Premiere: With Wesenwille, “From One We Are Many”
There’s a black cloud amassing over The Netherlands, a gravid thunderhead bristling with energy, emotion, violence, and… thoughtfulness? It’s a rare supercell with a blistering, sweltering updraft of black metal malevolence roiling against a frigidly cynical dissonant front. See those searing electric tongues carving the pregnant sky like luminous snakes? They are the oddly asynchronous elements hammered together to form Wesenwille‘s downright shocking debut, I: Wesenwille. And yet, even in those forking blasts and thunderclap riffs, there is a beauty, a harmony, and a majesty untold. Today I’m pleased as hell to throw a devastating new thunderbolt to Earth in the form of “From One We Are Many.”
If you stargazers and stormchasers still find yourself at a loss for words (or requisite bloated hyperbole) to describe the raw grandeur of the final track from Wesenwille’s brand new album, allow me to fill in some blanks. In its nearly 6-minute run time, “From One We Are Many” seems to span the entire expanse of black metal’s cosmos. The storm is heralded by an off-kilter riff reminiscent of Outre or Grey Heaven Falls, an association that would initially turn fans of old school melody away if not for the surprisingly playful, even jaunty cadence of the track. For the first two minutes, the riffs rise and fall with a righteous gallop that recalls Windir or Hellenic black metal giants like Varathron. The subtle melodies and Torrid Husk-esque barks ride that pressure wave and sink their barbed lances into you, dragging you along the storm’s front until the chromatic Rotting Heaven-style notes deliver you into the full fury of the storm. There you bear witness to a hail of Genevieve-style blasts and Thantifaxath-reminiscent chromatic leads.
The track concludes in a squalor of ugly note choices and collapsing percussion, yet the beauty never fades. As the final clicks of thunderous drums or gusty vocals give way to a narrative voice-over, you find yourself transfixed by the fairy fire this young band has conjured. Did you really just hear this much professionalism, power, and catchiness from a debut album? Could the rest of I:Wesenwille deliver on the promise of this song. Yes and yes. The ubiquitous dissonance is married to conventional riffs and rhythms within the eye of the storm, creating a vortex that sucks in those who yearn for the old and the new alike.
Wesenwille are the real deal, and they stand aligned with Wild Hunt and VIII as vanguards of black metal’s heritage and future. The storm is coming, and you won’t want to look away.
I: Wesenwille is out April 27th. You can pre-order it here. Keep up with the band here.
