Ether – Hymns of Failure (2015)

Is Canada the new Black Metal cradle? Seems like it based on the fact that some of the best Black Metal releases of 2015 have all been from this country. Adding to the count of amazing BM albums, today we have one-man behemoth Ether and its sophomore release “Hymns of Failure”. Clocking in at 90 minutes, this double CD perfectly blends melancholy, depressiveness, and brutality in a crushing manner.

Opening with the intense “Failure”, we had to instantly check if the drums are real… and oh yes they are. This 10-minute piece is piercing and brutal, feels like Mysticum on crack. Scythrawl masterfully manages tempo changes and mood swings in this release from insane blast beats to ambient passages as “Enmity” clearly shows. Slowly morphing into more melancholic blistering music, the album starts quite intense and it transforms brilliantly as time passes by, clearly showcased by our favorite “Coldness” and its eerie vocal arrangements.

The brutality onslaughts return with more traditional Black Metal outburst like “Emptiness” and “Hypersensitivity” and their Borknagar-esque vibe. The album closes with the monumental “Isolation” and its crushing melancholic atmosphere. This track is quite a dramatic closing for a very entertaining and engaging release that nicely transformed over its course to be more cohesive and feature more variety.

Overall, “Hymns of Failure” is one hell of a release filled with hate and brutality, but also melancholy and melody. For an album that clocks over 80 minutes, we never felt bored or that anything felt repetitive, something quite remarkable for ANY BM release (even the ‘big bands’). If you like aggressive Black Metal with melodic components, look no further and pick up this very unique release.

Label: Sepulchral Productions

Release: April 7th, 2015

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Canada