South Africa. We don't give them enough love around here. Great metal music continues to flow like wine into our viking-like goblet from all corners of the globe. Another I say! Today that wine comes in the form of Wlidernessking of Cape Town. The band has been around since 2011, slowly morphing into a fine fusion of progressive and atmospheric black metal. Les Acteurs de L'Ombre Productions (Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Barus, Maieutiste) reached out in regards to a review of their latest output, and who am I to deny such a label of such excellent reputation?
True to my prior experience wtih LADLO's roster, Mystical Future is quite different from other releases I had heard from them thus far. Wildernessking is by far the moodiest band I have encountered in comparison to the groove of Barus or hellfire of RLHT. "Depressive" is another fitting adjective. These guys could play alongside Deadspace pretty well, though they drop some of the alternative elements in favor of progressive ones. Tracks clock in at 6 minutes or longer, covering a number of different movements and builds.
If you combined early Opeth with post-black, you'd get a sound pretty close to that of Mystical Future. Riffs alternate between melancholic tremolos that seem to float high above the ground, and proggy chord progressions that have a more grounded quality. Much of the aesthetic is conveyed through the layered guitars that seem influenced by post-metal and funeral doom as much as BM. And like I said, the end result is almost always misery. This is not an album for brightening your day. This is an alone-in-the-dark-with-my-grim-thoughts kind of album. This is style is further exacerabated by the sharp, shrieked vocals that seem to come from a great distance.
While I would be lying in stating that this is my favorite LADLO release, it is fair to say that the label continues to offer consistently great material with which to sink my teeth into. Wildernessking is a talented band who can carry lengthy, morose compositions without succombing to repetition or boredom. Furthermore, they accomplish setting of genuine mood as if casting a spell. They make it seem so easy. As a result, there is a power in the music, and for good or otherwise, that is a skill worth developing. If you are a fan of dreary, but interesting, progressive music then check out the song below.