Album Review: Ayr - The Dark
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
A lone acoustic guitar plays over an atmospheric backdrop, hounds howl, the thunder crashes as another guitar adds texture and layers. This is ‘Origins in Descent’, the gentle yet haunting introduction to the first full length album by Black Metal duo Ayr.
It’s been eight years since Ayr slipped into silence, following their 2012 EP ‘Nothing Left To Give’. Time passed as the duo of Rich Contes and Randall Flag worked on other projects. But the embers had not been extinguished and between 2013-18 pieces of ‘The Dark’ slowly formed together. Now, the wait is over, and ‘The Dark’ has finally arrived.
It may not be the longest album at 37 minutes, but each of those minutes is genuinely crafted and sculptured to create a work of intense ferocity and shimmering beauty. Following the acoustic intro, ‘Where All Light Dies’ erupts in a Black Metal fireball, a kaleidoscope of sounds, pace and metamorphosis from dark to light and back again. The variation is the star here, and although many of the North Carolina outfit’s more traditional elements are instantly recognised, there is ample complexity and character to absorb.
‘Worship The Dark’ follows, a mere half of the close to 11 minute track that preceded it. This track changes direction completely, with a five-minute combination of solo keyboard, a constant programmed synth and ambient soundscape that somehow fits in with the whole atmosphere despite it being far removed from the powerful tremolo riffing that sandwiches it.
After mellowness comes the towering ‘Swallowed’, a huge song dripping with energy, power and swathed in melancholic riffing. It’s intricate, at times delicate and always intelligent stuff. No attempts to force the ante with over the top histrionics, Ayr capture heaviness and intensity with the sheer magnitude of their textured compositions. When they do let rip, there is a passion that is impossible to contain.
Interspersing lengthy tracks with shorter, melodic sections which utilise effects of rainfall and forests alongside simple synths provides calming opportunities which are welcome. As ‘Return to the Void’ segues into the punishing album closer ‘Sever the Golden Chain’, this layout can only be admired. A majestic journey from start to finish, Ayr may have waited several years but ‘The Dark’ is a genuine punch to the chest, a magnificent slab of Black Metal which deserves a wide audience.
