To get right to the point: This is not a record to enjoy at rather fancy day of sunshine. Just the opposite, Henosis is more like a soundtrack to a nightmare. It is one of these Black Metal records that are so monotonous, it kinda hypnotizes you in the same vein a hairdryer could do. Which doesn’t have to be a bad thing necessarily, but surely isn’t a sign of great quality either.
The Beast Of The Apocalypse is a Dutch Black Metal band. To be honest, I don’t know very much about Black Metal coming from the Netherlands. Anyway, Henosis risks to to be marginalized in the monthly flood of Black Metal releases, and so for two reasons:
First, the songwriting is quite okay, but totally lacks any surprising elements. Considering the record as a whole, it kinda makes sense: TBOTA is all about athmosphere, not sick or heavy riffs. Super repetitive, monotonous and sinister song after song kind of just happens. Subtle keyboards add a strange and gloomy element. The vocals are more on the growly side of things and perfectly add up to the overall sound. I have no clue what the lyrics are about, Encyclopaedia Metallum tells me they’re about Revelation, Apocrypha and Gnosticism so I have to believe that.
Second, the sound is really strange and I don’t really like it. It’s kind of dusty, but not in a rough or old school kind of way, it just sounds as if Henosis was recorded it under a thick blanket. I guess I understand the approach, because basically the idea of this specific sound makes sense if you want to create a certain ominous athmosphere, but after all the sound’s just really poor and totally lacks power. All the instruments just melt into one sludgy thing of tone, without any outstanding heights and without creating the cold feeling I long for in Black Metal.
If all you’re looking for is athmospheric Black Metal and you’ve heard all the genres basics and the underground must-haves before, you could give Henosis a try, but actually this record lacks the extremity and artistic reinventions that make Black Metal interesting in my opinion. There are worse records for sure, but lots of better ones, too.
Label website: transcendentalcreations.com
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