Ante-Inferno â Deathâs Soliloquoy [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]
By Mystikus Hugebeard
That was one hell of a November 22nd this year, huh? We had new releases from bands like MĂșr and Panzerfaust, blog favorites Fellowship and Defeated Sanity, and even the industry titans Opeth. Yes, the metal community ate quite well that dayâso well that certain releases might slip through the cracks, such as Deathâs Soliloquoy, the third full-length by English four-piece black metal act Ante-Inferno. But I refuse to allow Deathâs Soliloquoy to be overshadowed because Ante-Inferno have made one of the most compelling and devastating releases of the year.
Ante-Inferno play a sort of misanthropic atmospheric black metal that blends the biting chill of second-wave black metal with an atmospheric, beautiful melodic clarity. The evocatively titled opener, âThe Cavernous Blackness of Night,â reveals the two sides of Deathâs Soliloquoyâs coin. The first half of the song wallows in an atmosphere of dissonance through aggressive, sawing guitars that grind out a macabre melody, before almost exactly halfway through, the song shifts gears into a more pronounced melancholic beauty. The gnashing tremolos become gentler, but still vital, as the melody grows clearer and stronger. âCold. Tenebrous. Evil.â delves deeper into the dissonance, while âNo Light till Lifeâs Endâ leans further towards the side of melody without sacrificing aggression, but both shades of Ante-Inferno are omnipresent and crucial. The stellar production greatly helps this contrast work. The rhythm guitars vibrate with a wintry second-wave buzz, and the atmospheric side is absorbing and dense. The vocals, which range from distant, crestfallen shrieks to hoarse shouts, come from the primary songwriter Kai. Deathâs Soliloquoy is inspired by Kaiâs own experiences of depression and hopelessness, and her existential misery is felt in every word.
That misery is the lifeblood of Deathâs Soliloquoy, as the whole album radiates the same black light of sorrow as Kaiâs vocals. The shorter tracks (âCold. Tenebrous. Evil,â No Light till Lifeâs Endâ) are aggressive and full of emotion, but the real impact of Deathâs Soliloquoy is felt in the longer tracks. The bleak riffs of âThe Cavernous Blackness of Nightâ and âTowards Asphyxiating Darknessâ evolve slowly and frequently return, like a lingering sadness thatâs impossible to break away from. The subtly repetitive nature of the longer songs, paired with their length, might turn away some less patient listeners, but I think this approach is to the musicâs benefit. Across the length of the album, a crushing, hypnotic weight sets in as the density and intensity of the music marches on with a suffocating constancy, and Ante-Inferno iterates upon their riffs and ideas enough to keep the energy high and the pace from dragging. Everything that comprises the nature of Deathâs Soliloquoy collides in the genuinely sublime âAn Axe. A Broadsword. A Bullet.â Here, dissonance has been cast aside for an assault of riffs that burn with a cold fury, while the melodies, almost crystalline in their clarity, carve a path through the indifferent noise. It commands your attention with paramount urgency, and like Deathâs Soliloquoy as a whole, is hopelessly, heartbreakingly bleak.
Ante-Inferno have crafted an incredible piece of atmospheric black metal that, for my money, is the best release to come from this historic November 22nd. Itâs possible that Deathâs Soliloquoy may take some time to fully sink in. I surprise myself by admitting that even I was unimpressed on my first listen, before the slow riff and anguished scream at about 4:55 into âAn Axe. A Broadsword. A Bullet.â moved me in such a way that the full album was re-framed in my mind, and now, to this day, every listen is better than the last. Deathâs Soliloquoy is everything I love about black metalâitâs heavy, harrowing, and honest.
Tracks to Check Out: âThe Cavernous Blackness of Night,â âCold. Tenebrous. Evil,â âAn Axe. A Broadsword. A Bullet.â
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