- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,680
- 9,655
- 113
Eternal - 99%
Few years were better for black metal than 1996. Ildjarn and Falkenbach both arguably reached their creative peaks, and quality albums emerged from such bands as I Shalt Become, Blut Aus Nord, Avzhia and Nokturnal Mortum. Varg, too, nearly tapped into his best form with the mist-cloaked “Filosofem”. As if this wasn’t enough, Summoning’s “Dol Guldur” was also released, still hailed almost uniformly as a triumphant masterpiece ten years after its conception. If black metal was baking, ’96 would already have been a veritable feast. With that in mind, it’s very easy to believe that Sacramentum set out unscrupulously with the sole intention of spoiling us. A work of unflinching hope and beauty, “Far Away From The Sun” is the crowning cherry, the work before which all previously mentioned albums must simply kneel and admire.
Sacramentum’s debut full length is an ambiguous, dense piece, full of subtlety. Very little sticks out at first, and the few parts which do initially grab one’s attention end up being the least interesting and long-lasting (see parts of track 3). The perfect, glossy production allows everything to wash together effortlessly into a meditative ambience, a hypnotic dream, causing time to virtually cease existing during a focused listen. Indeed, the album is centred around fantastical journeys across mystical landscapes, out of time, out of consciousness, dreams and memories and ideals, paradoxically shown to be ways by which reality acquires it meaning. Sacramentum allow that which is usually beyond consciousness to infiltrate it; they bridge that great gap, and the result is truly inspiring. Their dreams resonate with passion and wonder, expanding the limits of the world and uncovering all of its majesty. One can’t help but fearlessly embrace all being when presented with such freedom of mind, such possibility.
Sacramentum express an almost childlike joyfulness, upliftingly light in the purest of senses, despite conjuring images of the sun’s absence or impending absence. Celestial harmonies surge and glide like shooting stars across the night sky, blending into one another as if colours in an especially beautiful sunset. Throaty growls float over the top like the moon’s reflection upon nightly seas. Such tranquil images are undeniable despite the frantic drumming, growls and soaring guitars – a twinkling light is shone upon everything that was once dark with such peaceful appreciation and delight that it’s impossible not to be swept away by the band’s vision.
Voicing themes of the eternal, and yet acutely aware of not only the future’s endless possibilities but the inspiration for the future provided by the past, Sacramentum play with time as if it were built around their rhythm. FAFTS is in fact at its most powerful when nostalgia and hope are merged into the present as one. The emotion becomes almost palpable in tracks 5 and 6 where this theme most clearly occurs; infectious and moving beyond words. “A voice from the past will follow me until the day I die.” Looking back to best move forward, light in darkness, dreams in reality, tranquillity in chaos, so many of life’s most profound paradoxes, all beautified with flowing ease. This is the underlying power of “Far Away From The Sun” – each and every complicated and troublesome aspect of the world is made so simple, and so beautiful, that all fear drifts away, all discomfort is forgotten, and all that remains is the tranquil contentment of having fully opened one’s mind to the wonder of life in all its guises.
Few years were better for black metal than 1996. Ildjarn and Falkenbach both arguably reached their creative peaks, and quality albums emerged from such bands as I Shalt Become, Blut Aus Nord, Avzhia and Nokturnal Mortum. Varg, too, nearly tapped into his best form with the mist-cloaked “Filosofem”. As if this wasn’t enough, Summoning’s “Dol Guldur” was also released, still hailed almost uniformly as a triumphant masterpiece ten years after its conception. If black metal was baking, ’96 would already have been a veritable feast. With that in mind, it’s very easy to believe that Sacramentum set out unscrupulously with the sole intention of spoiling us. A work of unflinching hope and beauty, “Far Away From The Sun” is the crowning cherry, the work before which all previously mentioned albums must simply kneel and admire.
Sacramentum’s debut full length is an ambiguous, dense piece, full of subtlety. Very little sticks out at first, and the few parts which do initially grab one’s attention end up being the least interesting and long-lasting (see parts of track 3). The perfect, glossy production allows everything to wash together effortlessly into a meditative ambience, a hypnotic dream, causing time to virtually cease existing during a focused listen. Indeed, the album is centred around fantastical journeys across mystical landscapes, out of time, out of consciousness, dreams and memories and ideals, paradoxically shown to be ways by which reality acquires it meaning. Sacramentum allow that which is usually beyond consciousness to infiltrate it; they bridge that great gap, and the result is truly inspiring. Their dreams resonate with passion and wonder, expanding the limits of the world and uncovering all of its majesty. One can’t help but fearlessly embrace all being when presented with such freedom of mind, such possibility.
Sacramentum express an almost childlike joyfulness, upliftingly light in the purest of senses, despite conjuring images of the sun’s absence or impending absence. Celestial harmonies surge and glide like shooting stars across the night sky, blending into one another as if colours in an especially beautiful sunset. Throaty growls float over the top like the moon’s reflection upon nightly seas. Such tranquil images are undeniable despite the frantic drumming, growls and soaring guitars – a twinkling light is shone upon everything that was once dark with such peaceful appreciation and delight that it’s impossible not to be swept away by the band’s vision.
Voicing themes of the eternal, and yet acutely aware of not only the future’s endless possibilities but the inspiration for the future provided by the past, Sacramentum play with time as if it were built around their rhythm. FAFTS is in fact at its most powerful when nostalgia and hope are merged into the present as one. The emotion becomes almost palpable in tracks 5 and 6 where this theme most clearly occurs; infectious and moving beyond words. “A voice from the past will follow me until the day I die.” Looking back to best move forward, light in darkness, dreams in reality, tranquillity in chaos, so many of life’s most profound paradoxes, all beautified with flowing ease. This is the underlying power of “Far Away From The Sun” – each and every complicated and troublesome aspect of the world is made so simple, and so beautiful, that all fear drifts away, all discomfort is forgotten, and all that remains is the tranquil contentment of having fully opened one’s mind to the wonder of life in all its guises.
