberation of the drums and strings. The cohesion among the other instruments also strengthens the emotional content of the album, anchoring the elements and creating an intimacy through which the soul may commune with the art.
There are certain pieces of music that become so profound to the mind that, once you give unto them your very soul, you wish for them to take more, to sacrifice your last atom to their currents, but naught for anything in return, nor do you wish to be resurrected in the same breath.What is experienced through Severoth is an offering where art eludes the spirit, where it becomes so entrancing that becoming lost in its sensations is the direction that the mind yearns to follow—the act of dissolving into nothingness so that the soul may converge with the collective consciousness of the sea, where beauty is rediscovered through melancholy and anguish.
