Shit, it is 1.27 am and I should be going to bed, but here I am typing away a review for a record which I discovered only an hour ago, while browsing through our mailbox looking for a record to review tomorrow. New England but with ties to Quebec? Okay. Black Metal? Even better; still spin Givre‘s record from last year very often! Final part of a trilogy? Sounds promising! ‘kay, let‘s hit play… Ten seconds in, I am already in love. Record: Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph. Band: Great Cold Emptiness. Must listen? You bet!
First of all, genres and opinions are like… you know how the sentence goes. A few days ago, I spoke with some friends of mine, and we came to the conclusion that genres are for listeners, while most band detest them as they can never describe the process that is behind every song. However, for the sake of this review, let’s create a new genre description: UCBM. Uplifting Cinematic Black Metal. Yes, intentionally the opposite of DSBM. Listen to the use of the synths on Immaculate Hearts will Triumph, for example on the opening passage of the second track ”To Die for the Ideal”, and you will automatically get it: Main songwriter Nathan Guerrette is able to pull of an astonishing feat by creating a densely Atmospheric Black Metal record that does not in any way pull you down, but rather puts its arms underneath your armpits, heaves you upward before the notes on the keys will brush off any dust you collected will sitting on your sour butt, his hands gently padding your back as if to say “You are not alone human, we are in this together. And we as companions will get through everything!”
Not saying that Great Cold Emptiness do not work with genre-typical blastbeats, great build-ups, ethereal vocals, some awesome riffs and much more. You get all of these elements; generally the record really gives you anything and everything that we want from modern Black Metal and much more. If you liked the Psychedelia and rays of sunshine that Ultha’s last record All That Has Never Been gave us, then you might also like this release a lot, even though it’s less Pink Floyd and more let’s say Black Sabbath (if we go for a non-BM comparison). The folks behind Great Cold Emptiness really deliver with the amazing shifts of pace they have on, for example the third track ”She Sang of Hyperborea” which gives a manifold variety of different tempi, from speedy punk to atmospheric (nearly) beat-less ambient back to blastbeats. And all of that while keeping it all tight as hell by layering many guitar lines above each other – there are four guitarists involved in getting this song right! And all of them are doing an immaculate job in creating a song everyone should be spinning over and over again. These nearly 14 minutes do not even make this the longest song on this four-track record and 47 minutes!
The record is highly personal and thus I can only advise you to reach Nathan’s complete description on their Bandcamp page, because it will tell you a lot of the background of these wonderful buddy of a record. So much must be said – as this is the end of a trilogy and a personal journey for him, from being in self-denial and seeking for a way out into political (left-wing) extremism into a place where he is happy about and content with where he is at. An individual, that even though acknowledging the true force of John Donne’s most famous sentence (“No man is an island”) does not feel the need to please anybody but himself and his most beloved. That even though remaining skeptic of many mechanisms of the modern world does not detest the world itself; a true human and “animale sociale” unto himself. Who knows about his position at the end of a long line of memories engraved in his DNA and also able of a peaceful interaction and immersion with nature.
This record will be spun a lot in the upcoming days. It is another awesome example of why one should pay attention to the little details in songs, why the use of a single element (like the synths in this case) can change our whole perception because of its appeal. Please do yourself the favor and listen to this record in times of need, or when looking for another great Atmospheric Black Metal record. Oh wait, for the first and thus best UCBM record out there. It is 2.35 am and I am going to bed. At peace.
