Review Summary: A mountain of excellent songwriting and palpable atmosphere that has trouble locating its own peak
Vindensång have already proven their ability to craft deft compositions that move with an almost aquatic fluidity, and with Alpha
Vindensång’s mastermind Jeff Neblock set out to continue the cycle of death and rebirth featured on the band’s brilliant debut Terminus: Rebirth In Eight Parts
. The prominence of atmosphere above all else is immediately apparent on Alpha
yet also quite fitting given the blend of ambient, folk, and a slight hint of black metal that the band has carried over from their previous LP. The sound isn’t completely transposed, because the attitude of Alpha
is a bit more subdued than before; not quite as violent while at the same time sucking huge amounts of movement from soundscapes that on the surface are quite barren, but underneath are full of life. It’s not unlike the dark oceanic visions the album constantly conjures, whether through its album art, song titles, lyrics, or even the music itself.
is a grand stage containing several poignant set pieces that, while all part of and contributing to the same play, are distinctly individual in nature. This is perhaps the largest difference between Terminus…
: the fact that the songs are capable of driving themselves individually rather than relying on the other tracks for context. That’s not to say that the songs feel detached, it’s just that they are written in a way that makes each one contribute its own story which, by the time “Water-Bearer” fades away, hopes to become a formidable epic. The album builds itself off these blocks, and indeed a large part of the appeal of the record is in the fact that it is constantly building towards a final crescendo; a place where everything peaks and then collapses. The obvious point where this would occur would be the 19-minute goliath “Within the Womb of Creation”, but it is herein where the album reveals its Achilles heel. Whereas Terminus…
unleashed an hour’s worth of mounting dread in the mass of twisting guitar melodies and desperate black metal rasps of “The Origin: The Point of Return”, no such defining moment manifests anywhere on Alpha
Instead of a single, world-eating tidal wave, we have heavy surf that occasionally lets go of a large wave, but one without a long-lasting impact. “Into the Formless Void” and “Lights of the Abyss” each let dissonant ambiance evolve into simple drum beats and fleeting, whispered voices before finally cresting into more traditional black metal intensity. While it is all undoubtedly enjoyable - even brilliant at times - it fractures the momentum of the album so that it only builds for a track or two before being exhausted. Granted, what is built certainly has a mountain of potential energy that is virtually palpable in the album’s masterful atmosphere, but the kinetic result of all of this energy being released is not as immense as its careful construction would lead you to believe. “One Thousand Fathoms” is a dark ambient wonder due its simplicity and slicing effectiveness, with a single ominous melody being transformed into a brooding mantra by thunderous percussion and echoing keys, yet all that it achieves is forgotten not long after the song fades away. It seems that the decision to construct songs that have their own voice may have been carried a bit too far, because by the end of the album Alpha
seems to forget what some of those voices were saying.
Regardless, Vindensång have released another dark ambient album that should be essential listening if you enjoy the genre, especially if you are also a black metal fan. The soothing tones of “Water-Bearer” counter the dread within “One Thousand Fathoms”, and the dynamics of tracks like “Within the Womb of Creation” create a tale within a tale through numerous buildups and instrumental shifts. The success of Alpha
in conveying a very specific mood and then evolving that mood through its course is worth mentioning time and again, but the album fails to become that formidable epic it so desperately wanted to be. This is simply because there is no single place where the album finds its identity; where listeners turn to when they are asked to describe Alpha
by pointing out one single defining moment. It is instead a series of waves, effortlessly pushing toward the shore but never crashing into the sand in unison, instead making landfall in small ripples interspersed by the occasional crashing swell.