Plainchant - “The Sun Sets on Our Time” (Independent,
2023)
Every now and then we get a glimpse of what Artists can pull off when their focus is maximized. Wonderful things can happen when creative people are inside that bubble that allows thoughts and ideas to be materialized into real, existing, things. Music is one of those fields; one where the Artist permits himself to be as visceral and honest as one can be, and that is when we are offered magic.
The idea of Atmospheric Black Metal is one that haunts me, to be honest. It is quite easy to label music as A or B, even if A or B do not completely describe what we are listening to. North American Atmospheric Black Metal always - or at least 90% of the time - give me images of snowy mountains and massive forests, which is superb. That is what I look for whenever I decide to dwell in this sub-genre of Black Metal, and that is what I normally get. Plainchant was “discovered” today, while scrolling on social media - and people say social media is bad - and what got me was the cover. I immediately built a bridge between this release and Omitir’s “Ode”. The countryside, agriculture, working the land, men’s poverty and human strength and primal needs. An odd analysis, perhaps.
Plainchant is a one-man-band from the United States of America; no mention to a place of origin, but we can assume it is a cloud and snowy place. And although I do not believe the music describes such a place - meaning that mental image we get from a tune - it guides me towards a location of pain and despair. Plainchant is “the style of unison accompanied vocal music used in the medieval Church, especially in Gregorian chant”; and funny enough, we get that. The Gregorian chants? Well, not the actual Gregorian chants, but you get a background structure that directs you to it. The musical construction was structured to have such an element in the setting, in “Plainchant”. The medieval component is there, no doubt.
This debut EP is composed of only 2 tracks, and both are massive: yes, massive. But it is so simple at the same time. This is the Black Metal I love the most: nothing complicated, no need for this or that; the quality of the Artist, alone, carries the songs. Both songs have this very majestic aura to them; they sound, at the same time, very contemporary. Allow me to explain… Plainchant is not all classical Black Metal structure, and the 1st song, the ones that gives the EP its name, has modern details that are transversal to the song, and to the EP as a whole. Transitions and fusions are truly very well planned and accomplished, and that is why the overall feeling of the EP is very clean and its flow is addictive. This EP is very addictive, no doubt.
Being a very atmospheric release, it would a neat and almost perfect sound was expected; however, the sound is not perfect nor unbearable. It is “rough on the edges”, and I adore the fact that the vocals are almost buried beneath the music itself, almost cave sounding, if that makes sense. “Plainchant” kicks off with a melody that could describe what Atmospheric Black Metal is, honestly, and I find it so well-conceived, so well-structured… and the way the Artist choose how to sing, is fits the music, perfectly.
Truth be told, I only have two tracks to analyze, to shape an opinion, but so far, I came out with plenty of curiosity on what the future might bring.
As soon as I finished reviewing his first release, I got a text message from a mate telling me to check two releases. One was “The Suns Sets on our Time”, and the other one was this. This came out on the 14th of February and is as amazing as the 1st one!
Again, two lengthy songs where the vocals still sound buried beneath the rubble and from deep within the Earth’s core. I just love it. I love how he recorded these, love it. He keeps his music as intense as possible, as that results in striking melodies and heavy atmospheres. And although his music might “live” within the sub-genre, I get a bit of something else. At times I get some Burzum hints. Maybe not perceptible at first, nor too overwhelming, but I hear them in his music. It makes sense, as this whole sub-genre got a lot from the man that was so fundamental for the genre, and such a prick at the same time.
One of the feelings I get from these 2 songs is that the Post Black Metal influence is a lot stronger than in his previous one. I might be mistaken, of course. Not that it leaves the realm of Black Metal, but it moves further from its core. The vocals… did I mention the vocals? Man, just need to give kudos to the main man for going down this road! The instrumental part is amazing, and the way the vocals were placed only helps in enhancing this side of the music.
Plainchant is, in a way, a modern approach to the Atmospheric Black Metal sub-genre. We can clearly see that several external influences were gathered in order to produce such a “creature”, and that is the richness of Music and this specific genre. Given these two examples of his creativity, I sincerely believe in an amazing successor to these 4 songs.
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