Hephaestian Black Metal. There I did it. Came up with another unnecessary name for a genre that many by now have closed the lid on as it has become stale for them. But isn’t inventing new genre names also fun? Of course we need a basis on which to formulate our idea upon: They Came from Visions is an anonymous Atmospheric Black Metal trio from Kyiv, Ukraine. In the middle of the war-torn times they release their second full-length The Twilight Robes now via Eisenwald and it is a pure pleasure to listen to.
Why did I come up with another name for their music? Because I read so many different ones for their sound, that I thought, maybe we can take up this idea of many different receptions as the basis for this review.
Let’s start off with the easiest one: Black Metal. Yes, we find many wonderful Black Metal vocals on this record, just take the shrill, despaired shriek at the beginning of ”Petrified Immortality” which throughout the song moves from despair to amazed anger, a feat that is also not easily done. The same song also shows the typical blastbeats done very cleverly as they are speedy and constant, but they also seem a bit effortlessly which might promise even mightier things to come.
Power Metal was another description I came across and even though at first I thought it didn’t make sense at all, I can, after some reflection, see where the colleague is coming from. There are some moments on the record, for example in the middle of ”The Blissful Defeat” when the guitar picks up something hymn-like, some very engaging with a lot of melody and then falls into a short bridge when the vocals are very clean, clear and windswept. That moment might even be described as somewhat pagan.
Atmospheric Black Metal or Post-Black Metal or Blackgaze – let’s summarize all three under one idea – is obviously the clearest description. There are mighty, thunderous Black Metal parts like the beginning of the first single ”Equinox Ablaze” which is broken with the help of a powerful, mid-tempo guitar-line after roughly 100 seconds. The way the drums support this part and the clean vocals (seemingly like a choir) lift it all up other the regular thunder and lightning in a bottle is more than just effective. It is nearly Post-Punkish and that combination of different elements with Black Metal is surely the unmistakable sign of Post-Black Metal. Sometimes there is even a kind of Shoegazey vibe in the songs, like the wonderful beginning of ”The Sign of Damnation” which sounds like a harder version of Alcest in all their spiritual ascends.
Hephaestian Black Metal. Well, of course the term is only created because of the start of the intro ”Lughnasadh”, when we hear the sounds of a hammer hitting the anvil, as if forging a new scythe to cut the crops in August or the late summer months – surely after Lughnasa, which is the third big Gaelic feast starting the harvest season. When you look at “band pictures of the Ukrainian trio you might feel as if looking at three well-bellied scarecrows. However, they surely shall resemble a kind of festival puppet as part of the Lughnasa festivities on August 1st. In a way, They Came from Visions are also reaping what they’ve sowed because being released through Eisenwald is a great step for the band and shows how well their debut Cloak of Darkness, Dagger of Night was received in Gotha. The band surely fits perfectly to Eisenwald’s roster and shows why the guys behind the label have an unrivaled nose for talent at home or far away.
The Twilight Robes is a mighty, powerful record and can easily grab your full attention with all the dynamic changes, the little tuning differences within the various soundscapes and the mystical allure they purvey. Even if my idea might sound somewhat childish and crazy, however, one thing is clear: these Ukrainians will not let go easily and will (hopefully) stick around for some time, because this sophomore record hints at many, many great things to come. Even without the anvil.
