A mysterious act hailing out of the US, Glyph bringing us their first full length release, Remind Us of the Sun. Though, not their only release, they bring us this off the back of of two demos, and an EP. The style is somewhat consistent and typical black metal, with raw production that cements a type of voice for the band, but with this full length, they’re putting out a firm voice and a distinct Gothic style that helps the band stand out among its peers.
That gothic style shows within the guitar and bass in this release. Dark and gothic atmosphere creates for a great theme in the album, and luckily the song writing is there to back it up. The melodic flow between the more mid-paced and the faster blast beat sections are done very well and sound like natural transitions rather than just a brutal assault all the way through. In fact the album as a whole is extremely melodic, letting room for the guitars and bass to really play around and create some rather memorable moments on the album. The drums how ever, are just there to do the job. They’re tight and clean but, sound rather stiff and artificial. It doesn’t really draw back the album what so ever though, and the rest of the instrumentation is able to really stand out. The vocals as well are a nice atmospheric touch. Howls and echoes that are heavily modified have add a nice touch, though they sound very much like they’re from more raw and noisier bands like Black Cilice. Except this time its a bit more audible.
If there’s one thing that really sticks out for me is the production style of this album. Its like a stripped back ‘raw and lofi’ black metal album. When cleaning up all the noise and dissonance, I feel like this is what you’re left with. Straightforward and simplistic black metal with some haunting vocals. Not saying that’s a bad thing at all, but its rather jarring and I think helps them stand out among its peer. Because there are some extremely catchy and well written moments on this album. The opening track Of the Cinders has this groovy and melodic guitar and bass intro riff that gets stuck in my head forever. It helps too since it has this rather dark and gothic feeling that doesn’t break away from the black metal mold.
While I did enjoy my time with this album, I did find it a little bit boring and underwhelming. I think because of the more stripped back production style, the instruments don’t feel as impactful. It all feels very ethereal and ambient. While very well written and well played, I just feel like it was a little bit too cold, if that’s such a thing with black metal. The melodic and catchy nature of the album does help it out a lot, I just feel as though if the production was a little bit more meatier and had a greater impact I think I’d have a much better time with this album. But, I’d still suggest people to give this a listen as it is a very solid black metal release with some very charming and catchy characteristics that shouldn’t be looked over.