Premiere: Gaerea’s “Absent” Makes All-Consuming Blackness Appetizing
Open wide, kids, cuz I’ve got a dangerously hot and recklessly addictive new premiere coming right for your throat! Like a ravenous hound on the heels of a critically-acclaimed EP, Portugal’s Gaerea are back with an absolutely massive cut of extreme metal violence. Half black metal, one quarter death metal, one quarter sludge, and all killer, “Absent” is a Grade-A, premium serving of riffs and blasts and shockingly emotive shrieks that will grab hold of your spleen and make you bellow, “MMMMMMMMMMM” in delight (and pain). Get in here for the hottest slice of obsidian you’ll hork down all day.
There’s an art to crafting a song this fragrant and dense while maintaining that delicious sense of melody that commands your appetite. Thankfully, Gaerea are masters of the culinary black arts and know exactly how to blend and slash and simmer and cook a song to perfection. The only blackened edges or foreign spices you’ll find here are there by design.
Greetings! We’ll be your servers today.
This particular dish opens with a nicely crusted atmospheric layer owing a debt to Gaerea’s sludgy interests. What’s that I detect? A hint of hardcore in the fleeting spice notes of the vocalist’s tortured screams? Interesting. And what’s this beneath that thin crust? It seems after a minute of chewing on this fine morsel I’ve encountered a meaty death metal riff that would normally be at home in a track from the likes of Vader or Ageless Oblivion. An interesting choice, but it certainly suits the direction of this track. Oh ho, Gaerea aren’t done toying with my tastes, though, for as soon as I finish that savory bit of death, an absolutely massive black metal trem line practically rips my tongue out of its skull. Oh, what flavor! Those surprisingly sweet melodic lead lines that make the main black riff all the more scorching! Those spicy blasts that hammer my jaw so soundly that my teeth are liable to crack and shatter together! What a concoction!
The riffs. The composition of the track. The absolutely pristine presentation, unmarred by sloppy production or poor performance. All of it comes together to deliver an absolutely satisfying track that blends together the nastiest strains of hardcore and black metal and death metal into an unbelievably delicious final meal. I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t resist one more bite.
Press play and gorge your extreme diet on a rare morsel with me.
Unsettling Whispers drops June 22nd. It will be available from Transcending Obscurity in a variety of formats here. Stay up to date with the band here.
