Aethyrick - Gnosis - LP

Black vinyl, limited to 500 copies.

Formed by Gall and Exile on the winter solstice 2016, Aethyrick's medium is black metal, methods uncomplicated and motives unknown. The Finnish duo proved their potency during the closing days of 2018 with their first full-length. Duly titled Praxis, indeed did it brim with a mysticism and magick that was simultaneously aeons-old and strikingly modern. A new classic in some circles but seemingly overlooked by the rest of the novelty-choked public, Praxis nevertheless laid firm a foundation upon which Aethyrick would most surely weave ever-more-grandiose spells.

"Magick isn't simply something you do," sagely says Exile, "it is what you must gradually BECOME." Thus, witness: Aethyrick's second full-length spell, Gnosis. Immediately and recognizably Aethyrick from the very first notes to the ever-resounding last, Gnosis is a deceptively subtle spin in relation to its predecessor Praxis. In fact, one could almost argue that Gnosis' embrace is a warmer, more comforting one, its hanging 'n' somber melodicism pulling on the heartstrings in unusual (and some would say "uncomfortable") ways. But, pull back this no-doubt-passionate development and one finds stark 'n' glittering BLACK METAL suffused with the same mysticism and magick that so endeared Praxis to the intrepid and intractable. More pointedly, Aethyrick's songwriting here has developed piecemeal layers that paradoxically lay even barer their stargazing, wanderlusting aims. It's obsidian sonics for dreamers and rogues, theorists and realists. And it's still 1000% black metal of a proudly purist stripe, for the duo of Gall and Exile choose to work within the idiom rather than without.

Time and again, charlatans and careerists have sought the latter route, their ruse - intended or not - fooling themselves and also so many of the said public. Aethyrick's eyes are wide open, their minds and hearts in kind, for they have seen Truth and borne witness to its liberating powers into The Beyond. And yet, this is but one mere step on their journey - fall into their stride with Gnosis!