Raventale - Transcendence (CD)

Review
Pest Webzine
9/10

Already the 6th studio album (and 5th for BMM Music) for this Ukrainian one man band, "Transcendence" is made of 4 long tracks totaling around 45 minutes of playing. Astaroth progressed his compositions towards a more Atmospheric side this time, his awesome guitar solos and leads are blending perfectly with the gloomy layer of keyboards, but the doesn't mean the Doom and Black Metal parts are lost, not at all, they became even more emphasized and coloured by adding these dreamy guitars here and there. This is Raventale's best album to date and I strongly recommend it to Ambient/Atmospheric Black and Doom Metal fans. With a more bombastic sound raventale would rule this part of the scene!

Author: Adrian

Review
Forbidden Magazine
26.12.2012

This Ukranian black metal band has been a consistent favorite of mine in recent years, so much in fact that I was actually awaiting this release and it’s been years since I’ve been excited about an upcoming album. Each release shows more growth in both atmosphere and intensity, somewhat bordering on the melodic, introspective, desolate, and flat out hostile simultaneously. Songs like “Room Winter” instantly come across as the being that familiar and classic frosty melodic buzzing black metal , but as the song progresses into more of an aggressive storming of rhythms and atmospheres I’m reminded of the intense and unique sounds of Altar of Plagues and a bit of Nachtmystium (Assassins: Black Meddle Part I) especially in the transcending mortality/astral travel mood blended with equal parts black metal and psychedelia.

Although “Room Winter” is over 11-minutes in length they really keep the intensity high with their continuously changing moods and tempos within the song like an endurance test of freefalling, stopping suddenly and dangling mid-air, free-falling yet again, and so forth. Sometimes it’s almost a gothic and symphonic instrumental journey, then suddenly it will combust into a blast beat snare crashing percussion throw down with incinerating buzzing chords diverting direction into a blazing inferno, while other times it’ll break the mood once again with deep chugging juggernaut riffing. Thus nothing is easy to predict, but the flow and crafting of every minute detail in each of the four songs on Transcendence is masterfully smooth and fluid to the point of justifiably a transcendence from body to pure spirit

The opener, “Shine”, is an addicting pulsing song with slight shoegaze hints in the melodies, but still holds up its blackened aggression via deep decipherable growls that almost fall into death doom territory with a slight touch of doom groove in some of the rhythm guitar towards the middle of the song. Complete with some excellent chugging riffs and a continual rollover between arpeggiated melodic leads and a pulsing tide of rhythm it’s virtually impossible to escape the pull.

Much of the brilliance of this album lies in its means of unraveling itself and embedding its own consciousness into yours. It’s fairly difficult, if not nearing impossible, for me to not listen to Transcendence in its entirety. Once the impact of “Shine” flows into “Room Winter” its like being lost in a dream until the monumental closer “Transcendence” leads you back to a wakened state of awareness once again.

“Transcendence” is complicated fury to describe aptly. The vocals are fierce and shrieking, almost like a spirit beckoning through the cold twilight air, and the symphonic elements bolster the feel of supernatural/astral experiences and presences upon which the album is inspired, especially toward the latter portion of the song where spoken/chanted words ring through the mist like incantations from beyond the mortal realm. The solo right before the chant-like vocals brings to mind the sound and atmosphere of Blut Aus Nord (Memoria Vetusta I and II) when those distinct melodies come forth and the songs reach that pivotal pre-climax moment. For me this song is the perfect fornication of some of the best moments in black metal and as with all the other songs on this album, this one leaves you in a state of cold sweat and palpitations upon its end. ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!!!!!!

Author: Janet Willis

Review
The Pit of the Damned
8/10
15.01.2013

Raventale sesto capitolo, il quarto recensito dal sottoscritto. Mr. Astaroth Merc torna puntuale come un orologio svizzero ad incantarci con la sua musica e dopo averci ammaliato con i colori blu, arancio, rosso delle cover cd dei precedenti lavori, questa volta tocca al verde rilassare la nostra vista e alla sua musica appagare le nostre orecchie. “Transcendence” segna un altro passo avanti nella discografia del musicista ucraino, che dal 2006, si mantiene comunque coerente nella sua proposta all’insegna di un black doom sferzante ed apocalittico, mai come questa volta influenzato da “Dance of December Souls” dei Katatonia, che io reputo essere la pietra miliare del genere. Potrete pertanto intuire quanto mi abbia lasciato poco indifferente questo nuovo album dell’act di Kiev. Già con il precedente cd ritenevo infatti, che i Raventale meritassero una chance da parte di un’etichetta ben più commerciale della russa BadMoodMan Music, per dar modo all’artista ucraino di venire fuori dai confini dell’underground. Quattro i pezzi contenuti in “Transcendence”, tutti contraddistinti da una lunga durata, superiore ai 10 minuti. Ad aprire le danze “Shine”, che non incanta tanto per il suo monotono riffing portante, piuttosto per gli azzeccati inserti tastieristici e per uno splendido assolo posto alla fine. “Room Winter” è un aggressione di puro e selvaggio death/black, con tanto di blast beat, che irrompono nelle casse del mio hi-fi, in compagnia di gracchianti vocals (a cura di Vald) che si innalzano fiere sul tappeto ritmico devastante (a tratti epico, in altri frangenti quasi al limite del techno death), che risulta ammorbidito dall’aura, appena percettibile, delle tastiere o di un arioso break centrale, che ci consente giusto il tempo di rifiatare, prima dell’invettiva conclusiva. “Without Movement” è un brano dai toni più pacati, che oltre a mettere in luce la potenza e la pulizia dei suoni, colpisce per un ipnotico giro di chitarra e armoniche melodie che s’immergono nella fitta e nebbiosa ritmica costruita dai nostri, che palesa e non poco, l’accoppiata violenza ed emozionalità, espressa dai Raventale. I conclusivi 13 minuti affidati alla travolgente title track (soprattutto nel finale), non fanno altro che confermare l’eccellente stato di forma in cui Astaroth Merc e compagni (da segnalare anche la presenza di Anton Belov come voce addizionale) versano. Insomma, che dire, se non che “Trancendence” è un altro episodio pregevole della discografia dei Raventale, di cui sono certo, sentiremo ancora parlare a lungo, in futuro.

Author: Francesco Scarci

Review
Kaosguards

Comme chaque année, le loup solitaire qu’est Astaroth, unique maître d’oeuvre du projet RAVENTALE, vient déposer une nouvelle oeuvre misanthropique.

Les connaisseurs ne seront pas surpris que « Transcendence » soit composé de seulement quatre titres oscillant entre dix et treize minutes. Comme à l’accoutumée, des riffs lancinants y déroulent leur funèbre litanie, rehaussés d’arrangements de claviers pertinents et de parties de guitare lead simples mais belles. Certains passages de claviers sont même totalement atmosphériques. Les vocaux sont tour à tour gutturaux et criards, toujours désincarnés, résolument en rupture de ban avec l’humanité.

Le tempo peut être imperturbablement constant tout au long d’un morceau (médium sur « Shine » ou frénétique sur « Room Winter »), alors que les titres « Transcendence » et « Without Movement » alternent les séquences contrastées.Rien ici n’est particulièrement révolutionnaire ou surprenant mais la force de la vision de RAVENTALE est palpable pour quiconque est suffisamment armé pour affronter des étendues aussi arides et désolées. Par rapport aux précédents albums de RAVENTALE, on notera une amélioration de la production et une mise en valeur des riffs plus évidente, de même qu’un registre vocal parfois presque Death.

Une sorte d’évolution discrète qui s’inscrit dans un corpus cohérent.

Author: Alain Lavanne