The Rock Blogger

Skagos. Ást . 2009. 5 stars .

From the rainy forests of British Columbia comes Skagos, one of the most sophisticated black metal acts to come from my home and native land. This debut album is cloaked with misty atmosphere and weaves between thundering blast beats and haunting acoustic passages. The lo-fi production, sludgy textures and climatic progressions fits the dense landscape from which this duo emerges, recalling damp pines, rocky cliff faces and mud-caked riverbeds.

While their sound may have much in common with other Cascadian acts like Fauna, Agalloch and Wolves in the Throne Room, Skagos is far more understated, letting its dirges come into the open naturally by way of its airy aesthetic. The album’s intense, emotive appeal doesn’t come from forceful musicianship but rather from its rooted connection to it’s surroundings, a resting sanctuary that lets the land speak. This rootedness comes from the band’s push towards ambiance, a mediated performance that remains enclosed within itself. Skagos wish to be in their vibrations, they are reluctant to stand outside of them as mere producers of sound. Virtuosic mastery is left to the wayside in favor of a deep seated belonging.

Ást is atmospheric black metal at its finest - lush, meditative and trace-inducing. While its vocals and forays into blasting percussion are raw and aggressive, they are not out of place amid the organic shifts in mood and texture. Ást is, in short, a romanticized journey into the wild, complete with raging thunderstorms and radiant bursts of sunshine.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.