Album Review: Grey Aura – Zwart Vierkant
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Zwart Vierkant is the second album from Dutch black metallers Grey Aura who are a band determined to break down the walls and confines of genre and create pieces of music that are fluid in their experimentation.
Grey Aura formed in 2010 in Utrecht and are a three piece made up of Ruben Wijlacker (vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, effects & concept), Tjebbe Broek (guitar, bass, percussion, effects & concept) and Bas van der Perk (drums). The album is a conceptual piece tied to a novel written by Ruben Wijlacker telling the story of an early 20th century painter who becomes obsessed with the Russian art movement, Suprematism, which idealises the abstract and rejects traditional artistic concepts. It follows his journey through Europe, his metamorphosis of soul and spirit, his dreams, awakenings, loves and temptations as he reaches out to the ungovernable maelstrom of the void. The music they perform is self-described as a liquid form of atmospheric black metal and this liquid analogy is perfect as the music flows and ebbs between different genres, influences and soundscapes. It is very much an avant-garde approach to black metal with the black metal side of the bands sound being a very left-field and discordant approach to the sound whilst veering into influences from middle eastern folk on Het Schuimspoor Van De Ramp, jazz on Parijs Is Een Portaal and the inclusion of Spanish style acoustic guitars and trumpets on El Greco In Toledo. On the whole this range of influences and the mix of sounds and styles works well with El Greco In Toldeo being the most effective track on the album in my opinion.
With so much going on and so much to take in Zwart Vierkant can be a bit of an overwhelming listen. There seems to be an overt focus on high concept and artistic avant-garde tendencies rather than the focus being a great bunch of songs. Whilst this “high art” approach will impress most it left me a bit cold and it felt like the band were trying to me too clever for their own good with this album. Maybe I’m too much of a traditionalist with my black metal but whilst I can appreciate the sentiment of Zwart Vierkant it is not an album that I would willingly revisit.
