Aleynmord – The Blinding Light (The Only Thing That Didn’t Suck This Week)
I had a dry spell this week. Took my time with this one and let it rotate in my head several times before writing anything. The primary reason was it was all I had left because this week sucked as far as promos went and I needed to be certain it was worth it. I was worried, perhaps, that my brain was desperate for something to call home and latched on to whatever was left. I received it all this week, too. Some punk, some thrash, heavy metal, raw black metal, war metal, pretty much every genre you could think of. And it all sucked. Aleynmord was the only one left in the queue for two reasons: one, great art (thanks again Jef), two, perfect sound. I realized it was totally objective after a few goes, but I’m saddened that The Blinding Light is the only album this week to make the final cut for review, though it gives you less to check out. Focus on just this one, trust me.
Aleynmord promote the kind of dread I enjoy out of the best modern black metal, though I’m more inclined to put this in the post-black metal category because of all the twists. There are techniques and patterns in here closely connected to the traditions of old, certainly, but they’re focused on a dismal, cold quality developed through daring clarity of production and solos more fitting to traditional metal. But Aleynmord is also not afraid to avoid traditional approaches in areas you’d expect would remain as such; the vocals are delivered in painful moans and shrieks, there are touches of acoustic work, natural sounds for presence, and other niceties not simply explained through words. The Blinding Light offers more than I found most of the year thus far, and it was, in my opinion, the only release worth anyone’s time at the end of August. It’s an anguished, daring elegy for a week best left forgotten in most respects.
Aleynmord – The Blinding Light
Art of Propaganda Records
Cover Art: Jef Whitehead
4.5 / 5
