Almyrkvi - Umbra

When it comes to sonic surprises, there is nothing like black metal. The style has became a fountain of experimentation. Some avant-garde noise making and weirdness. “Umbra” is not an easy effort to listen to when you are a newcomer. Even to some that are aware of this kind of avant-garde music, “Umbra” is a bit strange.

“Umbra” breaks with some musical conventions usually done in heavy music, which is the riff guidance. Songs in “Umbra” are not riff oriented, they are more chordly oriented. Or some sort. The main musical idea in “Umbra” is to be a breakthrough in the conventional ideas. Songs are oriented by noises and effects with some background voices. In the concept aspect, “Umbra” wants to pass the idea of souls lost in the void. In some religions, the lost souls go to a place in space and stay there for the eternity. Umbra is the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse. This definition explains the concept of the album that Almyrkvi want to explore.

In the 1970s this kind of musical experiment was a bit common in the art rock world. It is getting usual nowadays too thanks to the access modern technology. Black metal musicians are the ones who are exploring more those musical boundaries. It is easier now to record songs with high quality sound. It gives the artists more freedom to experiment. That is what happens to “Almyrkvi.” “Umbra” is the result of a twisted and bad dream. There is no way not to get depressed in listening to it. The estrangement “Umbra” gives to us is hard to tell.

Almyrkvi “Umbra” is an open door to the void, to the suffering of lost souls. You can even hear them moaning.

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