Amongst the darkened graphite haze of cloud-cover adorning the sky and the bitter whispering breeze that slithers along the cliffs of this barren land, a new colourless album from Portugal’s Consummatio emerges ahead of you. The distinct, sad abstractions of this artist’s sound palette are once again peering through the landscape of contemporary Atmospheric Black Metal for a third full-length musical endeavour, which is entitled ‘Aer’. A member of Portugal’s fantastic Altare Productions record label, Consummatio has by now generated a reputation for their creation of bleak inkwell-tinged blackened music that feels distant, grainy and obscured.
For me there is a certain particular charm to the music of Consummatio, their previous record arrived by way of last year’s ‘Circulus’ album (my review for which can be found on our website). That release, in addition to the preceding debut album, explored the artist’s knack for plunging listeners into a highly immersive pool of entrancing drones and lucid compositional dynamics. The creative brilliance could be compared to the experience of receiving a dose of some perfect drug, one that immediately flicks you towards a place of instantaneous enjoyment. The emotional footpath for becoming entranced and spellbound within a Consummatio album is straightforward and their music seems ever capable of delivering you into its beautifully melancholic monochromatic universe.
All these points of praise apply to Aer, the album hastily enchants you with its stormy and raw musical weather whilst beckoning your mind to a place of calming introspection. ‘Circulus’ was an incredibly holistic listening experience and the same can be said for this new record. That said, I do find the music on ‘Aer’ to feature a more consistent sense of drama and vigour compared to its predecessor. Album closer ‘Voraz’ features a very hasty percussive backbone and the misty-sounding guitar drones feel as if they may be embodying the identity of some ferocious weather pattern.
Consummatio’s records feature some very pleasant cover artwork and the one adorning the face of ‘Aer’ is no exception. The hooded figure standing watch over a barren rocky wilderness feels reminiscent of one of the more symbolism-focused Ingmar Bergman movies, it’s a pretty and emotive tonality that helps to generate my own cerebral vision of the music when listening to ‘Aer’. Bolstering the record’s atmosphere further is the addition of various storm sounds that seem ever-present during the album’s more instrumentally subdued sections. These various disparate components of world-building coalesce gorgeously throughout the various pieces and their longer runtimes seem to melt into the background as the album’s vivid visceral spirit forces duration to become irrelevant. It is rather easy to forget that the record features a forty-two minute runtime whilst being enamoured with its seamless and moreish fluidity.
Any lover of mood-inducing Atmospheric Black Metal will certainly enjoy this album as ‘Aer’ is another stunning attestation to the quality of this burgeoning Portuguese scene. For all those who wander throughout the epic soundscapes of Paysage d’Hiver, or those who consider themselves fans of artists such as Muvitium, Black Cilice, Branikald or Walknut will want to take notice of this release also.
