Perennial Isolation
Portraits

Well, it is the isolation that defines this Spanish armada of four, they are from Barcelona and their latest album Portraits has a cover that looks like something from the regions where I happen to live. They released their first effort in 2013, and the first album the year after that. It is said that they are on their own perfect journey under their vision of atmospheric black metal, it is also said that they are praised for their melodies that comes without compromising the aggressiveness.

Atmospheric black metal is the style of this album, it is brutal, aggressive, and yet it is melodic and dramatic. The vocals are the typical black metal screaming and growling, no surprises in that regard. Their style is relatively personal, especially for something in the black metal type of music. They have a relatively fresh style, and you notice that the word relatively features quite a lot. That is because it is relatively, it isn’t really standing out much from the black metal genre in general, and it isn’t really an album that strikes me as something particularly novel, but it is fairly fresh, and they have at least taken up a niche of the genre that is less crowded than most.

This is a fairly good one, the melodies are strong, the adventures relatively interesting and the songs are good. I think this can have a relatively wide appeal as it is really well made, has a fairly fresh sound and no major weaknesses. I would have liked a strong hit song, something that really makes you gravitate towards the album. So, it lacks that little bit extra that makes an album stand out, but it has appeal and should not be disappointing to the ones who enjoy the atmospheric black metal styles.

Worth checking out? Probably, I like it, it is a solid effort that shows some of what can be done withing the constraints of the black metal style for those that have some imagination. It is not the best I have heard within this genre, but I think Perennial Isolation has enough going for them to merit some interest from those who enjoy the darker reaches of the metal genre.

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