Together To The Stars - An Oblivion Above Review

I've discussed black metal on this platform before, but I have yet to talk in-depth about "blackgaze" or "post-black" metal. I touched upon these genres on our year-end list when discussing MOL's Jord, which was given an honorable mention by yours truly. For a quick recap, "blackgaze" is a genre tag that essentially takes atmospheric black metal, and infuses it with shoegaze and post-rock/metal influences. Bands founded by French mastermind Neige such as Alcest and Amesouers pioneered this style in the early 2000s. Oathbreaker and Altars of Plague notably revolutionized this sound, and Deafheaven has popularized and reinforced it since. After came a wave of innovative and fresh bands in the last few years. Together to the Stars is one of these newcomers. The Swedish two-man group independently released their debut last month to mass attention within the metal community. After initially piquing my interest, I waited on this album for a while before actually listening, and in doing so I realized a trend. While discovering new music to review and listen to, I seem to skip over this genre and generally go to more "intense" sounds. Generally, this results in me becoming surprised when I hear these albums, like the previously mentioned Jord. So going into this brand new record, I expected to be surprised and surprised I was.

An Oblivion Above is five tracks, with a forty-two-minute runtime. To put it Bluntly, this album fits perfectly into this timeframe. Every minute is necessary to fill the vast and grandiose atmospheres these guys create and the words "vast" and "grandiose" are perfect descriptors pertaining to the sound of these songs. The piercing tremolo and calm chordal sections create an aura of serenity over the layers of ferocious blast beats and writhing vocals. They drive the song on tracks like "Timeless" and "Apathy" to unparalleled emotional highs. With only one short track, "Shrine", the band uses the rest of the half-hour to create catchy guitar melodies, which prove themselves to be the strongest element of this album. The chord progression on "Timeless" is particularly noteworthy, as the gentle transitions between the aggressive tremolo and expansive held out sections are flawless in execution. While the guitars and the haunting melodies they provide may be the true standout of this record, the rest of the performances shouldn't be disregarded. Multi-instrumentalist David Steinmarck is a master on the kit, showcasing blast beats and progressive grooves galore, and Franco Fuentes' vocals are truly impressive, coming off as desperately wailed pleas rather than traditional harsh vocals.

This band's sound is very similar to Ghost Bath, but with a much more tender sound. By taking the clean parts of this band's sound, Together to the Sun has created a beautiful piece of art, seemingly influenced by the post-rock and shoegaze aspects more than those of atmospheric black metal. This album is original and marvelous in its understanding of the genre it exists in. Although the influences can certainly be heard, they are not present enough for this band to become bogged down with the tropes that other artists in the genre often fall prey to. While TTTS is very unique in the way they go about crafting this genre, a veteran listener of the genre may nitpick the clear influences that spring up in their songs; those notably being Deafheaven and Alcest.

This album is phenomenal. It is currently my favorite album of the year, and yes it is far too early to tell if this will stick, but that strong assertion is worth it. The music is able to speak volumes with such simplicity and express emotions that I have yet to experience this year. Together to the Stars should be regarded as the standard for blackgaze, as An Oblivion Above has proved itself to be interesting, different and downright compelling. This band is one to watch over the next few years, as I am sure they will become “huge” before we all know it. If you haven't checked this out yet, I recommend strongly that you do. Great job, guys.

Final Score: Two Sunbathers with a sprinkle of Ecailles de Lune

Favorite Tracks: "Apathy", "Timeless"