I am quite fond of Mesarthim and even though his style of using synths is sometimes borderline cringey, his ' .- -... ... . -. -.-. .' album is among my favourites in ambient black metal genre. So, I was pretty excited to check his new creation out.
Album starts with a track titled 立, which is quite uncharacteristic of the whole record and got me worried a bit. It has very little to do with metal, even the tamest edge of ambient black metal. This one is some kind of new-age space-rock with some parts sounding like a techno dance song. Quite cheezy documentary background music, if you know what I mean. Somewhere in the middle Mesarthim recalls he's supposed to be metal and includes an AAARRHHHHH+hairdryer guitar sound just to remind us what it's all about.
What follows though is closer to the earlier Mesarthim output - nice ambient BM backgrounds (somewhat Lustre-like), with cheezy electro beats & synths here and there. On the one hand, I respect the consistency... However, I also would hate to see yet another band to stall and output recycled ideas after first couple of good records. Mesarthim is not there yet, but the feeling I get after listening to this one is extremely familiar. The music is still good, but it's something I've heard before and better, and I'd rather just skip it and listen to his earlier stuff. Electro dance components here are also a bit too much for me. I've already mentioned the first track... Similarly, 'Recombination' is pretty much a synthpop song with muffled guitar noise on the background and typical ambient BM vocals. It wouldn't sound out of place on a dance floor.
There is still some good music present on this album. 'Transparency' or 'Fragmenting' wouldn't feel out of place on one of Mesarthim's earlier records, and do a good job of providing pleasant easy listen without becoming too cheezy (although the latter one has probably overstepped this boundary with some ridiculously unnecessary techno dance beats inclusion in the middle).
Overall, it's still typical Mesarthim, with slightly more dancey electro components. The problem is, his music has always been balancing on the edge between epicness and pretentiousness, and this little shift was enough for me to feel like he did lose this balance.
Album starts with a track titled 立, which is quite uncharacteristic of the whole record and got me worried a bit. It has very little to do with metal, even the tamest edge of ambient black metal. This one is some kind of new-age space-rock with some parts sounding like a techno dance song. Quite cheezy documentary background music, if you know what I mean. Somewhere in the middle Mesarthim recalls he's supposed to be metal and includes an AAARRHHHHH+hairdryer guitar sound just to remind us what it's all about.
What follows though is closer to the earlier Mesarthim output - nice ambient BM backgrounds (somewhat Lustre-like), with cheezy electro beats & synths here and there. On the one hand, I respect the consistency... However, I also would hate to see yet another band to stall and output recycled ideas after first couple of good records. Mesarthim is not there yet, but the feeling I get after listening to this one is extremely familiar. The music is still good, but it's something I've heard before and better, and I'd rather just skip it and listen to his earlier stuff. Electro dance components here are also a bit too much for me. I've already mentioned the first track... Similarly, 'Recombination' is pretty much a synthpop song with muffled guitar noise on the background and typical ambient BM vocals. It wouldn't sound out of place on a dance floor.
There is still some good music present on this album. 'Transparency' or 'Fragmenting' wouldn't feel out of place on one of Mesarthim's earlier records, and do a good job of providing pleasant easy listen without becoming too cheezy (although the latter one has probably overstepped this boundary with some ridiculously unnecessary techno dance beats inclusion in the middle).
Overall, it's still typical Mesarthim, with slightly more dancey electro components. The problem is, his music has always been balancing on the edge between epicness and pretentiousness, and this little shift was enough for me to feel like he did lose this balance.
I am quite fond of Mesarthim and even though his style of using synths is sometimes borderline cringey, his ' .- -... ... . -. -.-. .' album is among my favourites in ambient black metal genre. So, I was pretty excited to check his new creation out.
Album starts with a track titled 立, which is quite uncharacteristic of the whole record and got me worried a bit. It has very little to do with metal, even the tamest edge of ambient black metal. This one is some kind of new-age space-rock with some parts sounding like a techno dance song. Quite cheezy documentary background music, if you know what I mean. Somewhere in the middle Mesarthim recalls he's supposed to be metal and includes an AAARRHHHHH+hairdryer guitar sound just to remind us what it's all about.
What follows though is closer to the earlier Mesarthim output - nice ambient BM backgrounds (somewhat Lustre-like), with cheezy electro beats & synths here and there. On the one hand, I respect the consistency... However, I also would hate to see yet another band to stall and output recycled ideas after first couple of good records. Mesarthim is not there yet, but the feeling I get after listening to this one is extremely familiar. The music is still good, but it's something I've heard before and better, and I'd rather just skip it and listen to his earlier stuff. Electro dance components here are also a bit too much for me. I've already mentioned the first track... Similarly, 'Recombination' is pretty much a synthpop song with muffled guitar noise on the background and typical ambient BM vocals. It wouldn't sound out of place on a dance floor.
There is still some good music present on this album. 'Transparency' or 'Fragmenting' wouldn't feel out of place on one of Mesarthim's earlier records, and do a good job of providing pleasant easy listen without becoming too cheezy (although the latter one has probably overstepped this boundary with some ridiculously unnecessary techno dance beats inclusion in the middle).
Overall, it's still typical Mesarthim, with slightly more dancey electro components. The problem is, his music has always been balancing on the edge between epicness and pretentiousness, and this little shift was enough for me to feel like he did lose this balance.
Album starts with a track titled 立, which is quite uncharacteristic of the whole record and got me worried a bit. It has very little to do with metal, even the tamest edge of ambient black metal. This one is some kind of new-age space-rock with some parts sounding like a techno dance song. Quite cheezy documentary background music, if you know what I mean. Somewhere in the middle Mesarthim recalls he's supposed to be metal and includes an AAARRHHHHH+hairdryer guitar sound just to remind us what it's all about.
What follows though is closer to the earlier Mesarthim output - nice ambient BM backgrounds (somewhat Lustre-like), with cheezy electro beats & synths here and there. On the one hand, I respect the consistency... However, I also would hate to see yet another band to stall and output recycled ideas after first couple of good records. Mesarthim is not there yet, but the feeling I get after listening to this one is extremely familiar. The music is still good, but it's something I've heard before and better, and I'd rather just skip it and listen to his earlier stuff. Electro dance components here are also a bit too much for me. I've already mentioned the first track... Similarly, 'Recombination' is pretty much a synthpop song with muffled guitar noise on the background and typical ambient BM vocals. It wouldn't sound out of place on a dance floor.
There is still some good music present on this album. 'Transparency' or 'Fragmenting' wouldn't feel out of place on one of Mesarthim's earlier records, and do a good job of providing pleasant easy listen without becoming too cheezy (although the latter one has probably overstepped this boundary with some ridiculously unnecessary techno dance beats inclusion in the middle).
Overall, it's still typical Mesarthim, with slightly more dancey electro components. The problem is, his music has always been balancing on the edge between epicness and pretentiousness, and this little shift was enough for me to feel like he did lose this balance.
![Parameter Parameter](http://www.metal-tracker.com/torrents/images/2374730.jpg)
Listen free to Mesarthim – The Density Parameter (Ω, Collapse and more). 6 tracks (47:49). Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at Last.fm. Sputnikmusic is a premier source for music reviews and music news, covering the best albums in indie, metal, and punk.