Written by Espi Kvlt
Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros
> RABM
> Colorado, US
> Releasing December 21
> Fiadh Productions / Vita Detestabilis Data
4 years in the past, Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze broke out onto the black steel scene with their phenomenal debut Choices of Flesh and Gold, an album I adored a lot I purchased it on all bodily codecs (tape, CD, and vinyl). It was my album of the yr in 2019, in addition to considered one of my first actual introductions to RABM. Whereas many RABM bands battle to let their music converse for itself, Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze didn’t have that drawback, standing musically by itself with the added bonus of being about one thing that mattered to me. I might, in truth, be unsurprised to study that folks on the best wing of the political spectrum purchased the album unknowingly, a lot as I’ve seen is the case with Rebellion, one other RABM band whose messaging doesn’t drown out how stunning the artwork is by itself. These had been giant footwear to fill for this band, my expectations already exceedingly excessive, and I’m ecstatic to say that they’ve as soon as once more delivered one thing unimaginable, and this time, religious.
Whereas Choices of Flesh and Gold obtained into my veins and made me really feel waves of assorted feelings from hope to anguish, The Fractal Ouroboros has taken this to the following stage, whereby I felt as if I had been welcomed in to observe a ritual happen. Although I didn’t know the place the ritual was heading, as I used to be being introduced in as an out of doors observer, I felt wholly a part of it, absolutely invited into this holy area, and because the music washed over me, there have been many instances that my very being felt it was transcending into one other airplane.
The Fractal Ouroboros leads us into this ethereal area with the opening monitor “Trophy”, which invokes the picture of carrying a big, bronze bull into no matter imaginative area the listener is at the moment in (I used to be in a cave). The monitor begins near-silent and develops with drums that decide up till the total black steel assault arrives at full power, a deft mix of vocals and instrumentation that every one lay completely collectively within the combine. The vocals had been already an adored a part of their first album for me, and they’re solely higher right here, reaching the alien ranges of spooky shrieks I’m at all times looking for in black steel. There’s a lengthy interval of reprieve in the midst of the tune that harkens again to the ritualistic drumming of the start, and the sign to its arrival is a fading guitar and a vocal alternative I can solely describe as a demise rattle (which is a praise). Whereas this part bears a powerful resemblance to the monitor’s opening, there’s a chanting that sounds over layered guitars right here that, as an alternative of serving as a information into the album’s entrance, feels extra just like the sorts of chants we do at my Buddhist temple, including to the non secular environment of the album. This blends completely into the following monitor, “A Historical past of Cages and Damaged Bones”, which has a powerful emphasis on chanting all through with a interval within the center the place the spoken phrase turns into demonic shrieks earlier than going again to chanting. Whereas the tune has a really unhappy, DSBM-y environment, it’s adopted by “Suffocate O Earthen Lungs; They Now Lungs of Ash”, which speeds issues as much as quick, headbanging riffs and blast beats for almost all of the tune, permitting the listener a while to floor themselves with basic black steel sounds earlier than it fades ominously for the final a number of minutes into sluggish choosing that indicators one thing very completely different is about to come back.
On the album’s midway level, we’re greeted by essentially the most experimental songs on the album, beginning with “Annihilation”. The unhappiness that appeared to peek across the nook in “Historical past” is absolutely current all through this melancholy monitor. For the primary a number of minutes, there’s nothing however an atmospheric layer that feels like white noise, till the mild choosing from the earlier quantity returns over a whispered spoken phrase which is mournful, funereal. It’s a wonderful melancholy that’s quickly accompanied by drums, after which, in direction of the top, explodes in a cacophony of harrowing screams and loud instrumentation earlier than fading out with extra of the sad guitar choosing. This takes us into “Liberation Ritual”, which continues with the environment within the strongest method but, a fireplace crackling, drums pounding in time, and the spoken phrase now merely stated – no whispers, no screams, however extra like a pastor standing earlier than their congregation, because the congregation itself sounds off within the background. It jogged my memory loads of people bands like Heilung, besides much more pleasing as I do know precisely the place this band stands on political points, making this really feel much less like a ritual I used to be scared to affix for concern the folks concerned would name me a slur and extra prefer it was precisely for folks like me.
This album ends strongly on its remaining two tracks, “Our Overt Apocalypse” and “Ekstasis, Enstasis, and The Fractal Ouroboros”, the place Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze completely stick the touchdown. The 2 songs construct off the muse of the earlier songs, completely mixing and weaving between the rhythmic drumming, the chanting, the blast beats, and the cruel vocals. They’re the proper end result of every tune that got here earlier than, expounding upon the musical themes to create a masterpiece of expression. And because the album fades out, the very last thing we hear is the crackling of the fireplace. The ritual has ended, however the message lives on.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze have in some way managed to take an ideal debut album and use it as a constructing block to create one thing even higher with their sophomore mission. I had begun to marvel in the event that they had been a band who would drop one excellent album and disappear by no means to be heard from once more, and I’m past grateful that was not the case, as they proceed to domesticate an S-tier discography that I can solely hope will proceed ahead from right here.
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