Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma (2012)

The marriage of black metal to the many faces of progressive rock is probably not a novelty by the second decade of the 21st century. Bands like Enslaved were early adopters of the hybrid, but it is one that has never ceased to enthrall me personally, since I possess no aversion whatsoever to all the mixing and matching if it provides me a fresher listening experience. No, it won't always work, it won't always distribute evenly enough to gel the styles, but then a gem like Hail Spirit Noir comes along and redefines just how much this mutual integration can become its own, seamless form. More than so many other bands, I don't listen through Pneuma or its brilliant younger sibling Oi Magoi as if they 'clash'. Contrast, yes, but the Greeks make it all sound so natural that I wonder why the two weren't a whole in the first place. As if this very record could have existed somewhere in the late 70s, the product of some guys with huge imaginations who might not have had the vocal talents of an Osbourne, Dio or Halford, so instead retreated to the deep Underground, providing quasi-soundtracks for unreleased Hammer horror flicks.

Oi Magoi was ultimately my favorite metal record of 2014, but listening back to this, I can't honestly tell you it was that massive an improvement. Catchier, perhaps, but the genius bastardization of genre was already in full flux a couple years earlier. Lots of 'expected' folksy and proggy instruments here, like organs and old synths, loads of cleaner guitars performed with a bluesy tinge, crested by Theoharis disgusting harsh vocal and his wavering, accented cleans which often seem like a Hellenic Nick Cave or Johnny Cash hovering over the edge of perdition. Chords contribute to slower, dramatic riff progressions here that almost feel strangely Beatles-esque, only if you the Fab Four had ingested countless mushrooms and frolicked naked in the fields within satyr-nymph love trysts. Pneuma possesses an idyllic and ugly dual nature which is captivating through the end, even when a few of the individual riffs might not shine as much as the overall work; there's even a tint of trashy old Cleopatra Gothic vibe in a handful of the tunes like "Let Your Devil Come Inside" which in at least a few spots sounds like Christian Death or Mephisto Walz performing occult rock. I couldn't tell you if that were some conscious decision, but the real wealth of Pneuma is in that esoteric reaction.

I'm also reminded pretty often of Nocturno Culto, especially his presence in the band Sarke, where you get those raw, unfettered post-Frost vocals mired in some fuzzy, caustic primal metal chord patterns ("Against the Curse, We Dream"), but they really evade so many direct comparisons to any one source because you just never have any idea of what will happen next. Some parts seem like Opeth if they were much better at evoking that archaic prog rock nostalgia, only tainted with the fabric of nightmares; others are more fluidly black metal, just the really fundamental kind that groups like Vultyr shat forth in their own aspirations to rewrite the script. I would actually go so far as to say that, while there aren't songs here nearly so evocative as "Satan is Time", this debut is a fraction more consistent in construction than the followup. Great drums, nuttier percussion, fuzzy and spurious little lead harmonies, variation everywhere, even in the track lengths. An amazing debut that sets up what I dearly hope with be a lengthy career in which the experimentation and fusion never ends.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (let your fantasy grow wild)

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Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi (2014) *Album of the Month*

It is much to expect a metal album, or really any album, to take one on a journey, but the Hail Spirit Noir sophomore Oi Magoi surpasses such expectations with ease, offering a rare hybrid of psychedelic warmth, prog rock occultism, unusual instrumentation, eloquent and restrained sequences of orchestration, and mythopoesis. 50 minutes of contrasts between the sylvan glade orgies of mortals and ancient beings, and assertive black metal passages which exhibit both a contemporary sense of aggression and progression, without expressly alienating those of a more conservative genre mentality. There's not a lot to directly compare this with, but I might offer that it's a mash-up of aesthetics you'd find in bands as diverse as Ghost, Sarke and fellow Greeks Kawir. Some might chide the trio for latching onto the 'occult rock' bandwagon, but I can't say that they sound too directly similar to anyone currently exploring the sound; more of a straight bastardization of late 60s/70s psych rock, cult horror scores and intricately textured black metal; Coven's Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls topped off with some Spectral Lore or Acherontas, and for the past few weeks I have not been able to get enough of this fucking thing...

There are essentially two philosophies to this record, but each is comprised of a great deal of nuance and variation which ensure that very little predictability is maintained. You might catch on early that there will be haunting, wavering clean vocals, soaring ritualistic chants, and sugary bass grooves, but Hail Spirit Noir continue to exert their inventiveness through the implementation of flutes, percussion, and traditional sounds you're not going to find in a stock black metal experience. Within any sequence of measures, there will be something new evoked that further expands the repertoire of possibility, and while its true that most of the music's instrumental components have featured in other extreme metal outings, they've rarely been offered with this level of thematic cohesion. Production remains warm and vibrant, but the faster tremolo picked guitar explosions and harder hitting riffs lose nothing of the sinister nature they might provoke if mixed from a far rawer perspective. All of the vocals fit, from the Nocturno Culto growls to the folksier lamentations, to the distant, decrepit cries, and I couldn't help but feel like I was being sacrificed in the kindest way upon some altar around which satyrs and nymphs indulged in mutual, carnal affectations. It sounds really fucking whacko and it is, only Oi Magoi is in reality quite strictly balanced and controlled, never sloppy and never does any choice feel like it was out of place in the greater 'picture' of the album.

I would admit some preference towards particular tunes over others. For instance, the moody and trippy "Satan is Time" is simply the best song I've heard in 2014 thus far, while others like "Demon for a Day" or "Hunters" are merely excellent; but all of the content is addictive enough that its still recommended to tunnel straight through the record in order to the other side. Organs, synthesizers, bluesy ringing tones, black metal grooves redolent of Sweden's Head of the Demon, uncountable details that simmer and pop against the ritualistic black metal backdrop, it's as if Mortuary Drape and Goblin were asked to score some silent Hammer Horror film that had was just unburied from a vault of old reels. The black metal itself explores a vast palate, from the highly harmonic, driven and melodic ("Satyriko Orgio") to slower, eerie bits that remind one of ancient death metal if it had been delivered with less saturated distortion. The band even pulls off Hawaiian sounding surf-lite guitars, or passages that seem almost purely cinematic like the climactic swells you would experience in and Italian cult horror movie 30+ years ago, and even when they're committing to a more familiar, descending note pattern it feels fresh and refined, like it were the first time I had experienced it...

Not every riff is equally poignant, not every song infallible in sequence, but albums like Oi Magoi simply do not arrive each and every day of my life. It is the effort of cautious sonic experimentation, the principle of risk which exemplify the Greeks compositional choices. The call and response of the smooth and the jarring. It doesn't fit in seamlessly with the hipper occult doom rock stuff, due to its higher level of complexity, so I'm not sure that particular audience would appreciate all of the maudlin details and sentiments of antiquity, but it syncs up quite well for fans of visionary, gonzo black metal, surrealism and naughty Satanic acts performed in summery technicolor robes hung with garlands, rather than the flat blacks and crimsons normally associated with the subject matter. Not all is happiness here, in particular the vividly visceral lyrics, which cover cheery topics like gruesome sacrifices ("Blood Guru") or fiendish, flesh-rending sea creatures ("The Mermaid"), but it's totally that contrast beneath lush, verdant, watery climes and the horrific acts performed there which puts this over the top into 'unforgettable' territory.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (THIS IS MY BLOOD!!)

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