Yvyy
Metaphysics of Death

A man wanders for a long time in the thick of the forest, overwhelmed by a terrible curse, and after long hours of walking, he arrives in front of a large tree, with a mark engraved on the trunk.

The man knocks on the trunk, and after a few moments, a door forms on the tree, which slowly opens, revealing the inhabitant of such a bizarre abode: a kitsune, pure white, dressed in a long reddish robe, with eyes as red as autumn leaves and a head adorned with long black hair. Trembling, the man begs her to purify him of his curse, bowing before her as he had never done before, not even in front of the greatest of lords.

The powerful fox smiles, her head detaches from her neck and begins to float in mid-air, passing through the door of the bizarre tree and circling around the poor man crouched outside, looking at him a little pityingly, a little amused; the man then looks up and notices the sudden absence of the head, which after a moment floats back inside the tree, along with the body, which before following the head, gestures to the man to follow. The man, trying in vain to stop his chattering teeth, crosses the threshold of the wooden dwelling.

As soon as he enters, he sees the body of the kitsune extracting a large tome from an archaic-looking bookshelf; the head, however, is on the ground, intent on drawing a large black circle in the center of the room, holding the pen with its hair, as if they were the long tentacles of an octopus. Once the circle is completed, the fox's body gives the man a wooden bowl containing an iridescent liquid, and the head asks him to step inside the circle;

he enters, stands still in the center, and does his best to remain steady, even though the trembling doesn't leave him;

The kitsune's head returns to its shoulders, opens the large tome previously taken from the shelf, and slowly gestures to the man to drink the contents of the wooden bowl. He tremblingly brings the bowl to his lips and drinks the iridescent liquid, and immediately afterward the kitsune begins to chant a long series of verses, shivers, chants, and monotone songs, which gradually echo in the room.

During the ritual, the man sees the environment trembling and deforming before his eyes; the kitsune's head detaches again and begins to float around him, who doesn't stop trembling, and asks the fox what's happening:

He feels increasingly desperate,

Feels every sensation from any part of his body vanish,

Feels trapped,

more and more,

more and more, more and more...

... until everything stops.

A moment later, his head collapses from his own neck, falling onto the wooden floor along with his body.

The frightened man despairs and screams at the kitsune, asking why such a thing has happened. The kitsune's head floats to the ground, stopping in front of the man's face, laughing, and finally tells him:

"What? I've freed you from your curse. You're normal now!"

...

Now, some of you might be asking:

"But Marco, why did you start the review by telling us this crappy story written with the blood of murdered Italian grammar?".

Simple.

Because this story came to me precisely while I was listening to the album in question, "Metaphysics of Death" by "Yvyy," a young duo from São Paulo dedicated to a bizarre and estranging Post Black Metal. 6 songs that blend together in an ancestral journey with a deep Japanese flavor, featuring alienating reverberations, equally alienating atmospheric shifts, stunning sonic textures, and ambient influences that culminate in Vaporwave.

The synthesized koto that opens the 2-part suite "Alvorecer/Obscurecer" ("dawn/darkness") exemplarily opens the album, fully immersing us in the oriental and surreal world that Tsar and Gabriel Eduardo want to narrate, an infinite world of mystical and dark forests, where spirits and supernatural creatures like kitsune and nukekubi watch and reign supreme. In 10 minutes and 30 seconds, you'll hear barely audible screeches (which become more audible and intense in the second part), surreal atmospheres, powerful drums (perhaps even too much), and an electronic Ambient component that dominates Yvyy's platter, to the point of almost entirely engulfing the guitar riffs.

The album continues like a trip, a unique experience in this spiritual and hallucinogenic forest, among the almost "jaunty" shamisen and tribal atmospheres of "Sommer Tempest," the gloomy and foggy start of "Eternal Hellscape," the subdued progression of the instrumental "Metaphysical Plane" (the track where the Vaporwave influx is felt the most), and especially the final beast: the almost 10 minutes of "The Forsaken Path," aka the most beautiful track on the album, with the best riff of the entire album. 9 minutes and 58 seconds in which you'll feel the epicness rising to all the skies of the cosmos, so much so that at a certain point, even trumpets appear to make everything even more powerful.

Christ!

"Metaphysics of Death" is a true dark journey where, for all 37 minutes of its duration, you'll wander blindly, completely lost, as if all of a sudden your bed (or your chair, depending on where you're listening) sank abruptly, transforming the surrounding environment into the thickest of forests, like an endless illusion created by the kitsune who, unbeknownst to you, is puppeteering you for a good laugh

Who knows?

The only flaw, which I hinted at earlier, is the mixing: the electric guitar is there, but it's almost completely engulfed by the electronics (so much so that careless listening might even lead one to believe the guitar is absent), electronics that, in turn, are swallowed by the "powerful drums (perhaps even too much)", which at times are so loud they nearly drown out all other instruments (but fortunately these "times" are few).

So, in conclusion, if you want to wander into a forest overwhelmed by curses and heavy hallucinations, only to become a victim of a kitsune's games, go ahead and listen to "Metaphysics of Death" by Yvyy, and you'll see that in the end, you'll truly return normal.

Trust me.

PS: If I write reviews once in a blue moon, understand me, it's because I can't find anything interesting.