Obsequiae - Suspended In The Brume Of Eos

Obsequiae
Suspended In The Brume Of Eos
Bindrune Recordings

Bindrune Recordings may not have a vast array of artists on their roster, and they certainly don’t have a lot of releases to their name just yet, but what the label has released over the last few years has been of exceptional quality.
Their latest find is Minneapolis (Minnesota, U.S.) based outfit Obsequiae, and who’s debut full-length effort ‘Suspended In The Brume Of Eos’ has finally seen the light of day some two years after the release of their limited edition/hand numbered (To one hundred copies) self-titled demo was picked up by the same label.
Despite having only formed in 2007, Obsequiae is essentially a continuation of Autumnal Winds, who between 1998 and 2005, managed to release a handful of demos, before disbanding.
Having reunited under the name of Obsequiae, vocalist/guitarist Blondel De Nesle (Who’s otherwise known as Tanner Anderson, and is an active member of fellow Bindrune Recordings artists Celestiial) and guitarist/bassist/drummer Neidhart Von Reuental have moved on from where they last left things with Autumnal Winds, with ‘Suspended In The Brume Of Eos’ taking on a more melodic black metal vibe, but with a strong medieval/folk influence heard throughout the album’s dozen tracks.
While the fusion of melodic black metal and medieval/folk isn’t something unheard of, there’s something in the way that Obsequiae write and perform their compositions that gives the blended sounds a whole new perspective, and none more so than what’s heard in the album’s opening track ‘Altars Of Moss’. The sweeping folk-like electric guitar/bass riffs are balanced cleverly against a distinctly black metal vocal presence and drums (Which at times break into blast beats), providing listeners with a sound that’s as aggressive as black metal, but far from run of the mill structurally.
From here, the album alternates between aggressive blasts of melodic black metal (‘In The White Fields’, ‘Arrows’ and ‘Cabin Lights’), progressively edged/experimental black metal efforts (‘Atonement’, ‘The Wounded Fox’ and the slower paced title track ‘Suspended In The Brume Of Eos’) and medieval/folk instrumental passages (Such as ‘Sidhe’, ‘Wildes Heer’, ‘Estas Redit’ and ‘Boreas’) – which when combined, give the album a lot of depth, variation and separation from one track to the next.
Obsequiae’s don’t play the familiar melodic black metal with medieval/folk influences, and ‘Suspended In The Brume Of Eos’ is anything but the same old sound of most. This album really is something different.
Anyone familiar with Bindrune Recordings will know what to expect on Obsequiae’s debut – And that’s something really quite different. But if you’re a stranger to the label, and like your black metal to be a little more daring, ‘Suspended In The Brume Of Eos’ is well worth hunting down.

For more information on Obsequiae, check out - http://www.myspace.com/bindrunerecordings

© Justin Donnelly