Every year, you get those bands that once arrived in good order in our inbox for further treatment. Only to be surpassed time and again by other records. And this for no particularly good reason. Or at least that is what we thought.
Now, late (very late) in the year, the RMR recovery team rummaged about the dregs of undead records way down in that overheated section of our musty review pipe. And IATT‘s1 Magnum Opus finally crawled out from under a few others and made itself known to us.
And that’s a good thing. Because you’ll get a refreshing new take on all things progressive. In other words, if prog outfits like Haken are your thing, come again. This here record gets its energy from the realms of Black Metal. A blackened tremolo fest that comes with moments of strange ambient passages and a truly pagan and a mystical look and feel. Strange violin intrusions à la Felled ringing out at odd moments. Weird saxophone and other wind instruments weave in and out of the production where there should be none of that.
And – suddenly – breaks make short work of Jay Briscoe‘s harsh vocal musings just to enjoy a bit of piano fun or jazz moments that emerge from nowhere. Magnum Opus roars all of that goodness out on an abundance of feisty bass that mostly remains audible throughout the length of the record. And yes, the album also enjoys a few djents here and there. It is true prog after all, even if vile metal serves as its base. Boy, the band even sends us a few clears in that ocean of scratchy rasps and growls.
You see, at first, I was worried about a totally overloaded mix on its way to nowhere. Yet again, IATT countered with a pretty outstanding production. And that outweighs this stuffy feeling of an overloaded mix with an alluring abundance of well-chiseled elements that won’t gripe. Not least of that credit goes to Paul Cole, the valiant drummer of the band. It’s amazing what impact a proficient selection of patterns can have on the overall quality of a record.
Yet, it is also the deliciously volatile nature of the band’s songwriting prowess. You never quite know where Magnum Opus will end up. And it is indeed this somewhat subdued variety that will save the record’s progressive bacon more than once. As – for example – in the neat Ouroboros that gorges with a gluttony of perfectly arranged elements. Not as flamboyant as some of their Italian brethren, but with gusto that not many bands mustered this year.
And yet. Sometimes, the ever-present somewhat monotonous rasps might very well be a tad too much. Injecting clearer vocals into the mix might have lightened the load somewhat. But for some reason, the band decided to favor growls over everything else. And those often awkwardly sit athwart the melodic and somewhat ambient abundance of elements on offer.
In the end, Magnum Opus remains an elaborate piece that will surely inject new momentum into Progressive Black Metal. Artfully done, it doesn’t leave room for one second of boredom. However, you need to give the piece time to blossom. This is not an easy listen, and it takes a real metalhead’s passion to really dive into it. A record for the metal connoisseur? Indeed so. So, go ahead and hit play, and let the record pull you into its blackened embrace. You won’t regret it.
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Black Lion Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 27 May 2022
- That’s one weird band name, by the way. I am the Trireme, named after an ancient galley. But hey, we’ve seen much worse.-↩