HALLIG - A Distant Reflection of the Void
Talheim Records
I've made it clear many times that I consider what people call black metal's first wave to be more of influences than an actual genre creation. It's black metal's second wave when things came together. So we're looking at a 30 year old genre that's been stretched thin as well as repeated over as far as it's varied sub-genres go. Now whenever I look at it today I find it rare to find bands that push beyond their predecessors but just do well at it.
Germany's HALLIG do quite well at creating melodic black metal that takes hold of you. For me it's the twin guitar usage and how the melodic song structures flow. It really grabs you to the point where you are not going to lose interest or predict their outcomes. The drum work on here is penetrating as well as equal to the string instruments. Sometimes it does take a back seat.
The only thing which stands out from tradition are the vocals or at least the way they're projected. There's an array of styles being pushed here were you're left wondering is it one person or multiple persons. You've got viking grunts and harsh screams along with clean caustic singing. There are times when it all comes across as that Euro battle metal using blackened death as it's base.
HALLIG started out in 2010 and prior to this released a full length in 2012 and followed it up with an EP in 2016. Obviously they've worked hard on this latest one, A Distant Reflection of the Void. To me musically it's a masterpiece of epic melodic black metal proportions. I'm not too keen on the vocal styles being implemented but hey that's just me. Others might find the variety for more interesting.
https://webstore.talheim-records.at/
https://hallig.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hallighorde
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