Blut Aus Nord - 777: Cosmosophy

Blut Aus Nord has always delivered hit and miss albums for me. Some albums are something, others truly lacking (or maybe misunderstood). There is always a sense of hesitation when checking out their works. Fair to say though that the last few years, the albums have been much better. The 777 trilogy has come to an end with 'Cosmosophy' and this certainly sits along with their albums that are something.

As if a new world is slowly emerging from the darkest tunnels of the underground, melodies on here carry an atmospheric drift that creeps its way up. And who was expecting clean vocals to help with the eerie introduction? 'Epitome XIV' is a great example of this. What 'Epitome XV' does is takes these clean vocals to a more theatrical level and helps carry the dark side, but an epic vibe makes its way in. In fact, this album is dominated more by clean vocals this time around and the harsher vocals only come in from time to time.

The interesting thing I find with the softer sides of this album is they make you hang on for the climax. You know an industrial tinged explosion is imminent throughout each of these songs. Take 'Epitome XVI' where the beginning is repetitious melodies weaving with the atmospheres of the synth when this wall of distortion just breaks out of no where and in time builds up with the synth and distant lead work to almost distorted like sounds at the end.

This could be the first Blut Aus Nord album where I can actually fully embrace the industrial element in their sound. The walls of distortion, the atmospheric leads, the programmed drums with their mechanical pant, they all work as one and find the right balance with the melodies that at times stand on their own and the repetitions in songs like 'Epitome XVIII' don't get boring because of this.

One thing I always found with Blut Aus Nord is that even with their better albums, there was still something that didn't seem quite right. Maybe some of the sound didn't fit the scene or mood they were describing. You know, a lot of great ideas, but a thing or two just doesn't quite click. The 777 trilogy has felt like Blut Aus Nord finally found that eerie and dark futuristic world that they have been trying to unveil to us for years now. 'Sect(s)' was onto something, 'The Desanctification' wasn't quite there. With 'Cosmosophy', they have found it and the unveiling has been met with a nod of great approval. It is very intriguing.

Now, if their world continues to evolve to greater things from here, then I will not hesitate to step into their light...

Ikil