Greek black metal project Auriferous Flame released the second full-length, on October 6th, via True Cult Records/Stellar Auditorium Productions. Ardor for Black Mastery is the new album from Auriferous Flame! Another musical incarnation of Greek musician Ayloss, renowned for his work with Spectral Lore and Mystras. It follows up his critically acclaimed debut album from 2022, The Great Mist Within.
“As old-school black metal goes, Auriferous Flame is shot through with a psychedelic streak that makes it anything but straightforward.” said Treble. Meanwhile, Popmatters commended the album, stating: “The resulting music is simultaneously fragile like gossamer and as brutal as a maelstrom, while a grandiose, foreboding atmosphere enshrouds everything…”
About the musical style:
Auriferous Flame’s first album was a spontaneous recording that should perhaps represent an early manifestation of intentions. However, Ardor for Black Mastery is an album that has been intensely in the works for the greatest part of 2023. It represents a new kind of focus. Where Spectral Lore has been expanding outwardly from black metal into different directions, Auriferous Flame aims to deepen into it. Yet, search for the golden dark fire that burns near its core, exploring violence, darkness, splendor and rebellion. It is absolutely not a side-project, which came to life for the sake of temporary experimentation, but a new formation! With the same dedication and intended continuity as in Ayloss‘ most well-known projects, however, which shows.
In comparison to the debut, an important musical element is introduced to further flesh out the character of the project! The influence of the black thrash style, evident in the increased speed and complexity of the album, fuses with the cold black metal and martial, medieval-like atmospherics already present. Aided by an obvious upgrade in the production quality, the result shows a much more intense and aggressive direction. Also incorporating a touch of weirdness and avant-garde tendencies.
Inspired lyrically by Hermetic and alchemical texts as well as by the putrid condition of the man-dominated world, Ayloss is fuelled as much by a strong desire to bring back the genre’s anti-authoritarian beginnings to the forefront, as with apprenticing in what makes metal dangerous, unique and impossible to be liked by everyone at the same time. The ending goal is, of course, mastery as much as it is reclaiming and transmutation.
Tracklist:
1. Wielders Of Secrets
2. Thaumaturgical Irresolutions
3. Behind the Gentle Breeze
4. Ardor for Black Mastery
5. Beyond Light, Beyond Reason
6. Ophidian Hallways
7. Recommencing the Great Work
[…] the album builds on the foundation laid by Ardor for Black Majesty, merging two seemingly distant subgenres of black metal: energetic black thrash and dark […]