You can go ahead and add another layer of "commitment" required of listeners willing to step into the
Ruins of Beverast: hours of eyesight-debilitating squinting in order to make head or tale of the images, lyrics, heck, even the band name and title, of their second full-length album, 2006's
Rain Upon the Impure. Indeed, never before has a CD's artwork been rendered in such dark hues, without diving headlong into the "none-more-black" aesthetic of
Spinal Tap and
Metallica; but then, this only adds another entertaining layer of mystery to this enigmatic black metal project concocted by one-man band Alexander Von Meilanwald. More important than any of the above, of course, is the stunning evolution of Meilanwald's nefarious musical vision for this sophomore effort when compared to
Ruins of Beverast's much acclaimed, but now comparatively rudimentary first album. Whereas that record (2004's Unlock the Shrine) often separated Meilanwald's versatile songwriting dynamics into different songs -- one comprised of vicious necro-black metal; the other made up of industrial cuts and samples; yet another showcasing his knack for ambient sound-tracking --
Rain Upon the Impure compiles them all, indiscriminately, and generally structured with surprising fluidity, into a series of 15-minute epics (plus two short segues). These lengthy creations also expand his metallic palette beyond the black, to include elements drawn from death, dark, gothic, symphonic, and of course progressive metal; all of which are seamlessly arranged underneath a clutch of evocatively worded lyrics, ranging from the expected Christianity-challenging screeds ("Blood Vaults," the title track, etc.), historical topics such as Roman battles against German barbarians ("50 Forts Along the Rhine"), and rather more vague, esoteric poetry ("Soil of the Incestuous," etc.). Many of these benefit from additional shading provided by a variety of vocal styles, both clean and unclean (guttural croaks, raspy shrieks, haunting female cries, choirs of non-Benedictine Monks, etc.), all of it amounting to a work of such daunting scope, that one can hardly imagine it truly being the work of one man. Now that blinding packaging makes a lot more sense: it's worth the price of deciphering its secrets in exchange for this album's equally challenging but outrageously rewarding musical experience -- the shape of black metal to come, perhaps. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia