FOSSIL GARDENS

Hail Spirit Noir is a Greek experimental metal act hailing from the Macedonian city of Thessaloniki. I have briefly touched on Greece's relative influence within the metal scene before, and I have covered Hail Spirit Noir once before, as well. HSN is one of my favorite contemporary metal bands, and they are responsible for two of my favorite albums of the 2010s: their 2012 debut, Pneuma, and their 2016 third album, Mayhem in Blue. 2020's Eden in Reverse was a solid release, too, though their last album?2021's Mannequins?was a weird, one-off synthwave project. And I'm really not a fan of synthwave.

Fossil Gardens, the band's sixth full-length release, sees HSN get back to their core sound. I once saw someone describe their music as "blackened psychedelic folk," and while I don't necessarily agree with that description, they were admittedly onto something. This band's sound is undoubtedly and undeniably metallic, but influences from psychedelic rock pervade their music more than any metal band this side of Sigh.

The album opens with "Starfront Promenade". Its opening is lurching and ominous, but also astral and expansive. The slow introduction blasts off into a passage of rich, cinematic black metal, where synthesizer embellishments and eerie wordless vocals evoke this record's sci-fi themes. The black metal on this cut is some of the rawest the band has ever recorded, and it blends marvelously with the lusher atmospheres the band deploys.

"The Temple of Curved Space" is melodic with a solid backbone, and the clean vocals are smooth and powerful in contrast to the snarled chorus. Guitars and synths trade time in the spotlight, emphasizing alternating rough and rich textures. Things remain dramatic and enthralling throughout this cut's runtime. Instrumental passages focus on evoking moods and feelings, rather than technical soloing.

After the swirling, interstellar maelstrom of the preceding cut, "Curse You, Entropia" has a much calmer opening. The main riff is reminiscent of certain slower songs from melodic death metal acts, but the vocals here add a sense of ragged anger. Though they're mostly relegated to a supporting role, I love the way synths are utilized in this piece. The tones are inventive and unique, and they always bubble up at just the right time.

"The Blue Dot" features some of this band's most crushing riffs ever, but it is also one of their least-distinct songs. It's enjoyable, and it features some neat instrumental moments, but it doesn't really stand out.

The 10-minute "The Road to Awe" has an airy opening that sounds like it could have come off of a Riverside album (but in a good way; not a derivative one). There's a sense of building majesty and, well, awe as this cut gradually builds up. One of the band's few solos occurs here, and it's emotive and powerful. HSN expertly shifts between a sense of amazement and black metal's more-expected bleakness.

"Ludwig in Orbit" is a brief, two-minute interlude focused around airy chanting and spooky organ. It acts as a great, ritualistic-feeling breather.

Fossil Gardens ends on its title track. Glassy synths lend a sonic continuity with "Ludwig in Orbit", and the sound here is so dense it's nearly overwhelming. This sonic maximalism is momentarily undercut by a filter that makes everything sound distant and muffled, and it's a powerful contrast. On this song, the production is the real star, as opposed to any one instrument.

Hail Spirit Noir's sixth LP is a powerful return to form. It's spacey, psychedelic black metal woven into exciting and inventive song structures. All the instrumental elements blend beautifully, and it's clear a lot of thought went into its composition and arrangement.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/07/22/album-review-hail-spirit-noir-fossil-gardens/