Peccatum

Extreme in its oppositions, Peccatum’s third full-length comes after a three-year pause for the band. Pitting soft, soothing textures against harsh, threatening eruptions, Lost In Reverie maintains a sinister unease even in its quietest moments because you always know chaos lies somewhere close ahead. Not to say there’s no middle ground, just nothing middle-of-the-road. Appropriately to the title, songs cast around with no obvious purpose or destination. While it’s a meandering way to travel, in the skilled hands of Ihriel (Star of Ash) and Ihsahn (Emperor) — former band-mate PZ appears as guest only — the lack of coherence or clear direction becomes a volatile strength. It’s easy to find parallels between Peccatum and trippy post-metal bands like the Gathering, especially in Ihriel’s vocals, but the comparisons never hold out for very long. Travelling through each of the seven lengthy tracks reveals industrial noise ("Desolate Ever After”), prog ("In the Bodiless Heart”), extreme metal ("Parasite My Heart,” "Black Star”), jazzy beats ("Veils of Blue”) and so on, but no one song can be tied down to a single genre or style for more than a moment. Lost In Reverie is a tiring journey at times, but a fulfilling one in the end.