Beatrik
Journey Through The End Of Life

"Journey Through The End Of Life" is the first full-length by Beatrik, a band that finds its mastermind in Frozen Glare Smara, an intriguing character and cultured person who has been able to develop a profound reflection on life and death in this wonderful work.

I'm talking about a local band whose origins lie in Trentino Alto Adige, and it inevitably draws inspiration from its landscapes, scents, and sensations. The album was released in 2002, although the band had already existed for some years and had some demos before that. On drums, we have Vidharr, while every other instrument is handled by Frozen Smara, who, I remind you, is also the mind behind 'Tenebrae in Perpetuum', his second project again with Vidharr as the drummer.

The CD focuses on death as the central theme of its concept and all that it influences, both in nature and in man; man, in fact, knows that sooner or later he will have to die, and at the same time, he knows that when he does, he will have to leave everything behind forever. This can only provoke a deep sense of despair, anguish, fear, sadness, and it is precisely these sensations that the album is imbued with in every single part.
We start with "Buried Among Skeletal Woods", the opening track that speaks to us about autumn, a season preferred by Beatrik as a subject and inspiration, and describes the bare, sad, and lifeless trees, talking to us about a connection with nature and death that we often forget or avoid because it's too distressing. The start is slow and measured, the riff simple yet highly effective, surprising us with its beautiful negativity; the drums follow it in an exemplary manner; then there's a burst of speed in the middle, everything whirls down rapidly only to return to where it started.

The second song, "To Feel The End Near", starts in contrast to the first, more determined and fast, giving way after a few minutes to a sad and desolate guitar part that concludes with a dramatic and almost tragic finale, yet always slow, which in turn returns to the faster initial phase. "The Caron Embrace" seems to give us a moment of peace and reflection on human reality, which believes itself strong and immortal, but is instead helpless in the face of death, in front of Charon's embrace.
The fourth track, however, bears the name of the band: "Beatrik" and in its speed and infernality, it tells of the monster Beatrik, a monster from the Underworld who, with his demonic dogs, seeks the death of humanity on earth; and it is precisely with the text of "Beatrik" that the band's connection with their region and their places of belonging becomes apparent: the legend of the monster indeed belongs to the places where Smara lives.

Here we are at the fifth track "The Last Down", a first monument to death as well as a masterpiece of sadness mixed with despair for a death that seems so near and pressing; the riff makes us understand that the end of life is approaching us slowly but steadily, day and night, the drums support all this thanks to Vidharr's mastery, the central phase seems to search for something only to find it in an engulfing and so empathetic finale, making each person grasp only damnably real and distressing sensations, it seems as if we have already experienced them sometime in a remote area of our soul. The final sentence is emblematic: "...Death wins all." indeed, death wins everything.
Thus, the CD concludes with the Title Track, the second monument to death, another desperate thought about everything before definitively collapsing at the hands of the Dark Lady, Frozen Glare Smara nails every detail of this piece, Vidharr also follows him as always so far, the guitar parts always simple and easy to assimilate, but laden with melancholy and depression, overwhelm us to make us kneel without hope in the face of what we cannot understand, but only suffer.

The album closes with the cover "Spells Of Destruction" by Burzum, performed very well, but which has been extensively discussed in the Vikernes chapters. In my opinion, the album finds its true conclusion in track 6, in any case, I find it perfect even so. I conclude by extolling the praises of Beatrik and their work which reveals itself to be complete and very beautiful in every facet, introducing us to an artist who will always remain among the greats of this genre.