1349 - Revelations of the Black Flame (2009, Candlelight Records)

Track List:

1. Invocation

2. Serpentine Sibilance

3. Horns

4. Maggot Fetus... Teeth Like Thorns

5. Misanthropy

6. Uncreation

7. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

8. Solitude

9. At the Gate...

I think enough time has passed that it's time to make a proper analysis of 1349's much maligned Revelations of the Black Flame now that the dust has, for the most part, settled. Releasing an album as wildly experimental as this would have been a risk for any band, let alone one as associated with such a specific sound as 1349, and it must have been a surprise to no-one that such a strong backlash erupted when Revelations was unleashed and wasn't the Hellfire Part II blast-fest that everyone was hoping for.

Nevertheless, I must admit that I enjoyed Revelations when it came out, despite sounding nothing like I was expecting. Up until that point the band had been known as Norway's premiere purveyors of no-frills fast-as-fuck black metal, culminating in 2005's face-destroying opus Hellfire. Everyone knew that a new 1349 record meant wall-to-wall blastbeats and frenzied, icy riffing. Naturally therefore, the obvious thing for the band to do during their four year silence was to put together a record that completely deviated from this well-worn path of destruction and instead mix the abrasive black metal with creepy ambient soundscapes and droning experimental tracks. Unsurprisingly, many diehards were pissed.

Initially it seemed that many people were eager to lay the "blame" for Revelations of the Black Flame squarely at the feet of Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost fame, known all too well for his experimental tendencies and given a producer credit on the album. Certain similarities will be apparent to anyone familiar with Celtic Frost's 2006 album Monotheist, which had its own share of experimentation and refusal to stick one one consistent sound. However, Tom G. insisted on his own blog that he was merely present at times during the recording in an "advisory role", and that 1349 were dead-set themselves on the type of album they wanted to create. Regardless of whose "fault" Revelations is, the album was released and so it stands.

This record is most definitely one that demands listening to as one complete experience and there's a clear flow to the ordering of the tracks. Despite Revelations of the Black Flame's shortcomings, 1349 have managed to create probably the most convincingly hellish atmosphere I've heard on record. The opener "Invocation" is probably the most obvious example of this, beginning with a cacophony of terrified screaming that slowly dissipates into an unearthly, cavernous throb; like thousands of tormented souls being sucked down into a flaming abyss. Eventually out of the sulfurous haze a slow kick-snare drum pattern emerges alongside a decidedly uncharacteristic crushing riff like hammers beating against a giant anvil. Just when the speed picks up for a brief moment and you think you're back in classic 1349 territory, the band brings it all right back down and some of Ravn's best vocal work ever joins the maelstrom. Is it typical 1349? Absolutely not, but it is an incredibly well-executed and atmospheric piece, and in my opinion one of the album's highlights.

In terms of production the album has a fairly similar sound to Hellfire - beefed up from the earlier offerings while still maintaining that classic frozen black metal feel. The band are down a member since the departure of Tjalve several years earlier, but the guitars still sound as ferocious as ever. Ravn's vocals are improved somewhat since the previous album with a more venomous delivery behind them. For fans of 1349 an undoubted highlight of each record is always the relentless drumwork courtesy of the mighty Frost, and although the nature of Revelations means a tightening of the reins on a fair portion of the album, he's still allowed to go at full bone-shattering speed every so often (for instance the fastest and most traditionally 1349 track "Maggot Fetus... Teeth Like Thorns"). 

The first half of the album is really where the majority of the more classically 1349-sounding material is to be found (along with the first of several atmospheric interludes in the form of "Horns"), before things get really experimental following the climax of "Maggot Fetus". The following track "Misanthropy" is an odd combination of discordant piano and what sounds like the flickering of an old film projector that gives the feeling of some ancient silent horror movie. Both "Uncreation" and "At the Gate..." are an amalgamation of atmospheric ambiance with slow, droning guitarwork and minimalist drumming.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the whole album comes in the form of a cover of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". Yes, you read that correctly: a Pink Floyd cover. On a 1349 album. Somehow though, the band manage to pull it off and forge a genuinely creepy soundscape of buzzing guitar and bass noise, bizarre effects, plodding drums and hissed vocals that sound as if they're being sucked out of Ravn's lungs into endless space. The Celtic Frost/Monotheist influence is particularly clear on this one thanks to Tom G. Warrior's handling of guitar and bass duties, and at times there's an almost Sunn O)))-like feel to some of the drones employed.

While I've enjoyed Revelations of the Black Flame since release, it is admittedly a bit of a mixed bag and absolutely no surprise it garnered the reaction it did. The band could certainly have done with scaling back the ambiance and injecting a bit more furious black metal into the album, and in all likelihood it would have gone down a lot better than it did.