Altar of Plagues: Teethed Glory and Injury (2013)

Post-Post-Black Metal

Altar of Plagues was one of the originators of post-black metal half a decade ago, and since then it has been a growing field. I wouldn’t say it’s oversaturated, but it has become a corner of the metalverse that’s attracted a lot of “hipster” accusations, deservedly or not. Perhaps that’s why AoP decided to get away from the genre, or perhaps they simply wanted to explore something else. Either way, Teethed Glory and Injury marks a stark change in direction for the Irish band.

There are a lot of commonalities between the old Altar of Plagues and the new Altar of Plagues, but only at a genetic level. The expression of those genes has been altered. It’s as if they went into a cocoon and completely deconstructed themselves into a new form. You can throw the “post-“ out the window here. Instead, the terms “progressive” and “industrial” would be more appropriate, but any comparisons to Aborym or Enslaved would be facile. Just as when they began recording music, they are complete originals.

Wound Upon Wound: Wound Upon Wound (2012)

Reading That Title Plays Tricks on My Eyes

Ireland is something of an odd man out in the metal world. They're not really a part of the larger European metal scene, and they don't have all that much of a scene of their own. Beyond Primordial, and arguably Altar of Plagues, anything else from the country can rightly be considered "obscure." But that has been a plus, in some ways, because what has been exported has been unusual enough to warrant some attention.

Wound Upon Wound is a Dublin band who have decided to give away their debut full-length for free. Their band logo looks a hell of a lot like Altar of Plagues' band logo, and they do bear some similarity to Altar of Plagues (particularly on "For This Is My Flesh"). But though they share some sonic elements and an affinity for sprawling compositions, post-black metal is not a good way to describe their music. Instead, it borders on the rarely trod ground of blackened doom.

Altar of Plagues: Mammal (2011)

Altar of Plagues is a rising star in the burgeoning post-black metal scene. Their highly-anticipated second full-length, Mammal, was released last month.

Much like the terms "black metal" and "post metal" can describe any number of widely varying styles, "post-black metal" is such a woefully inadequate way to describe this style of music. Why is it only death metal gets a billion different sub-sub-genre descriptors? Altar of Plagues produces time-stretching music with depressing emotional impact. That's the key.

Primordial: Redemption at the Puritan's Hand (2011)

Review

At the law firm where I used to practice, they have an annual St. Patrick's day party, starting early so people can go about to their later parties in time. Everyone has a good time until about 7:00. That's when a somewhat noted Irish tenor sings a few songs for everyone, reminding us all of just how stunningly depressing Irish music is, in both melody and lyrical content.

Primordial, the premier metal band of Ireland, does not stray from that tradition. They play an understated form of pagan metal, informed by black metal and traditional Celtic music played only on traditional metal instruments. The songs speak of loss and living under oppression before the lyrics even begin. But when Nemtheanga starts his throaty song, that's when things go from "decent, run-of-the-mill pagan metal" to "completely unique and essential band".

Altar of Plagues: Sol (2008) Review

Sure, I say I'm going to give up on post-metal, but I keep going back to it like it's a manipulative girlfriend. This time it'll be different, I keep telling myself. Well, this time it really was different.

Altar of Plagues is a post-black metal band from Ireland with an apparent dedication to the EP as a format. Earlier this year, they released their third EP since forming in 2006, having released only one LP thus far.

But the EP strategy seems to be working out well for them, as Sol is a very good listen. And, since it's short (a little over a half hour), it may please even those without the attention span to handle post-metal.

Consisting of an intro and three songs, the album seems to go on a journey of musical evolution from the relatively straight-forward ambient black metal of "The Titan Skies", to the much more Isis-like "Twisted Structures Against the Sun", to the even more shoegazing "With Fire in Our Veins We Drown in Light", though the black metal elements are clearly evident on all the tracks. Ignoring the progressively ludicrous song titles, the individual tracks are engaging, and they evolve naturally into one another. This is exactly what post-metal should be.


(This isn't the most representative song on the album, but it's the only one I could find on Youtube.)

The Verdict: This is great post-metal mixed with black metal, a combination which is obvious on its surface but has rarely been done. The reason it hasn't been done may be that there is almost no market for something too scary-sounding for the hipsters and too hipster-sounding for the scary people. For someone who just loves metal, and wants to hear something done really well, Sol is an excellent EP. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.