The American ambient black metal project AUREOLE is among the
most original and transcendental names you can meet in the genre.
With its distinctive concept and haunting sound, each album of this
offspring of Markov Soroka carries the atmosphere of his own
constructed universe, unfolding a sea of unknown constellations and
predatory darkness, to the sound of mesmerizing soundscapes and
bell ringing.
AUREOLE’s third full-length work is called “Alunarian Bellmaster”,
and again the center of events is the Citadel Alunar. When solar
flares strike the Belltower at the right moment, inhabitants of
Citadel Alunar can manifest a projected self. Their creation uses
the brick and iron of the Citadel as a base. These beings embody
the desires of previous occupiers of Alunar and the bell becomes
their life source. The Alunarian Bellmaster’s Ghost is one such
self. An obsessed craft worker, the ghost is directly linked as one
of the builders or maintainers of the Citadel in the long-ago
times. The obsessive ringing and resonance of perfection for
creating a second Alunar summoned the attention of some in its
local-galactic. A never-ending empire of consumption, worshiping a
never-ending god. This contact of the Deathless Interlopers led to
the ultimate sacrifice of the Bellmaster, one which finally
relocates the citadel belltower into a new form, far away from the
relentless invaders.
To reveal the story in full splendour, Soroka used over 30
different types of bells, collected and recorded over the years.
Its original concept, along with the specific use of instruments
and the incorporation of bells in the album, is absolutely
captivating and something like it cannot be heard anywhere else in
the confines of black metal.
In a stunning musical journey lasting just over an hour, unfolding
in a total of nine separate chapters, “Alunarian Bellmaster”
confidently gets under the listener’s skin through expansive
ambient atmospheres and creeping cosmic whispers of terrifying
alien creatures. In the album, you won’t hear harsh (and any clear)
vocals or traditional black metal instrumentals, but you will
experience a complete immersion in other dimensions through
Markov’s genius compositions, revealing the interplanetary grandeur
of the Alunar spaces.
Opening with the intro ‘Solairis Strike [Activation >>
Alunar]’, where you’ll hear the eerie call of the Alunar ghost
awakening against a background of scraping ambient sounds, synths
and tinkling bells of various kinds, the album smoothly floods the
space with the album’s second track – “Alunarian Ghosts of
Bellmaster’.
Massive in its comprehensiveness, the song feels like a piece
of magic that dissolves into the cosmic dust. Rhythmic and
reminiscent of an immersive ritual, the song clearly outlines all
those ghosts awakened by the Alunarian Bell, carrying the power of
a thousand solar flames. The Bellmaster creates a melody that
awakens all the senses and the spirits dance to the rhythm,
enchanted by the invisible pull of the Citadel. Inspired, the
Master fully immerses himself in this magic as the
sound of the music coming out of the bell reverberates through the
Cosmos.
In the album’s next track, “10,000 Bells Resonate Cosmos Untold,”
the power of the bells increases and unleashes an even more
enchanting cosmic horror that mesmerizes with its soaring beauty.
The bells ringing in the song, along with atmospheric guitars and
spectacular ambient noises, create a whirlwind of emotions digging
deep into the listener’s senses.
And while in this song we have the majesty of the Master’s craft,
in “Warpstorm [Invasion >> Alunar]” we witness the
introduction of the “other civilization” who, impressed by the
beautiful bell ringing and grandeur of Alunar, decides to
start a war against the Citadel and destroy it to the core.
It’s amazing how through his music Aureole conjured up real
pictures in my mind. As the music plays, I can imagine absolutely
the whole story as taken from a film strip, which I think is
a really interesting phenomenon.
Unfolding the invasion of the uninvited inhabitants of Alunar and
the battle of the inhabitants of the Citadel in the next five
tracks of the album, Aureole once again demonstrates its special
energy and dominates the hearing with its originality and
captivating atmosphere that sends you directly there – among the
ruins of Alunar, under a sonic wall of enchanting
soundscapes, vague calls, reverberations, cosmic sounds and
piercing bells that make your skin crawl.
With that said, the album is definitely for a specific type of
connoisseur of the genre – those who like to float in outer space
through music and dissolve into the sound. The average fan is
unlikely to like this album because the traditional tremolo and
fast drums cannot be heard, but is a complete depiction of distant
cosmic voids and requires a special disposition of mind.
The Master’s bell-ringing echoes through space, leaving the
listener in a state of weightlessness, guiding them into the
unknown astrals of Alunar, drawing them to the Citadel and its
magical power. Immersive soundscapes reverberate with their
mesmerizing charge and present a thrilling interstellar adventure
filled with diverse melodies and haunting cosmic groans. “Alunarian
Bellmaster” is not a music album, but a complete conceptual
experience that grabs you right from the start and subtly
transports you through territories you’ve never even dreamed of
before…
Favorite song: “Alunarian Ghosts of Bellmaster”
You can listen to a couple of tracks from the album below:
Album: “Alunarian Bellmaster”
Artist: Aureole
Release Date: February 9th, 2024
Label: Lupus Lounge (Prophecy Productions)
Link: http://lnk.spkr.media/bellmaster
Mother of THE VOID.
Underground music is the ultimate weapon against mediocrity.
