Album Review: Ildaruni - Beyond Unseen Gateways
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
During the average year, there may be five albums that really whip me into a trance on first listen. This year, ‘Imperial’, the latest album by Soen has already done that, and now I find myself trapped in the metal tractor beam of the first album from Armenian pagan black metal band, Ildaruni. Their debut blends a myriad of native sounds with more traditional black metal into a swirling sonic soundscape that is as captivating as it is intriguing.
Formed in 2016, the band crafted their sound in the underground Armenian metal scene, releasing their first demo, ‘Towards Subterranean Realms’ in 2018. Now the band have taken a huge step forward and in ‘Beyond Unseen Gateways’ have produced a rather splendid and intoxicating release.
The combination of ancient folk melodies with driving black metal riffs is unlikely to appeal to everyone but for me this is brilliant and refreshing. The driving power is relentless, each track soaked in a heaviness that is countered by melody and echoes of a bygone age. The drumming is ferocious, a battery of high tempo blast beats that contrasts in places with a more sedate and yet no less intense feel. The guitar work is of a high quality, the shimmering walls of tremolo riffs providing a solid and strong base. The inclusion of tin whistle and bagpipes moves the band toward the folk metal realm, but such is their intensity that they rarely get caught in the more twee elements of some of Finnish and Swedish outfits. Even when they do, there is something a lot more exciting about their music. Moreover, the roaring vocals of Artak Karapetyan, who has now taken on the bass duties since the departure, post recording of Garbis Vizoian.
Lyrically, the band describe their themes as follows: ‘The lyrical themes explore the height of the Urartian domain through the cognitive machinations of a bygone age and the esoteric apprehension of ancient pagan occultism. a hymn to the blazing light that sank into shadowy shrines, to the wild darkness that covered the debris of Ardini, to the bygone flame that enlightened the sanctum of Haldi’.
52 minutes of music that entrances and draws the listener in close. Except for opening song ‘Haldinini Baushini, Imsheini Tariani’, every track on this album is relatively long, ranging from six to eight minutes. This allows the band ample time to explore and expand their sound, with vicious, aggressive passages counterbalanced by smoother and calmer folk sections that pace the album perfectly. The tracks are authentic and organic. The pagan mysticism they weave majestic, epic, and rewarding. The driving storm of ‘Exalted Birth’, the ferocious ‘Treading the Path of Cryptic Wisdom’ and the bludgeoning power of ‘Arakha’ all bring different and exciting qualities to the table.
Recorded by Armen Shahverdi and Mark Erskine at Guitar Clinic Studio in Armenia and mixed and mastered by George Emmanuel (Lucifer’s Child, and ex-Rotting Christ) at Pentagram Studio in Greece, while Erskine Designs crafted the artwork and layout
