{"id":94810,"date":"2022-06-14T00:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-06-13T23:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=94810"},"modified":"2022-08-10T11:29:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T10:29:08","slug":"album-review-palace-of-the-widow-botanic-ritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-palace-of-the-widow-botanic-ritual\/","title":{"rendered":"PALACE OF THE WIDOW – Botanic Ritual (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PALACE OF THE WIDOW
Botanic Ritual<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Dane Adair, the man behind Spectral Tower\u2019s 2014\u2019s self-titled<\/a> opus, is back with another project, only this time the talented musician is aided by friend Matt Lebearveau.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s Palace Of The Widow is a very atmospheric expression born out of personal issues experienced by both members, so what you get here is a sprawling sense of black metal sprigged with blackgaze traits. But let\u2019s forget about the silly sub-genres attached and just enrol ourselves in this tapestry of sound.<\/p>\n

From the off, with \u2018Seed Of Never\u2019, there\u2019s something harmonious yet also extreme about this work; there\u2019s the juxtaposition of the gargled vocal barks mixed with rhythmic percussion and some excellent, slightly more traditional guitar work. It\u2019s not particularly aggressive musically but then it\u2019s not meant to be. Palace Of The Widow explores a more soulful journey but is forever changing as it rolls out like spectral mist that appears at once eerie yet mesmerizingly serene.<\/p>\n

Hats off then to some of Matt Lebearveau\u2019s acoustic passages, and there\u2019s even a saxophone thrown in for good measure, but don\u2019t expect some sort of Lynchian avant-garde jazz fusion. Instead, revel in the depths of this misty yet quite meditative state where the trickles of instrumentation transport me to a place I\u2019m not familiar with but which is lined with a sense of dread of foreboding, made all the more suspenseful by the harsh, ethereal vocal barks.<\/p>\n

\u2018First Lord\u2019 is a sea of raging black metal, although some will argue \u201cpost black metal\u201d, but for me black metal is black metal yet with levels of flexibility. However, one thing I do take from this is a very spiritual nuance, as if I\u2019m a spectator to something alien, pastoral and yet cold as almost idyllic guitar tones weave wistfully between great gushing geysers of gloom.<\/p>\n

Botanic Ritual<\/em> is very much a soundtrack to something unknown and deeply personal. It\u2019s pensive lyrically but always ethereal as \u2018First Lord\u2019 gives way to \u2018Thousand Year Sleep\u2019 with its almost Cynic-like levels of textural complexity in that cavorting bass before the frozen, cascading glut of torrential tumult unravels. There\u2019s still that ever-present atmospheric black metal vein, the blizzard-affected horizon, except this time we see beneath the layers of cold fog to peer at unnameable form by those gushing streams, those damp meadows and damp nooks.<\/p>\n

Everything about this opus feels expansive, vast and deep. The title track subtly trickles as Dane Adair barks to the horizon like some forlorn, far-reaching creation dwelling in a sorrow soaked up by the landscape. And that\u2019s where I am with this, visually trying to become one with the enveloping flickers and vapours cast out in a quaintly esoteric fashion.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ancestors Of Time\u2019, \u2018Infinite Dots\u2019 (featuring some excellent axe work), \u2018Rootbound\u2019 (swirling like a progressive rock icon), \u2018Teraform\u2019 (raging with an ice cold-hearted flurry) \u2018Released\u2019, \u2018Light Siphon\u2019 and closer \u2018The Mortal Wish\u2019 all exist as spacious, sprawling adventures through the tear in the fabric of time, where unknown worlds are bolstered by the more striking demonic narration and yet all unequivocally stirring in whichever guise they take.<\/p>\n

This is not a simplistic route to take, the adventures within will be treacherous underfoot due to the strange, mesmeric footfalls the guys create, but if you want a record to get utterly lost in without having your bones snapped or face battered then Botanic Ritual<\/em> provides more than enough kaleidoscopic scenery amongst its contours.<\/p>\n

To me, this is engaging, enchanting progressive music with a black metal heart, but it\u2019s one speckled with an extensive mysticism that many a psyche may feel completely alien to. I think Palace Of The Widow can be approached a number of ways, but what I do recommend is several listens first before attempting to unravel its fleshy folds. Personally, all I see are pinks and purples, endorsed more so by the strange cover art, and a track such as \u2018Infinite Dots\u2019 more than sums up the nature of this shimmering entity of darkness and light which, for some, may be an acquired taste.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALACE OF THE WIDOWBotanic Ritual Self-released (2022)Rating: 8.5\/10 Dane Adair, the man behind Spectral Tower\u2019s 2014\u2019s self-titled opus, is back with another project, only this time the talented musician is aided by friend Matt Lebearveau. California\u2019s Palace Of The Widow is a very atmospheric expression born out of personal issues experienced by both members, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4930],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-palace-of-the-widow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94811,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94810\/revisions\/94811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}