Speglas - Time, Futility & Death Review

How to define an album whose sonancy doesn’t fit the knownn and accepted parameters? Musicwise, “Time, Futility & Death” sounds as a Stoner Metal album or, at least, to the extent of my knowledge, to what is now called Post-modern Black Metal. To be really honest, I’m not totally aware of what this means. From my experience here, this label is an umbrella for many sonancies from the use of pictoresque moodings to more melodic constructos with the gutural vocals that is the main and omnipresent characteristic of all Extreme Metal music. What Speglas do here fit into the second. Lots of strummings with a melodic intent without the tension caused by Black Metal’s dissonances. The dissonance here is the vocal that contrast with the instrumentals. Even the guitars don’t always use the standard distortion. Most of the time they sound as if they were using a fuzz pedal which gives the instrumentals the Sotner Metal feeling I told before. And to think that I was almost ruling “Time, Futility & Death” out after my first listening.

Though some might find “Time, Futility & Death” out of Metal’s umbrella, for Speglas‘s sake there are the aforementioned vocals, the image and the intent the band gave to their songs. The ones that follow Metal music through a long time know what I’m talking about. Metal music has an intent that isn’t that hard to explain. It’s a dissimilar intent than rock music. Take, for instance, “At the Precipice” whose tittle already indicates the intent. The song has lots of acoustic parts and moments, but there is a melodic and structural construct that take sit into Metal music. It’s the way the guitars are played. It’s the way vocals are yelled. Following track “One Last Midnight” leaves no doubt behind when the fast paced drumming comes with the full of despair vocals. Modern Black Metal at its best though the long picturesque acoustic intro. After that, instrumentals get a little more 1980s post punk to change again stepping down with a jazzy cool guitars and drumming. A reference that many bands are using. It’s the track with the most changes.

I always say that I find it easier to review a band that showcases some different sonancies. I just guess there are more thing to say and to explain to my dear child of the night. Or, maybe, it’s just me. Just the way I feel about a band with a music that I’m not used to.

Spegals “Time, Futility & Death” will be released on November 18th via Pulverised Records.

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