Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean (Avant-Garde Poetic Post-Black Metal)
Is that enough of a mouthful for you and pretentious AF? Well, avant-garde poetic post-black metal is about all I got for this one, from a band that knows how to be visually stunning! Ever-mysterious, and Swiss, Schammasch are one of those rare combinations of genres that gets it right in every way possible. From their stage presence, to their costumes, to their wonderful cover art, and an uncanny ability to create a synesthesiac out of the most boring of people, this is one of the greats with good reason. Ready to see colors without narcotics? Then get ready for The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean.
Bringing textures before the eyes, The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is both a great introduction to Schammasch and entrance into the rabbit hole of their previous work. Listen to what came before? Sure, do it before or after, it makes little difference, and there’s more to discover than that. Conceived as a part of a series, that I assume will be around 6 due to this album’s relationship to Les Chants de Maldoror, this is currently the second creation of Schammasch in their Maldoror series after Hermaphrodite from 2017. Continuing in that tradition, we find an ever wider breadth of experimentation, fully driving their avant-garde sound into the realm of the torrid. With touches of delicate Goth, driving black metal crush, and atmospheric touches, The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is the next step into the band’s vision for discovery in listening; there’s a lot to find here, and one listen is never going to be enough. Plus, it almost requires out of the listener an investigation into what Schammasch is about beyond mere sound. Nicely done.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean
Prosthetic Records
Cover Art: Héctor Pineda
4.5 / 5
