Mausoleum Gate - Into a Dark Divinity

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With all of the fantastic and exploritive new black metal coming out of Finland, it's hard for one to realize that this beautiful land offers anything more than just that. Enter – MAUSOLEUM GATE. "Into A Dark Divinity" is quite simply a masterpiece that is leaps and bounds above the grand majority of throwback records out there today. There are so many elements at play here; from early RUSH and BLACK SABBATH, to the initial works of artists such as CREAM and HAWKWIND. This record is a nonstop display of psychedelic doom at its best, and every riff - every beat - every vocal nuance, is like an arrow gliding with blinding speed to sink into the bulls eye of its intended target.

As "Into A Dark Divinity" opens with the song "Condemned To Darkness", it is all at once apparent that the listener is in for an aural treat. Folky acoustic guitar work soars over tinging cymbals and a ghost-like bass line, setting the perfect backdrop for powerful vocals belting out lyrics that are akin to a dark and ancient poetry that has been forbidden to be spoken for many centuries, until now. The center portion of most records contain what the fans commonly refer to as "filler tracks", which are basically interludes designed to satisfy the record label's expectations as they pertain to sound structure or album length. "Into A Dark Divinity" contains no filler at all. Shorter tracks, such as "Burn The Witches At Dawn" or the chanting-driven "Horns", are rife with retro metal energy that is able to burn a hole straight through one's brain with its intensity and ferocity. Longer fables, the likes of "Apophis" and the album's closing title track, are filled to bursting with layered sounds and vocals that envelop the listener from beginning to end.

There is not much more that I can say about MAUSOLEM GATE that I haven't already written in my review, with the exception that I only hope that this band decides to push on further into the realms of the sweeping, liquid sounds they have created thus far. This kind of talent is what the music world needs right now, and recordings such as this one are sadly too few and far between.

Songwriting: 10
Oiginality: 9
Memorability: 10
Production: 9