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| Artist..: Wilt |
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| Album...: Huginn |
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| Genre...: Black Metal | Label...: Vendetta Records |
| Year....: 2023 | Cat.No..: |
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| R.date..: 2023-06-24 | S.date..: 2023-06-23 |
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| Source..: WEB (16bit) | Encoder.: libFLAC |
| Bitrate.: 901 kbps avg. | F.Rate..: 44.1kHz |
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| http://open.qobuz.com/album/eyk85vqm3zctc |
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| Disc 1 / 1 |
| -------- |
| |
| 01. Cloaked in Ash 8:40 |
| 02. 1831 7:18 |
| 03. Resilience 8:57 |
| |
| |
| --------------------- |
| (168.22MB) 00:24:55 |
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| Today the Canadian atmospheric black metal band Wilt and their label |
| Vendetta Records are releasing a new album named Huginn (though some |
| purists may prefer to label it an EP). It comes as something of a |
| surprise, since it wasnÆt preceded by a single or advance publicity, but |
| it is a very welcome surprise. |
| |
| ItÆs certainly a welcome development here, as anyone would know who has |
| come across our previous writings about WiltÆs music, including our |
| comments about their 2015 debut album Moving Monoliths or our review of |
| their second album Ruin in 2018. To pick out just a few choice words from |
| the latter: |
| |
| ô[T[he masterful blending of dark metallic melody and dreamlike serenity |
| found on Ruin makes a very good case that this undeniably talented (though |
| underwhelmingly named) Canadian quintet deserve serious consideration as |
| potential heirs to AgallochÆs vacant mantle (pun very much intended). Of |
| course itÆs not so much that Wilt sound exactly like Haughm, Dekker, and |
| co., itÆs more that the groupÆs sombre, evocative style examines and |
| explores many of the same musical themes and ideas, although never in |
| exactly the same wayö. |
| |
| Five years on from Ruin, and Agalloch have reassembled themselves, but |
| Wilt have returned as well. These havenÆt been five good years for the |
| world at large, and all the dire and dreadful experiences they delivered |
| have influenced what you will hear on Huginn. Here is what Wilt have told |
| us about it: |
| |
| ôWhen we were writing the album, we watched the news and were very angry |
| about what was going on. Fires caused by humans. Atrocities committed by |
| our government, and so on. But despite all the tragedies and grievances, |
| we have the resilience to get through it.ö |
| |
| YouÆll see that those words refer to the subject matter of each of the |
| three longer-than-average songs that make up Huginn. All together, they |
| create a thoroughly captivating and cathartic 25 minutes of music, ranging |
| in power from moments of fragile beauty and solitudes of sorrow to |
| sweeping storms of fire and fury. By turns hypnotic and harrowing. itÆs |
| dark music in all its many phases, but (to borrow again from our review of |
| Ruin) ôrich in both atmospheric ambience and raw emotionö. |
| |
| True to its name, the opener ôCloaked in Ashö is a musical gaze across a |
| fire-charred landscape blanketed in ash. ThereÆs a wistful and forlorn |
| feeling to the slow ringing melody that opens the experience, but a more |
| desolate mood in the heavy scraping chords that drag the music forward |
| over thumping beats, and certainly in the serrated edge of tormented |
| screams. The music is immersive, hypnotic, and even soulfully beautiful, |
| but unmistakably caught in the throes of anguish. |
| |
| As a slow build, the song also becomes increasingly expansive and intense |
| as it proceeds. The lead guitar grows shrill in its trilling and wailing |
| tones, swirling high above the crash and crush in the low end, but it also |
| glimmers, poignant in its grief. |
| |
| The following song, ô1831ô, shows a different octane of Wiltæs emotional |
| fuel. We donÆt know with certainty, but the date may refer to the |
| beginning of a period lasting more than 150 years when (per this source) |
| the Canadian government ôseparated some 150,000 Indigenous children from |
| their families and forced them to attend the Christian boarding schools in |
| an effort to assimilate them into Canadian society. Thousands of children |
| died of disease and other causes, and the Canadian government has |
| acknowledged that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at these schoolsö. |
| |
| The song rages from the beginning, drums in a thundering gallop, the music |
| raking the senses, the vocals burning in their intensity. ThereÆs a |
| feeling of desperation and pain in the melody, and sensations of |
| degradation, heartbreak, and gloom when the pacing slows, though the |
| scalding impact of the screams never diminishes. |
| |
| Once again, Wilt have created a wholly absorbing piece of music. As it |
| ebbs, a melancholy guitar solo, backed by somber strumming and a |
| slow-rocking groove, tugs hard at the heart-strings even as it casts a |
| spell. When it flows, like rapids through a wilderness canyon, it gets the |
| heart pounding, and as the music towers, the anguish in the rapidly |
| vibrating guitar is again unmistakable. |
| |
| The band did tell us that we (and they probably meant all of us) have |
| reserves of resilience to get through all the tragedies and grievances, |
| and so ôResilienceö is the name of the final track. Again, Wilt deploy |
| slowly ringing notes that cast a spell, enlivened by a hefty bass and |
| gripping beats. This one also builds gradually, bringing in more and more |
| musical facets and changing moods as it expands in sweep and power. |
| |
| Despite the songÆs title, the music doesnÆt seem to see the world through |
| rose-colored glasses. It stalks and heaves forward, as if weighted by |
| chains, but also becomes lonely and reflective. Ultimately it flares in a |
| kind of fierce determination. Near the end, a melodic guitar solo strikes |
| in piercing tones, ringing like chimes. It doesnÆt sound hopeful, maybe |
| more like a strident plea. |
| |
| The masterful Adam Burke created the cover art for Huginn. Vendetta and |
| Wilt are releasing it on 12" vinyl (black and limited color editions) and |
| digipack CD, as well as digitally, and shirts are also available adorned |
| by the artwork of Misanthropic-Art. |
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