It’s not like there is some committee who decide exactly what ‘post’ means is it? In the words of the great wine drinker (er, me…) ‘Post is in the eye of the beholder’. On their debut record ‘The Calling’, Romania’s Mauna Sol have delivered one of the most black metal, post-black metal records that I have heard in a while.
It could well be the intense, crystalline production that lifts this out of the clandestine pits of ‘trve’ black metal. It could equally be the stunning levels of musicianship and song-writing that are on display here. ‘The Calling’ is a journey – and one that is filled with aggressive extremity (that would not be out of place on a grotty Finnish release), yet also interspersed with golden, uplifting ambiance as well as some seriously top-hatted guitar solos.
From the opening of ‘A New Life’, any aforementioned committee would be filing this under ‘not one for us’ as the acerbic vocals combine with icy tremolo lines and present an intensive black metal greeting. Yet nuances appear like weeds through cracks in the concrete – in the shape of guitar lines that would sit far more comfortably on a Groza or a Ba’al record, than one by Horna, for example.
These welcome shoots explode during tracks like ‘Flirting With The Abyss’, ‘Agony’ and the wonderful ‘Death Poem’, and open ‘The Calling’ out into the intelligent and absorbing listen that it is. For a debut, this is quite a piece of work, and will appear to anyone who gets their kicks from extreme metal in general – no matter what we decide to call it. One to check out.
Best Paired With: A Mountain Stroll, A Pile of Spare Plectrums and A Tasty Stew.
Reviewed by Jaff.
The Calling by Mauna Sol is out now on Loud Rage Records.
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