The Pitch: Lithuanian post-black band Au-Dessus has joined the ranks of LADLO to deliver their debut full length album. This comes in the wake of their critically acclaimed EP. Entropia, Underling, Vattnet Viskar, Barishi
What I Like: End Of Chapter is an interesting walk through both the old and the new for Au-Dessus. Tracks like "XI" feature the heavy attention to grooving riffs that I loved so much about their first EP, but their sound has evolved in other directions as well. Both the opening and closing tracks experiment with some tasteful clean singing. It's an element that I'm not blown away by, but still one that adds to the overall flow of the album. For those of you not into that sort of thing, don't be deterred. By and large this is still a very heavy album leaning largely on harsh black metal screams and an excellent union of the progressive and the atmospheric without ever losing site of a good hook.
What I Don't Like: Part of what made Au-Dessus work so well is that the tracks, though still on the longer side, were pretty concentrated and they only added up to a lean 30 minutes. This is the band's first time venturing into a full length, and I feel like they have some work to do in maintaining consistency and attention over a longer stretch. There's some trimming to be done, for instance the intro to "XI" and several points on the final track.
The Verdict: Au-Dessus continues to carry a torch for what in my mind "post-black" is really about. Instead of falling into a hipster niche, they take a post metal sound grounded heavily in classic groups like Neurosis and then infuse it modern black metal elements. Get it today.
Flight's Fav's: VIII, IX, XI