Isn’t it miraculous, to let the consciousness absorb the melody of one’s emotion, to inherit from another the construct they have created, and from such that is crafted, we commune with it, we may even place a fragment of ourselves onto it. It is through this communion that we cross over and become one with the creation, to feel the world that was sculpted, be it through a malefic tongue or a peaceful mind, we in turn submit ourselves unto this spell of art.
Haimad’s ‘When Night Rode Across the North’ beckons to the old spirits of Symphonic and Melodic Black Metal, weaving into this rich tapestry their own spell. In a similar sounding vein to that of Dissection ‘Storm of The Light’s Bane’, Haimad not only honors the titans, they show why they are rightfully titans in their own manifestation.
The magick emanated from the musical resonance gives life to a world stripped away from its mortal shell, for the very seed that is sown into its earth erupts forth creating a dominanian. One where everything that crawls…kills, where the only beasts that reign the sky are carried upon leathered wings, and where the rancour of sulphur and fire fills the nostrils.
The instrumental energies within ‘When Night Rode Across the North’ and ‘Nen Cenedril’ evokes this sentiment, for the language that the strings adopt, though its playing echoes a serrated and blistering tone, the very energy it gives, feels as though its purpose is to create something nefarious, as though each note echoed from the strings creates a spell, creates a weapon, creates a beast. This very image bleeds through the album as a whole, especially where the synth/keys are concerned, for this is the sinew which binds the fantasy elements and in turn anoints the release with palpable essence.
If one must create a world where the air reeks of malignance, then a still picture will not suffice, the soul should feel the calamity and reverberation of such pandemonium. The drums upon the album creates such a discordant maelstrom and at the same time makes the atmosphere much denser. ‘Of Smokeless Fire and Smouldering Ash’ showcases this, especially with the nuances in the drumming, able to shift the tone , giving another shade to the aura of the album.
Though the album’s atmospheric medieval spirit feels livid in its evocation, it is the blackened speech that is vomited which grants this world a rather weathered and lived-in feeling. The shape that the vocals take welts the aura, bruising it with every evocation bellowed forth, for it can be likened to the cracks upon a fortress, the jagged pieces which jut out from its exterior, so too does the vocals exude in its character, as it gives another dimension to the songs, as though you can touch and recall its texture.
How does it feel? This is usually a question we ask ourselves when the mind consumes any form of art, for what is the purpose if there is nothing to elicit from such pieces? The production displayed here helps tie together all the elements and from that create that immersive feeling, be it dread or awe, the manner in which these songs exhale feel organic in its movement. Take for instance,’The key to The First And Final Day’, the production strikes a balance wherein it’s neither raw nor pristine, but every element is expressive in how it flows,and as such, it makes this aural journey much more impactful upon the senses.
‘When Night Rode Across the North’ becomes the conduit that transmutes sound into an arcane and enthralling landscape, one where the mind yearns to traverse and through such melodies succumb to the spell that is woven.
