Hailing from Turkey, Archurahl presents us with their third EP release, Albtraum, a dark and gloomy album with some viscous raw black metal strewn in between moody and ambient synth passages. With this being the band’s third release, its clear that this is the one man band at their strongest. Combining the gloomy and bleak atmosphere of Goedendag Injury, and Nihilistic Black Metal’s raw production and strong song writing make for a strong third release and something I can see leading up to a full album release.
There’s a lot of build up with this release. Plenty of the tracks rely on ambient synth passages that lead you to some very well executed raw and abrasive black metal. Gritty guitar riffs and harsh blast beats that have this very industrious feel to them. The opening track Brutal Murder Victims is my favorite off of this release, and I feel like is a great introduction to the one man band. The rest of the tracks, as mentioned before have their ambient passages, but the black metal parts are slower and more methodical, leaning into that dreadful and nihilistic atmosphere the EP builds. Personally, I was more partial to the faster portions as these slow parts tend to drag on a little bit too long, and the two tracks Possessed by Wickedness and Maybe These Efforts Are All in Vain almost feel like one track, if it wasn’t for the brief pause in between the two I wouldn’t have noticed. But, if you are more partial to these tracks, its rather well executed, and builds an incredibly dreadful atmosphere that I feel like doesn’t fall into the usual ‘atmo-black metal’ type of rabbit hole. Its very old-school and gritty, which I do like.
Its a rather brief release, but its all that’s really needed. The last two tracks, named after the release Albtraum I & II are these eerie piano and synth passages that draw the release to a close. Overall, its a solid release, and makes me want a full album release from this band. While I did enjoy the previous release Goedendag Injury a little bit more, I felt like this was a good step forward and could lead to something more in the future.