The French masters of furious sound and wandering through the
deep waters of mysticism Merrimack need no introduction to
date. Each of their works has distinguished itself from the stream
of black metal albums with its astonishingly heated, rebellious and
vicious energy, at the same time combined with sublime lyrics,
opening a deeper and philosophical view of the expression of the
spiritual. If there was such a thing as meditative and sublime
black metal, then Merrimack would undoubtedly be at the top of its
pyramid.
With their new album ‘Of Grace and Gravity’, the band returns to
their Luciferian roots and methodical mayhem, delivering seven new
atmospheric orthodox anthems spread over just over 48 minutes of
solid sound.
Traditionalists to the core, Merrimack follow the early legacy of
their own style, and I guess it goes without saying that
experimentation is kept to a minimum in the album’s composition and
performance.
“Of Grace and Gravity” starts suddenly and sharply, with the
typical rough and ferocious energy of Merrimack,
spinning our hearing into uncompromising chaos. “Sulphurean Synods”
carries the musicians’ distaste for the false and especially the
self-proclaimed occult leaders, making provocative calls to the
listener and with the help of varying tempos, aggressive vocals and
onslaught of harsh and dissonant riffs, and no doubt thanks to the
pounding drum beats, a memorable whirlwind of pure and
unadulterated emotion ensues.
„Look at them, grotesque assemblies of roosters and
goats,
Carved in their own mirages, in deceptive axioms…“
The spiraling maze the listener descends with each successive
track follows Merrimack’s trademark massive wall of sound, combined
with beautiful shimmering distorted riffs, deep atmospherics and a
playful maneuvering between sublime nirvana, self-contained hatred
and raging rage, spewing philosophy in the form of poetry, easily
enhancing the sense of grandeur. The choice of the last track on
the album is also interesting – “Embalmer’s Wine” is an
all-instrumental track, with only a very muffled scream in the mix
at its end.
As for the production and mixing and mastering tasks of the album,
this time the signature of Francis Caste is noticeable, bringing a
huge part of Tore Stjerna’s production approach to the albums “Grey
Rigorism” and “The Acausal Mass”. You can notice the same raw and
crunchy sound of the guitars and vocals, which gives an extra
cryptic atmosphere to the record. I can’t say that the band’s last
album ‘Omegaphilia’ was bad – it’s sorely not the case, but I
definitely missed that slightly rawer and unpolished energy of the
previous albums there, and especially this primalness and CHAOS
which here, in ‘Of Grace and Gravity”, sound in perfect sync
with the mystical lyrics that captivate the mind throughout the
whole work.
And all of this is aptly reflected in the work of Belial
Necroarts, where the symbol of Eosphoros, the fragility of man and
his connection to the roots of cosmic wholeness, create the overall
picture illustrating the music on the album – pure, raw,
uncomrpomising, agressive and at the same time sophisticated.
With an unruly nature and a touching hypnotic rhytm, “Of Grace and
Gravity” delves into a crusade for truth and the meaning of
existence through enlightening poetry wrapped in a powerful veil of
strong emotional charge and furious instrumentals that will immerse
you fully in the story of the mystical dust of life sinking under
the weight of grace and gravity, teetering between delusion and
crystal clarity.
„He arrogates to himself the right to crown with thorns the descended Word, to give to an insane tribe the laws of scourge…“
You can hear some of the songs from the album
here:
Album: “Of Grace and Gravity”
Band: MERRIMACK
Release Date: March 8th, 2024
Label: Season of Mist
Link: https://bit.ly/3PtuYAn
Mother of THE VOID.
Underground music is the ultimate weapon against mediocrity.
