Aluk Todolo – Finsternis (2010)

Aluk Todolo has been labeled (and use to be a Black Metal), but with “Finisternis” they open our minds into a darkly demented world that will surely be understood by a select few. The band’s latest effort explores minimalistic sounds that for the most part will leave you expecting some sort of climax that never occurs, making you hand by the edge, waiting patiently.

Comprised of 5 songs merged into two side-a and side-b, “Finsternis” is truly an aural experience that even if it fails to fully deliver it’s full potential, should be hear by fans of the truly bizarre. On side-a we have a very monotonous drum rhythm that made me so anxious that I started biting my nails. It creates the perfect endless and dark corridor feeling that has you pondering if you will every reach the end. With it’s deranged guitar riffs creating peaks into our anticipation of something happening in this release.

The intoxicating looped synth sequence is very hypnotizing and it’s one of the reasons we were able to fully listen to side-a. On side-b the band starts off a bit on the noise side, and after 5 minutes we get heavy Black Metal inspired riffs, and faster paced (monotonous) drumming. For another 20 minutes we are kept under the expectation of something going on with this release, but for our disappointment…. nothing ever did.

Soon after you listen to this album for a few times, you quickly learn that the whole experience it’s the key to this release. It does not need to culminate in some aggressive climax, it’s just a like a flowing river that goes nowhere. While we are not supper excited with releases like this, we must say we truly enjoyed the full experience that “Finsternis” took us on.

Release: May 18th, 2010

Country: France