maeskyyrn-interlude-reviews

Review from Friedhof Magazine

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 20:23:21 +0100

From: Friedhof Magazine

Published: August 24, 2020

Estoy dividido con esta grabación. El caso es que "Interlude" son nueve temas, cuatro instrumentales y de los cinco con letra el primero cuenta con una introducción. Los discos así a mí me rompen un poco el ritmo, pues una cosa es una intro muy breve y otra es que pase del minuto y pico cuando la intensidad del tema anterior te había logrado meter de lleno en el sonido del grupo.

Como he señalado, la grabación comienza con una intro ambiental con sintetizadores que va subiendo en intensidad y añadiendo los instrumentos electrificados, que inciden en las melodías «apagadas». A este tema lo han llamado "Intro: The Artificial Light", con voces guturales y alaridos, y que es seguido por "Gathering Believers Among Sheep", una pieza de Black Metal de manual, con partes rápidas, guitarras chirriantes y cambios de ritmo donde desarrollar un amplio abanico melódico, dejando muchas y diferentes influencias, que van desde Wolves In The Throne Room o Drudkh hasta Agalloch.

Pero claro, luego viene la instrumental "I" y te sacan de juego con tanto sintetizador, siguiendo con una "These Battlefields, Where None Walk Twice" con los patrones del Bblack y las melodías ya características de Maeskyyrn, que también tienen tiempo para registrar diferentes tipos de voces, todas sonando profesionalmente gracias a un notable trabajo de estudio.

Intro de por medio y tenemos otras dos sacudidas intensas, "The Slow Death of the Years & Other Omens" y "Of Forests and Troubled Past", con algunos aportes de teclados, breves guiños al Death Metal, partes más solemnes, voces limpias, un aire instrospectivo y registrando unas buenas solistas en ambas composiciones, demostrando que saben hacer música que engancha, si bien las intros tan extensas te sacan del terreno.

Supongo que todo se resume a gustos personales. Habrá gente a quien las pistas instrumentales les ayuden a meterse más en ambiente y otras, entre las que me incluyo, que con unos segundos ya tienen suficiente. Eso sí, en las canciones electrificadas "Interlude" demuestra ser una grabación muy completa, con muchas partes diferenciadas, varias fuentes de las que beber y un sonido donde deleitarse con todo el trabajo que han hecho. Así que puedes darles una oportunidad y escucharles en Bandcamp, si luego te interesa comprarte el debut de Maeskyyrn que sepas que no solo podrás disfrutar de esa buena portada de Cláudio Moreira (Bharaduur o Memorian), sino también de otros dibujos interiores impresos en el digipack de seis paneles a cargo de Hypnotic Dirge Records (Canadá).

Reviewed by: Arcadio R.

Review from Ave Noctum

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 00:30:18 +0100

From: Ave Noctum

Published: February 26, 2020

Original Link

Ooo, here’s an oddity. This is the debut full length by Quebec based black metal band Maeskyyrn, but I have to say it doesn’t at first sight seem to fit in with the stuff I usually listen to from that productive scene. For a start the song titles and lyrics are in English… But a fair few of their social media missives are. And they have played live with those other bands so clearly they fit in nicely. So, what’s at play here?

Well the first track, ‘Introduction: The Artificial Light’ has a slow, dreamy, almost cosmic sound, a little Midnight Odyssey in the keyboards and whispered vocals until it eases into a slow, atmospheric riff. It’s almost DSBM in its feel, a grey, cold melancholy sweeping through the music, a little Winterfylleth at their simplest until the guitar break pushes it away. It then bursts into ‘Gathering Believers Amongst Sheep’ on a mid-paced riff that is so very Scandinavian in feel with aggressive vocals, but it’s when it drops back into a softer, slower mode around the midpoint that the song really shows its depth for me, albeit briefly. Beyond that perhaps it is a touch generic; not bad mind, just ok.

We then get the instrumental, almost subliminal drift of ‘I’ that wraps us once more in keyboard introspection. Again, it transitions superbly into ‘These Battlefields Where No One Walks Twice’ which has a weird but wonderful Destroyer 666 deep, malevolent slow style to it opening out into a melodic black metal riff all trilling notes and low down grunt. It has hooks, clean lead breaks and the deeper vocals are excellent. Ok this is good; very. A little choppy section and a Viking metal swagger and feel rounds it out nicely. Curious.

Second interlude ‘II’ follows and ‘The Slow Death Of The Years And Other Omens’ rides in in turbulence and keyboards that hark back to the early days of Gehenna. At nine minutes this is a bit on the epic side and despite distinct passages and drifts into quieter moments and gentle waters I do waver a bit but also suddenly the name Limbonic Art drops in and I begin to nod in that sage-like way reviewers do when they think someone.is watching them. Just something about the heavy use of keyboards allied with an often very Scandinavian style of riff and vocals that constantly pulls me in that vague direction without being a huge influence.

We get the third interlude then, and into ‘Of Forest And Troubled Pasts’ where the sound drifts towards the English sound of mist and hills and melancholy and lovely it is too. The hook-line here is just gorgeous, the feel of a land and nature washing over you in great grey waves. Another nine minutes but no wavering here; it enthrals and takes me places and is beautifully judged. Clean vocals appear, the keyboards are rich and the guitar break is excellent. Think a little like the UKs Deadwood Lake here.

And we end with…er… ‘The End’. A final bit of Midnight Odyssey styling, a soft slow end.

It’s a fascinating debut; not perfect and at times there’s still a little tension between the various influences at play from the tad generic Scandinavian sound, through a couple of branches of the English feel and the gentle mastery of Dis Pater. They will work it out though as their grasp of transition between sounds is excellent, the interludes are not wasted or jarring and they are not afraid to use more metal guitar leads breaks either. There are ideas and talent and a real feel here.

They might not slot neatly alongside their Quebec brethren but, hey, Maeskyyrn are definitely one to watch if melodic, atmospheric black metal.is your thing

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by: Gizmo

Review from Chama do Metal

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 20:13:57 +0100

From: Chama do Metal

Published: November 12, 2019

Original Link

Saudações bangers, hoje com prazer apresentamos Maeskyyrn, banda canadense de Black Metal, formada em 2017, iniciando suas atividades no período de 2018 com lançamento da demo “Thoughts Of Shattered Dreams”, e neste ano de 2019 com seu primeiro álbum de estúdio, “Interlude”.

Em Interlude, temos um tradicional Black Metal aos moldes das ondas da cena norueguesa, com guitarras chorosas e carregadas de atmosfera, executadas por Saemyaza (guitarra solo) e Noctis (guitarra base), uma bateria com velocidade mais contida e regulada, desempenhada por Mehrunes e um baixo que acompanha a cozinha da banda por parte de Nemetona. Vocais bastante “rasgados” e em alguns momentos intercalando com gritos e guturais graves, reforçando a agressividade da banda.

No álbum, é possível apreciar longas composições de sete a nove minutos, com atmosferas bastante melancólicas e contemplativas e bastante ênfase em melodias introdutórias, como na “These Battlefields, Where None Walk Twice”, onde a sonoridade dos acordes se tornam extremamente envolventes, dando espaço para as duas guitarras agindo em conjunto, com Saemyaza executando o solo que dá o tom da faixa. Momentos de explosão podem ser ouvidos na “The Slow Death of the Years And Other Omens” que inicia com blast beats em sua introdução e riffs destruidores de guitarra, mas nunca perdendo os elementos melancólicos presentes em cada faixa, além das cadências de velocidade.

No intervalo de cada faixa, está uma introdutória denominada “Interlude”, evidenciando as influências de Atmospheric Black Metal, com sons de sintetizador para aumentar a imersão musical. Interlude se trata de um tradicional Black Metal, muito próximo sonoramente de bandas que utilizam de elementos mais melancólicos em seus sons, em alguns pontos se assemelhando até mesmo com Darkthrone. No álbum, Maeskyyrn deixa claramente a proposta musical, sendo um excelente trabalho e recomendação para fãs da velha cena do Black Metal, Atmospheric Black e mais variedades do gênero.

Reviewed by: Fábio José

Review from Musipedia of Metal

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 21:09:04 +0100

From: Musipedia of Metal

Published: November 6, 2019

Original Link

Interlude is the debut album from Canadian Melodic Black Metal band Maeskyyrn. Somewhat unimaginatively titled, the album has three tracks titled Interlude as well for good measure. My first thought is I'm seeing a lot more metal (Black Metal in particular) coming from Canada. Having now listened to this album I can safely add this to the list of good Black Metal from Canada. As debut albums go this is a solid offering with some really great highlights. As a concept (if Interlude is a concept) I'm not really sold. At just over forty six minutes this album is essentially a handful of seven-ish minute songs broken up by these somewhat odd synthesised intermissions. These three interludes (plus the intro and outro) seem to achieve little in terms of what they bring to the overall experience, feels a lot like filler. Furthermore they do not seem to flow especially well to or from the leading or preceding tracks respectively (with the exception of the intro). Honestly, I'd rather have had these removed altogether and been presented with a belter of an EP. For the most part, this is as previously mentioned a Melodic Black Metal album; it leans towards to heavier end of the spectrum rather than atmospheric but still has plenty of mood.

The instruments all put in a very strong performance and decent production gives each of them discernable presence throughout. There are spatterings of other influences present at different points of the record. Some doom-esque riffs early on in Gathering Believers Among Sheeps (and again in Of Forests And Troubled Past), some raspy death style vocals thrown in to These Battlefields Where None Walks Twice and occasional clean backing vocals, most notable in the last song. The overall disposition of the album is one of melancholy and despair. On more than one occasion I find myself likening the sound to another album I reviewed not so long ago, by Deadwood Lake. The pitch often shifts in whole octaves, a technique used to manipulate the emotional travel of the song and its executed with great effect. Coupled with distinctly varied movements, uses of slower, sometimes acoustic bridges the songs are relatively complex constructs that hold your attention well. This style of songwriting hints at Post Black but thankfully never really goes there. The Slow Death Of The Years And Other Omens takes on an unusually jovial, almost bouncy melody albeit maintaining a minor key; it sounds initially somewhat out of place. But as the track develops and reveals its multiple enactments I do find myself liking it more and more. At around three quarters the introduction of choral baking vocals adds a tranquil, haunting quality, leading us into a semi acoustic bridge before unleashing hell in the closing passage.

This is a great track despite the initial impression of being a little out of sync with the rest of the album. Overall, I really did enjoy this album even if at times felt mildly frustrated by the overdose of filler. Stripped back and kept simpler I'd have given the individual songs a higher marking, but as an album it falls a little short of the mark. That said, I'll be eagerly awaiting their next output. 6/10

Rating: 6/10

Reviewed by: Val D'Arcy

Review from Metal Temple

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 22:47:16 +0100

From: Metal Temple

Published: November 5, 2019

Original Link

Before the project MAESKRYYN was created, Alexandre Lamothe AKA "Harslingoth, the Overseer" and Philippe Hurtubise AKA "Saemyaza, The Last Eye" were in a band now dissolved called EXORCISE THE SKY. Relentlessly hungry for music, in September 2017, Harslingoth and Saemyaza quickly started making music and experimenting with what was for them, the expression of their souls. This created in a relatively short time the first two songs, "Tainted Shores" and "My Path, No Longer Linked," Mixing the two mains themes of the project, the despair of this dying world and the ignorance of man. Although it is not clear if the band fits more into Depressive Black Metal or Atmospheric Black Metal, the main idea stays in a dark-themed meditation about this world. “Interlude” contains nine tracks.

“Introduction: The Artificial Light” opens the album, with atmosphere building in the background and whispered vocals. Then the main riff drops…and it is indeed a depressing sound. “Gathering Believers among Sheep” starts off with a faster riff, some double kick drumming, and a big scream. The vocals are high and sharp. It changes key right before the half-way mark, and the vocals go deep, while a despondent sound builds. “Interlude I” is a subdued track with charming atmosphere and sounds you might hear emitting from a distant star.

“These Battlefields, Where None Walk Twice” features a majestic sound in the main riff, and some vocal variation. It also has a more traditional sound, with a discernable riff and even a short guitar solo. “Interlude II” is very short, with more of that atmospheric sound. “The Slow Death of the Years and Other Omens” is close to ten minutes in length. Opening with a full-on Black Metal sound, some light symphonic elements augment the music here. While the drums gallop away, an odd guitar solo rears its head before the chaos returns. It slows down after the ¾ mark and this is where the atmospheric elements come into play, just for a spell. “Interlude III” is the shortest of them all…barely making a sound. “Of Forests and Troubled Pasts” is another long song, opening with some solidary lead guitar. It moves at first with a slow pace and some despondence in the vocals and instruments. A pretty ambient passage appears just before the ending chaos.

“The End” is another short instrumental. It has a feeling of both depression and hope, as any good ending should. Overall, this was a good, but perplexing album. The three interludes barely registered much sound at all so I question their place on the album, other than to provide breaks between the intense Black Metal blueprint. However, I found the album to be just as described…a dark wedge of Black Metal with atmospheric moments, and the band offered enough diversity to keep me interested.

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by: Dave "That Metalguy" Campbell

Review from Dioses del Metal

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 22:46:16 +0100

From: Dioses del Metal

Published: November 5, 2019

Original Link

Maeskyyrn es una banda de Black Metal nacida en Montreal en 2017. Lanzaron una primera Demo llamada «Thoughts Of Shattered Dreams«, en Enero de 2018. El 17 de Octubre de este mismo año, la agrupación saca a la luz «Interlude«, su primer larga duración junto a Hypnotic Dirge Records.

La formación inicia el álbum con Introduction, The Artificial Light, que cuenta con una ambientación apagada en la que una voz nos susurra introduciéndonos de este modo en un estado de oscuridad total que se hace más fuerte en cuanto suena un instrumental demoledor encabezado por unas guitarras chirriantes y fieras. Se trata de una canción en la que las atmósferas te atrapan por completo jugando con el estado anímico de tu propia persona. Mientras, la potencia aumenta con creces en Gathering Believers Among Sheep, donde ya nos encontramos un gélido gutural poniendo la guinda al pastel y acompañados por unos instrumentos cuya belicosidad es admirable, especialmente por parte de las guitarras en las manos de Saemyaza y Noctis. Se respira la mejor esencia del Black Metal desde el primer segundo, siendo un detalle que me ha gustado bastante así como también que la banda te mantiene con el corazón encogido durante toda la canción en la que los constantes cambios de ritmos la robustecen con un poder inigualable.

A lo largo del álbum escucharemos temas muy atmosféricos en los que la formación despliega su poder creativo además de su naturaleza fría e intenta meternos de lleno dentro de una tenebrosidad potente y casi podría decirse que sobrenatural. Estos cortes son Interlude I, Interlude II, Interlude III y The End, éste último como su título indica, es el encargado de echar el cierre al disco de los canadienses. En el cuarto lugar suena These Battlefields, Where None Walk Twice, donde se puede apreciar al instante una interesante combinación entre un gutural más profundo frente a otro un poco más «suave» pero de una frialdad sublime. Maeskyyrn, sacan en esta pista su lado más extremo que culminan con unas aceleradas cuerdas y una batería portentosa. Parece como si la banda se hubiese introducido en la profundidad de los bosques escandinavos pues el frío que transmite te azota con mucha fuerza. Llegamos hasta la canción más larga de «Interlude» con nueve minutos y veintiséis segundos de duración, The Slow Death Of The Years And Other Omens. En ella se puede escuchar como la agrupación es capaz de desfasarse aún más poniendo toda la carne en el asador sin ningún reparo. La ambientación que arropa al tema es magnífica pues lo hace diferente de lo que había sonado con anterioridad. Seguimos con unos cambios de ritmos muy bruscos y el gutural poniendo a este corte en lo más alto del plástico. Ensordecedor e intenso a partes iguales, me encanta. Por el mismo camino se encuentra Of Forests And Troubled Pasts, que prácticamente con la misma duración que la anterior pista, la formación vuelve a sacar su naturaleza caótica para deleitarnos con una canción de verdadero sobresaliente. Hay que destacar la potencia de las guitarras que se encuentran acompañadas a la perfección por una batería aniquiladora por parte de Mehrunes. Es otra de las joyas del primer larga duración de los canadienses.

Con sus guitarras frías y gritos torturados, la estética de la banda recuerda a la segunda ola de Black Metal. Pero, eso sí, Maeskyyrn lleva esa esencia a su propio terreno dando como resultado a un buen disco de este género musical que no os podéis perder.

Reviewed by: ElyAngelOfDeath

Review from Angry Metal Guy

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 17:25:58 +0100

From: Angry Metal Guy

Published: October 14, 2019

Original Link

I normally dislike interludes intensely – the recent, very good Tool album,1 for example, I recreated as a playlist minus the four interludes because they annoyed the crap out of me. So an album called Interlude, with three tracks actually titled “Interlude,” plus an “Introduction” and final track “The End,” put me somewhat on edge. Despite having really liked the advance tracks for Maeskyyrn’s Interlude, I was expecting to have to report that here is yet another really promising album ruined by bloat and plinky … well, interludes. Not so. Most very not so. Instead, Maeskyyrn treat the unsuspecting listener to an outstanding melodic black metal album, steeped in bleakness. “Is there still hope? Maybe, but we are not here to enlighten you on that matter…,” opine Maeskyyrn, “or are we?” Oh, you wags, you tease.

Interlude is the full-length debut from these Montreal natives, following 2018’s demo EP, Thoughts of Shattered Dreams. It is, by degrees, a crushingly heavy, melodic and atmospheric slice of black metal, that both surprised and enthralled me. It’s been a while since I have so willingly hit repeat on a promo sitting in my review queue. Maeskyyrn begin Interlude in gentle mood as “Introduction. The Artificial Light,” opens with slowburn synth notes over deep hypnotic breaths and whispers, which gradually build toward a melodic, almost doom, riff and clean background vocals. Somehow, this feels like an appropriate moment of calm or an intake of breath, before the assault that is to come. And what an assault it is. “Gathering Believers among Sheep” wastes zero time in laying about it with harsh rasped vocals, trem picked guitars and blastbeat drumming, with some great little triplets. Over it all, ride some mournful and soaring melodic leads that temper the fury a little. In this, Interlude reminded me of Panzerfaust – with whom they also share some lyrical themes of war and desolation – and former label mates Obsidian Tongue’s A Nest of Ravens in the Throat of Time.2

The centerpiece of the record is the huge “These Battlefields, where none walk twice,” which breaks out of the pvre black metal mold in places, introducing into the mix elements of blackened death metal and reminding me, if only a little, of the epic Mistur, something I would say for “Of Forests and Troubled Pasts” too. Both batter at your braindrums, shrieking their way into your skull but also offer searing leads and surprising levels of subtlety that repay numerous listens. Both these tracks also see Maeskyyrn make some use of gruff, growled Amon Amarth-style vocals, which mix things up nicely against the rasping howls of Alexandre Lamothe (also known as “Harslingoth, The Overseer,” yes, really) that dominate. The album’s longest cut (by a few seconds), “The Slow Death of Years and other Omens,” is also the most unrelentingly brutal track on Interlude, as drummer Mehrunes, The Pace Of Blight (again, yes, really) utterly loses his shit, driving the song forward at lightning pace. Even here though, there is breathing space, as the clean, chanted vocals from the introduction reappear.

Having made such a thing of them in the first paragraph, I suppose I should briefly return to the interludes themselves. The three of them – “Interlude I,” “II” and “III,” respectively – are used to space out the record’s four main tracks, each of which clock in at 7 minutes plus. There is nothing particularly ingenious in this per se but as each of those tracks has its own identity, all built around huge levels of breathless ferocity, the space afforded by these atmospheric interludes, each shorter than the last, is surprisingly effective to reduce the claustrophobic intensity that Maeskyyrn bring to the table. Interlude also sounds seriously good, with everything where it should be in the mix – at least for my preferences – and a great guitar tone that is both harsh and mournful, without feeling cold.

Maeskyyrn really impressed me with Interlude. Even more so because it’s a debut. The use of melody and space, as well as the sparing use of clean background vocals, on the record show a level of maturity and songcraft that I associate with bands who are on maybe their third record and starting to explore a more expansive sound, tempering some of the aggression they poured into that debut. Make no mistake, the fury and despair is there in spades on Interlude but, as Maeskyyrn intimate, maybe there is a hint of enlightenment on show too.

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed by: Carcharodon

Review from Broken Tomb Magazine

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 17:23:51 +0100

From: Broken Tomb Magazine

Published: October 7, 2019

Original Link

Maeskyyrn es una banda de Black Metal formada en Montreal, Canadá, en el año 2017. Tras lanzar una demo el pasado año 2018, el próximo 17 de octubre editarán su primer álbum de larga duración, titulado “Interlude”, a través del sello Hypnotic Dirge Records

La formación de Maeskyyrn se conforma por Harslingoth, The Overseer (voz), Saemyaza, The Last Eye (guitarra principal), Noctis, The Veil of Night (guitarra rítmica), Mehrunes, The Pace of Blight (batería) y Nemetona, The Grove Keeper (bajo).

Una vez más, el Black Metal canadiense no nos vuelve a defraudar y continuando con la estela de bandas quebequenses como Monarque o Sombres Fortêts, Maeskyyrn nos ofrece un disco en el que a través de nueve canciones, nos encontramos con un Black Metal crudo y a la vez melódico, repleto de riffs a base de trémolos majestuosos, tan agresivos como con una gran carga sentimental, además de algunas secciones de guitarras acústicas e interludios atmósfericos ejecutados con samples a modo de sonidos cósmicos, invitando a la introspección.

En cuanto a la sección rítmica, esta tiende a la velocidad, a base de blastbeats, pero también nos toparemos con una buena cantidad de cambios de ritmo, por lo que el aburrimiento no es una opción a lo largo de este trabajo.

El registro vocal, principalmente se trata del shriek, pero además también añaden coros de corte ceremonial y susurros, con lo que existe un gran dinamismo en conjunción con lo compuesto musicalmente.

En resumen, “Interlude” se trata de un muy buen disco, tal y como nos tienen acostumbrados en la escena de Quebec. Hazte con el y no te arrepentirás.

Rating: 7

Reviewed by: Ramón