Banshee

With the advent of the internet, people have been able to find both new and old music much more easily. That is something I probably said a few times before, and really, it is a mere fact in the grand scheme of things. We constantly and consistently find new albums and artists to sink our teeth into, whether it be a new top album we saw on a chart, or by happenstance from a friend online. We see things, we hear things, and we find things 100 times quicker than 50 years ago. This can obviously lead to some interesting finds, which is kinda how I found my way to reviewing Abriction’s Banshee.

I haven’t actually quite heard much from the blackgaze genre, or even reviewed anything relating to it. The closest I have gotten was Sorni Nai by Kauan, but even then that is kinda reaching on my part. In fact I have not heard much from the blackgaze genre, aside from one or two Alcest and Trhä records. I really should listen to more of the genre, cause as evident with Banshee, Abriction shows a fun, very intense recording that does make me highly interested for more.

This record is a trip. Even just going through the first track feels like a whole ‘nother experience entirely. You get all the best flavors of shoegaze, black metal, post-rock, and even some slight twiddling of house music here. You get the loud screams that I think works wonderfully for the entire record, the appropriately lo-fi mixing of shoegaze, the long drones and timbres of post-rock/metal, and the electronic elements of house, all mashed together within a single song, with the ones afterwards taking bits of this ideal and working something new. It all works together very well in my book, with each of these genre defining elements capturing an interesting picture of what Meredith Salvatori has been doing ever since she made her first record under the Abriction name.

What I also really enjoy about this album is that it has this certain vibe that I really resonate with. It feels very cold and desolate, but also weirdly robotic (not in a bad way mind you). The music sounds like a robot or a rogue AI, in a cold winter landscape, trying to escape from a bunch of humans who desire to use it for spare parts for some war machine. It has tension, drama, and a thrill that makes me want to dive into it more. If this is what blackgaze is like then I am more than willing to go through a lot more of it.

If there is an issue I have with this album, it may be the amount of tracks here. I kinda steer wary of records that have more than 10 tracks, mostly since it makes albums feel a little bloated with no real purpose. This is sadly one of those albums, where I feel like 13 tracks in an hour is a bit much. It makes everything feel longer than it may need to be. Even their last record of Interstates from last year kinda had it better in this regard, being only 9 tracks long, and from my last listening experience it did make that album feel a lot smoother despite it being a bit longer than this one. I don't really know how one could fix this, after all I think every song here is pretty great, but maybe make the last three or four tracks into some kind of melody of sorts. That way the album doesn’t feel too bloated, and it could allow for some interesting progressions from one part to another.

This is an album that intrigues me upon a genre I never explored much of, and it does things quite amazingly. Sure it may have a fault or two, but I think it is a really enjoyable experience in the long run, and may be one of the better metal releases from this year. Certainly recommend to those who enjoy this sort of music, or even regulars of black metal and shoegaze scenes. May not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it is worth a shot.

Best tracks: Pale Morning Horizon, No One Cares, Redshift

Worst tracks: N/A