Occultation - Three & Seven

So Profound Lore has definitely led the way with more 'obscure' releases this year and here they have released one of the more interesting albums I have come across this year. Occultation's debut album, 'Three & Seven' is one eerie, haunting piece of work that whilst I like for the majority of it, is still proving to be a challenging listen..

I recognized the guitar sound straight away, coming from 'Nameless Void' of black metal band Negative Plane. A lot of this album feels like Negative Plane, but with clean vocals, and much more doom and psychedelic oriented. But okay, to focus on 'Three & Seven'.. There is a lot of echoing effect to the riffs which makes this sound really eerie, trippy and really dark. It feels ritualistic in a sense. That twang and chime sound. Even the leads can sound piercing at times to the ears when they get higher. It kinda feels hypnotic.

This could lead you out to a choppy sea at night. You can't help but walk towards the water as these riffs are ringing in your ears thanks to the strong winds carrying the sound through. They have control over you and with help from the plodding bass lines or organs (eg: 'Dreamland In Flames'), you will just fall face first into the water and the stream will carry you well through the seas.

Even the way that bass line plods along with the leads is haunting. Like people in dark hoods slowly walking along the shore line and line up candles along the banks as they await for you to swim back to them so they can cast more haunting spells on you.

The female vocals are not anything amazing, but they are well suited to this. Low end, mostly monotonous and like the guitars, have an echo to them. But what I see in this is that hypnotic and haunting effect. It has that occult atmosphere. Dark hymns being sung at a black mass.  

Production is my only real gripe and probably the one thing that has made me not cling to this album so much. That echo can just make those guitars be too piercing at times. Listen to this too much through headphones and it might send you crazy haha. Maybe that is the plan. The drums sound a little drowned out also. I would prefer this to sound a little cleaner. This is definitely what is making for an 'uneasy' listening experience so to speak. But hey, it is what it is.

Perhaps when you are in a dark mood, put on the candles, turn the lights out and put this on.. Then sit back on your couch and stare into the candles as they flicker along to the eerie melodies that you hear filling up the room. Mesmerizing effort.

Ikil