Panopticon - The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (I and II) Review

I would like to think, as an avid music listener and an overall decent person, that I am open to a lot of things. Be it that new Ethiopian restaurant down the street, or perhaps an upcoming poetry lecture at my school. Whether or not I would do those things again, is not the point. The point is that people should be open to experimentation, and should embrace those oddities when they arise. I did this when I first listened to one-man black metal project Panopticon's seventh studio album, The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (I and II). I heard about Panopticon before I approached this massive project; I had heard of how innovative of a concoction atmospheric black metal and Americana folk/country was. It must be something special, as those two genres are not often seen near one another. I am also not afraid to tackle long albums, albums such as Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper and Xanthochroid's Of Erthe and Axen Acts I and II both hovered around the 90-minute mark in terms of length, which I revered as some of the best material put out last year. Therefore a two hour long LP should not be too much to handle. And while I would not call myself the biggest advocate for folk, I have listened to a lot of folk-infused black metal which I have enjoyed. So after long last, I dove into this head-first with no expectations or ideas of what to think. And surprised I soon became.

The first half of this album is the black metal half, my personal allure towards it. I am going to consider, for the sake of the score, as this being two different albums. Because, as you will come to find out they are basically two separate ideas squeezed together as one album. Regardless, part one consists of eight tracks which clock to 58 minutes. The opening track, Watch the Lights Fade, is an introductory track which consists of a crackling fire, an acoustic guitar, and later some atmospheric drums as well as a harmonica melody. The track serves its function well, it sets up a scene of beauty in nature, with the guitar playing consonant chords to back the harmonica. The drums add a somewhat tribal and primitive feel but are not too overbearing in the mix and compliment everything well. There is even an owl that hoots at the back end of the three-minute track. As someone who grew up in suburban New Hampshire, close to the White Mountains where one would occasionally pitch a tent in the various sites around the area, it reminded me a lot of home and the warmth and comfort that comes with such. As far as intro tracks go, this one is very solid as it gives you a very easy entry into the rest of the tracks.

En hvit ravns dod, which according to GoogleTranslate translates roughly to "A white raven's death", is the second track of the album, and showcases the meat of what you will hear on the remaining of the first part of this album. Standing at just under 10 minutes in length, everything that could be called a part of atmospheric black metal rears its head here; blast beats, melodic tremolo picking, and common switches between an onslaught of guitars and drums to cleaner, more digestible sections of melody. The vocals are deep in the soup of the song, and if you were not actively listening for them, you could probably tune them out at some points. This is not a bad thing, but it is a trope that I find common in a lot of similar songs of the genre. The song slows and speeds up again almost formulaically, and overall, it is a pretty underwhelming track. The addition of strings around the halfway point and end provide a break for the previous intensity that was not very prevalent, to begin with. It sounds nice but overall, the track is very standard and forgettable.

The next two tracks, Blatimen and Sheep In Wolves Clothing, are both personal highlights as they are both much more aggressive and melodic than the former. Blatimen begins with a breakneck flurry of instrumentation that is far more intense than on the previous track. This is followed by an absolutely infectious clean guitar melody which recurs frequently throughout the track. It reminds me a lot of a melodic death metal riff, which is also not foreign of the genre. Solos even rip through the middle and back end of this track to provide an awesome climax and conclusion. This track leads directly into the following track, Sheep In Wolves Clothing, which much like the track before it, sends you on a blitz of powerful riffing and lightning-fast drums. This track doesn't take any sort of rest until halfway through the song, where it leaves almost as soon as it entered, bringing a dark and more haunting riff that is perhaps far closer to that of a Mayhem or Burzum than others heard on this album. This song, in particular, is a great example of what this type of atmospheric black metal should be. It does not rest until it absolutely has to, and when it does it is beautiful in its transition. Although I will say, I am not a fan of fadeouts in any sort of music, and this is a prime example. Rather than ending where the riff is clean and epic, it decides to throw it back in, and fade out to an accordion playing the same melody. I do not really understand the point of it, but it a small gripe of an overall standout track. Both of these tracks are just under seven minutes, and it shows. Neither of them is tiresome to listen to, and are both engaging throughout, taking clean breaks when necessary and showing how this genre of music should be done. Great job on these ones, Austin.

A Ridge Where The Tall Pines Once Stood is a nice break within the tracklist, employing yet again the crackling fire and acoustic guitar, but this time replacing the singular owls hoot with chirping birds and howling wolves. A narration describing the necessity of nature is somewhat campy, amazingly progresses the track to a section of soaring strings, simple drums and beautiful guitar, which is perhaps one of the most beautiful sections on the entire albums. With the help of a choir, the track slows abruptly to the beginning of the next track, En generell avsky. This translates to "a general disgust", and takes a very different tone than the previous tracks. The opening riff undeniably sounds like one written by Emperor, and it sounds fucking awesome. The song turns toward its comfortable atmospheric roots, and delves into that, but jumps back to the Emperor sound shortly, adding a sort of refrain to the track that is anticipated throughout. Sounding very sinister, this track maintains a very eerie vibe while remaining very sharp and extreme in its progression. In the back leg of the track, the riff descends into a darker sound but slowly begins to wane as the track nears its end. The ending of this track oddly transitions into the next track, The Singing Wilderness, and feels very uncomforting in doing so. It feels as this track just pushed out the last one to show itself, and feels very unclean. Regardless, this track is not a bad track, but much like En hvit ravns dod, it does not bring anything remotely as interesting as the prior 4 tracks had brought. Both this track and the prior track are also great indications of how low the vocals are produced. They are so far back that they do sound like a whisper in the forest. This is probably the intention, but it does not provide the track any more than it is expected to. While being incredibly unremarkable, this track does somewhat make up for this by having a very strong progression as riffing changes quite a few times over the course of this 9-minute track. This keeps it interesting and does help out in this manner. The song also ends with a very nice solo that picks up where the rest of the track slacked. But the very ending of this track is perhaps the most comical I have ever seen black metal, with Austin screaming, "This is the sound of the singing wilderness!" and I honestly laughed the first time I heard it, as it comes out of absolutely nowhere and doesn't into the final track very well.

The final track on the first half of this album, Snow Burdened Branches picks up with the droning note left off by the prior track and leads into a second narration about how the new generation is represented in the wilderness, and how they need to preserve the beauty of nature. This narration feels a bit forced and is not nearly as satisfying as the first was earlier on. It serves as a small intro track that could probably be removed from this 11-minute track. The song erupts into an evil-sounding riff, which is alright in its own right. It is not anything special, but it is not boring per se. The vocals do not add a lot to the track, minus a tad of texture over the repetitive instrumentation. The track stops while the main riff continues over, and relapses back to the flurry it started in. The track does not really pick up anywhere else, and virtually stays in somewhat of the weird and underwhelming lull it has created with its sound. It adds a dual guitar melody over a slow passage to try and build with the pounding drums but doesn't succeed in building to a climax nearly as powerful as in such like Blatimen. Its main riff return, and returning to that point, the riff is a very nice and solid black metal riff, but it is nothing extraordinary. This song also feels very formulaic, and towards the end begins to slow and fade to a very predictable end where the main tremolo riff and melodic riff play over one another while the atmosphere fades to quiet. Is it a satisfying way to end the album? Yes. It wraps it up nice and tightly with a little bow and presents it to the listener as it is a perfectly packaged store-brand atmospheric black metal album.

Overall, this is a decent album. It has very high highs and only mediocre lows. The album ends and begins unriveting, but the apex of the album crests in the middle to something amazing. The four middle songs are very good, and Sheep in Wolves Clothing is perhaps one of the best black metal songs of the year. While some of my comments on the more uneventful tracks may seem harsh, in relation to the songs in the middle, they are too mediocre to forget. I would recommend this album, and it is overall a positive experience to listen to, but it will most likely not make a top list on my end.

Score: Lo-Fi Kvlt-Hop
Favorite Songs: Sheep in Wolves Clothing, Blatimen

The second half of this album is what surprised me the most. I had no idea if it was going to be a straight folk album or something along the black metal line. The first track, The Moss Beneath the Snow, is a mostly instrumental track which sounds far more along the lines of a Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Mogwai song than any sort of folk I have listened to. The atmosphere created in this song is absolutely beautiful. Beginning where the previous album left off, a dual guitar melody leads you into the track as the crashing of waves is heard in the background. About 4 minutes into the 12-minute track, the drums, and bass kick in, bringing in a great atmosphere that arises to perhaps one of the better tracks on the entirety of the album. The correct amount of dissonance is added about halfway through, and the track becomes far more pummeling to listen to, with a guitar screeching above as the rest take the low ground to create an uncomfortable, but yet soothing atmosphere. As the drums and bass fade, the dual acoustics return, and play twangy rhythms that bring in the folk and country aspects, but remain vast and expansive at the same time. At this point, vocals also enter the fray, with Austin beginning with a low melody, but compliments the deep with a high voice entering in occasionally to add to the sound. His voice is very interesting and sounds troubled, but is a well fit for the song. The song ends with birds chirping. Then everything changes.

In the third track, The Wandering Ghost, the style switches drastically from the atmospheric folk it previously presented, to a far more, "southern" influence. The implementation of the banjo and even deeper gruff singing is not subtle and throws you into an almost Johnny Cash-esque ballad. The acoustic guitar plays chords while the banjo plays melody atop. This song isn't like most modern-day country music, as you would probably assume. The overall tone of the song is still bleak, and very folky, even while bringing in the country aspects. Overall, this track isn't standout, but it has a place on the album that makes a lot of sense and is pleasing to listen to. Four Walls of Bone is a bit of a mix between the prior two tracks, as it keeps the country melodies and vocal styling, but also brings in the droning melodies of the post-rock. The song has a very depressing feeling, and the lyrics and melodies presented throughout showcase that well. The absence of drums on this track is a bit jarring, even though the last track also did not have any either. The rhythm here is clear but is weird coming from a genre where drums are virtually essential to your music. The track is very samey but in a good, familiar way.

A Cross Abandoned, the fifth track, is far closer to a post-rock track than the prior but does not sound like one in the slightest. This song is very lo-fi, which I did not really expect to come out of this section of the album. The first part certainly, and the use of it here adds a lot to the atmosphere of the folk track, which would not have been near as powerful. The organ that adds quietly to the background creates a very nice melody to compliment the rest of the already present instrumentation. This is one of my favorite songs on this half, as it is depressingly emotive, and utilizes everything that we have heard on this album up to this point. While I believe this song may have served better as the climax to the album, it fits in very well with this position and is absolutely beautiful in its execution.

The sixth track, Beast Rider, has a melody everyone has heard before, but probably cannot put their finger on. I couldn't and still, I do not know what it is. Now that is going to bug you for the rest of the day, I apologize. But otherwise, this track seems like a much more down-tempo and folky version of The Wandering Ghost. The song is also quite short, just shy above 4 minutes in runtime. This track probably is not necessary, but much like most of the tracks on this latter half of the album, the music has a very calming tone and is very accessible. Not Much Will Change When I'm Gone begins with a solo guitar and Austin's tortured vocals. I do not like the way he sings on this track, as the strained vocal melody doesn't sound very pleasing, even though this is probably the point. The song soon adds the remaining instrumentation, to be a nice southern post-rock jam, but much like a few other songs on this album, there is not much of a progression to the music as a whole. This track is pretty forgettable, and doesn't do much to move the album forward, and feels like a slog to listen to.

Track eight, entitled, Echoes In The Snow, is, much like The Wandering Ghost, a country song at heart, with a darkness looming on the horizon. And while this track musically is permissible. I cannot get behind the lyrics. Any song with the mention of "old pickup trucks", is not the kind of music for me. That is pretty much all I have to say about this track. The Itch is a far more soothing track and begins with a pretty acoustic melody. While the anti-Conservative agenda actively expressed in the lyrics is sort-of, half-assed and blunt, and doesn't really reflect what I want to find in my folk music, the song is very soothing, and a harmonica melody adds to the song quite nicely. Also, this is not necessarily a political website so we will refrain from politics unless needed, like in most thrash metal reviews.

(Cowering) At the Foot of the Mountain is much akin to The Itch or Not Much Will Change When I Am Gone, in its sound and style. At this point in the album, the songs do sound very samey in nature, and although this track is far longer and incorporates the banjo and bass where the other tracks had not, the song still sounds very samey, and is almost sleep-inducing, due to the soothing vocals and quiet nature of the song. The layered vocal harmonies halfway through the song help wake you up with the addition of drums, but this track seems like an amalgamation of all of the other songs on this side of the album. The sound picks up towards the ending of this track, which serves as the climax of the album, and while it is intense and dissonant, it feels somewhat unremarkable. This is basically the final track, as The Devil Walked In The Woods, is a short banjo and vocal performance that rounds out at 3 minutes in length. This song serves as a good closer, and although abruptly comes from the previous track, serves its purpose well.

This second half of the album is, again, not in my general wheelhouse when it comes to music. It was definitely an experience writing this review, as it was harder to find things to talk about. This album was good. It was, and I am surprised to say this because the first time I listened to it, I did not like it at all. But after relistening quite a few times, a lot of the tracks grew on me. The album is still very samey, and if you don't like folk or banjos and harmonicas in it, this may not be the album for you.

Score: Edgy Cowboy Hats
Favorite Songs: A Cross Abandoned, The Moss Beneath the Snow

Now we add these two albums together. There are both positives and negatives to this album. To begin with the pros, a lot of the songs on this album are very good. Sheep In Wolves Clothing may be one of the best black metal songs to be released this year, and Blatimen is close on its heels.  The Moss Beneath the Snow and A Cross Abandoned are both excellent post-rock and folk songs, and I will probably re-listen to all of these songs in the future. Austin is very talented and incorporating all of these styles successfully is hard, and fortunately for us, he accomplished this. Unfortunately, with these standout tracks, there are about two tracks that are either mediocre at best or far worse. With this being a two-hour album, a lot of these tracks could have been cut or at least shortened. (Cowering) At The Foot of The Mountain and En hvit ravns dod are both tracks that felt very unnecessary, and too long if necessary. The risk of making your album too long is large, and while I believe this album is overall positive, there are a lot of negatives that also bring it down.

Overall Score: A Snow-Covered Pickup Truck
Favorite Songs: Sheep In Wolves Clothing, A Cross Abandoned.

By: Adam Richards