Mystagog - ...Of Old

Despite being defunct now, two-man band Mystagog still evokes a haunting, twisted version of Black Metal when one remembers their sole debut '...Of Old.' Drawing on a raw, Suicidal Black Metal tone of early Xasthur, fans will definitely recognize the droning guitars that obscure everything- even the vocals. Of course, Mystagog is a bit faster than Xasthur and doesn't include the atmosphere of the keyboards, but the distortion keeps up with the haunting, scary elements that make this a bit of a fright to listen to. Like most Suicidal Black Metal/ Depressive Black Metal the music can tend to sound a bit like a one trick pony with little in between to mix things up. Tracks like "...Execute" are fast, and enjoyable but after a while tends to burn out on the listener with the same riffs over and over.

Others like "...Of Old" break things up a bit more whether it is a moment of just the guitars going without the drums or vocals or echoing clean vocals done in a ritual manner; little moments like these really help with the atmosphere overall.  As the album progresses on, one can tell the sound gets 'worse' as the tone of the guitars are rawer and rawer with their razor sharp riffs, continuing to drown the other instruments in darkness. The old school presence is certainly there but like the first track it carries the exact same formula of a listener being able to listen to the first minute and then skip to the end and feel like nothing changed. In the end, the listener is left with a eerie feeling of being opened up by music, but the experience is all too familar for those who are used to the genre, and those who are new will find the music a bit weary as well in a very short amount of time.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/v/zy8kytvoxxc[/embed]

  1. ...Execute
  2. Dark Cave And Smoke
  3. ...Of Old
  4. Growing Moon
  5. The Blood And The Flesh
  6. Armageddon
  7. The Deep
  8. Devestating Storm

 


Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Dec 24, 2012
Next review: Eryn Non Dae - Meliora

Share this: