Arizmenda: Stillbirth in the Temple of Venus (2014)

This is the last of the Black Twilight Circle posts for the time being.  And we are going out with a bang.

I covered Arizmenda just a few days ago for their debut album.  I enjoyed that album but found it to be somewhat of a difficult listen, and more of a wall of noise than anything.  It had few, if any, dynamics. 

I am not really sure what changed in the five years between that album and this one, but Arizmenda have improved leaps and bounds.  It does not help that I have not heard the album that was released in between these two.  Maybe the evolution was more subtle.  Maybe not.  I do know that this album is terrific.

For the first half of the album, there are minor differences from what came before.  The production is significantly better, allowing the musical elements to truly be heard, which is a massive improvement.  But while much of the chaos from the previous release is still present, Arizmenda has reined it in somewhat and introduced a fair amount of melody, particularly in the second half of the album.  The songs are still lengthy and somewhat repetitive, but Arizmenda have mastered crafting a dark and imposing atmosphere to the point that the repetitiveness comes across as horrifyingly nightmarish, like a bad dream from which one cannot wake. 

This is a mammoth of a record, one that is at the very top of what the Black Twilight Circle offers.  After reviewing so many of the albums in the last several days, plus a few more, I can honestly say that this is probably my favorite of the bunch, just barely surpassing the Odz Manouk release and the Volahn full-length.  So, if anyone is interested in checking out this scene, those are probably my top three recommendations.

Arizmenda: Within the Vacuum of Infinity (2009)

Arizmenda is another Black Twilight Circle band.  It is a one-man project of Murdunbad who has also done work in Dolorvotre, Kuxan Suum and Ashdautas, mostly as a drummer.  He has branched out significantly for his Arizmenda project.

This is Arizmenda's first full-length album and the best way to describe the sound is as a wall of noise.  The album is completely chaotic with lo-fi distortion, pounding drums and shrieking vocals.  The songs are all quite long and for the most part, fairly repetitive.  Each song is at least eight minutes long.  The album itself is something of an exercise in patience for the listener.  There is very little melody and very little reprieve from the constant, bludgeoning noise.  It is still recognizable as black metal, but Arizmenda's goal seems to be to make as much noise as possible.

This is a difficult album to listen to, but it is impressive in its own right.  The music is vile and hateful, but well, this is black metal after all.  And I have said time and again that the more hateful styles of black metal are the ones that speak to me the most.  That continues to be true with this album.  This is yet another shining example of a Black Twilight Circle release and proof that the scene is kind of all over the place when it comes to the sound.