Blut aus Nord
Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars

The Norman Blut aus Nord has always been one of the most elusive and cryptic entities in the European black metal scene. Little or nothing is known, for example, about the members that make up the group: only their stage names are known: Vindsval (the founder), joined by W.D. Feld (keyboards and programmed drums) and GhÖst (bass). As for the rest, it's not easy to find information about them: we don't know what they look like, there are no live performances or promotional photos that show them as they really are. Rather, they prefer to portray themselves as three spectral, disturbing figures, without a definitive or recognizable form, almost as if they came from another dimension. Their mystery has lasted for almost 30 years now. And it still contributes to creating an aura of fascination around the band.

Their musical proposal is not exactly easy to frame: even though the base is undeniably black metal, over time and through albums, they have added symphonic, electronic, industrial, and even noise elements. This sonic contamination has allowed them to carve out a respectable place in the extreme panorama, during a period when black metal, especially in the '90s, was bounded by very rigid and severe compositional rules, and very little was allowed for musical openings or experimentation of any kind. The use of a drum machine is another distinctive element of the French, which inevitably divides the audience in half, between those who admire the group's choice to break the usual patterns and those who remain skeptical in the face of such an approach, defining it as "not true".

Generalizing a bit, one could frame the music of Blut aus Nord in two distinct, but somehow connected "souls": a more epic and dreamy soul, linked to atmospheric and "classic" black metal (consider albums like those in the "Memoria Vetusta" saga, the raw debut "Ultima Thulée" or the latest, psychedelic "Hallucinogen"), and another colder, cybernetic, and industrial-styled one ("The Work Which Transforms God", "Odinist" or the trilogy called "777" are among the most significant examples, not to mention the numerous splits and EPs that contribute to feeding their already considerable discography).

Released in 2009, "Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars" is, as you can easily guess, the second chapter of the conceptual saga called "Memoria Vetusta". It is preceded by "Fathers of the Icy Age" from 1996 and followed by "Saturnian Poetry" in 2014. Released by Candlelight Records, the album can easily be placed among the French band's happiest episodes, achieving remarkable levels of emotional intensity and compositional inspiration.

Less robotic and detached compared to previous works, "Dialogue with the Stars" is an atmospheric and suggestive album, full of a wintry atmosphere, cold, but in its way also epic and dreamy. The sound of the guitars is liquid and enveloping, painting a pure, uncontaminated natural landscape, far from the metropolitan chaos of big cities. A Nature that reigns supreme, undisturbed, alien to the frenetic actions of human beings, as evidenced by the beautiful cover.

After the brief instrumental intro "Acceptance (Aske)", which is a minute and a half completely ambient, the album kicks off at full speed with "Disciple’s Liberation (Lost in the Nine Worlds)", a perfect opening track that best synthesizes what you will find throughout the 9 tracks that make up the album: a spectral and atmospheric black metal, airy and cold as the mountain air that lashes your face, but at the same time makes you feel alive and well. A changeable and not immediate piece, twisted like a path in the woods, full of curves and obstacles, but which offers images and sounds of rare beauty and suggestiveness. And after "The Cosmic Echoes of Non-Matter (Immaterial Voices of the Fathers)", which continues in a similar way the path started with the previous track, we arrive at the acoustic interlude "Translucent Body of Air (Sutta Anapanasati)", perfect for refreshing and taking a breath after such a start.

This brings us to the heart of the album, where, in the opinion of the writer, the two best episodes of the entire work are found: "The Formless Sphere (Beyond the Reason)" and "...the Meditant (Dialogue with the Stars)". The first, although it easily ties back to what was just described, is characterized by a cadenced and solemn finale, almost Viking-like; the second, on the other hand, is the most thought-out and articulated track of the album. A decisive and powerful mid-tempo, which does not give in to sudden accelerations or torrential blast beats, but makes room for suggestive acoustic breaks that enrich the backbone of the piece, allowing the listener to increasingly immerse themselves in the surreal journey just undertaken.

The three tracks placed at the end ("The Alcove of Angels", "Antithesis of the Flesh", and "Elevation") close the album beautifully, leading the listener, through sudden accelerations and airy melodic openings, to the final destination of the journey, the top of the mountain from which the entire underlying landscape can be observed, to be contemplated in silence and solitude, while the wind brushes your face and the stars illuminate the celestial vault.

If one were to nitpick, it must be said that the use of a drum machine, although the rhythmic section is still impeccable, does not do justice 100%, as sometimes the sound of the snare and cymbals sounds a bit "fake"; the use of an acoustic drum set would surely have helped, giving the album an even more vivid and enveloping sound. However, if we exclude some slightly overblown or forced passages that occasionally peek here and there in some episodes (remember that the tracks generally range from 6 to 10 minutes), the album's value remains virtually intact, given the group's great ability to create majestic and extraordinary soundscapes capable of transporting the listener to another world.

In conclusion, "Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars" is an unmissable album for those seeking atmospheric black metal, for meditation or total isolation, far from the usual clichés typical of the genre (no Satanism or inverted crosses, to be clear). A work that should be savored calmly and with the right dose of patience, but that will give you great moments. Perfect for a cold February evening, when everything outside is silent, the trees are sleeping, and the silvery moon illuminates, with its rays, shapes, and boundaries in the dark night.

Rating: 4.5/5.