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