Review Summary: A peculiar Pelander album masquerading as an alienating Witchcraft album
Witchcraft had been weaning themselves off their 70s occult rock roots, but their sixth album is an unprecedented departure from everything that came before. Despite the title, Black Metal is an entirely acoustic affair that features founder Magnus Pelander as the sole performer. The logistics are enough to trigger Seventh Star flashbacks, but the band’s classic efforts have certainly had their share of folk excursions. And with how many doom artists trying their hand at acoustic material in recent years, what’s in a name?
But even compared to the minstrel musings of Pelander’s actual solo album, 2016’s Time, Black Metal is a completely different beast. Aside from brief ripples of piano on “Sad Dog,” the presentation is incredibly minimalist with just a sole guitar and vocals at play. The guitar playing primarily consists of gently brushed strums and softly plucked notes while the heavy reverb and drawn out lines make the vocals nigh unrecognizable. It’s a very grounded album compared to the Witchcraft’s usual rustic otherworldliness, and the mood is consistently depressing.
Unfortunately, the album may be a little too consistent for its own good. Despite running just over a half-hour, the combination of sparse instrumentation and overbearingly slow instrumentation can make this a slog to get through. The songs also end up interchangeable with a dearth of variety. “Elegantly Expressed Depression” starts things off pleasantly, and the extreme minimalism reaches an oddly compelling point with the closing “Take Him Away,” but I’m pretty sure those highlights have more to do with their placements in the track listing than the actual writing behind them.
Overall, Black Metal is a peculiar Pelander album masquerading as an alienating Witchcraft album. While the mood and playing are well-suited for the melancholic intentions on display, the unengaging compositions ultimately amount to vaguely enjoyable background listening. Perhaps some more elaborate arrangements would’ve improved things, but this brand of minimalism can be effective with the right personality attached. Black Metal isn’t trying to be Firewood or The Alchemist, but it doesn’t quite pull off Pink Moon either.
Highlights:
“Elegantly Expressed Depression”
“Take Him Away”
Originally published at Indy Metal Vault
