Achieving self-actualization through the challenge of long held beliefs is a matter of divining new truths as we step back into the rare realm inhabited by Namsos, Norway-based atmospheric black metal trio Vemod and begin accessing the indeterminate path forward by way of our dark ethereal guides. On their sophomore full-length album, ‘The Deepening‘, these ‘ready old souls do not race to congest the air with twelve years worth of musing but simply plug back into the machine and record new found wisdom one slow-smoking thought at a time. The effect generated explores escalating contemplative modes, slow spun post-melodies in parallax whirr with one shimmering far horizonal view depicted at a time.

As he’d tell it the tensioned rift between the natural world and civilization has been compelling guitarist Jan Even Åsli (ex-One Tail, One Head) to replicate the music he’d heard emanating at the brink of the forest from a very young age, though it seems the palette wasn’t clear until he’d approached the classics of Norwegian black metal (I’d guess early Ulver, ‘Borknagar‘ and ‘Hvis Lyset Tar Oss‘ or nearby) and decided to form his own project circa 2000 at roughly age twelve. It’d take a few years before Åsli developed a number of songs with vocalist/drummer E. Blix (Mare, Djevel) and released a fairly accomplished if not-so typical atmospheric black metal demo (‘Kringom fjell og skog‘, 2004) which showcased its reverb splattered lilt and slow-woven maze of guitar work well enough. In a very clear and clever sense this early marker in their career allowed Vemod‘s work to be prescient and (soon after) plausibly accessible as “post-black” in the both a modern and arcane sense as it is yet carries itself with a certain Norwegian naturalist stoicism, avoiding being labeled as just another group inspired by the likes of ‘Pale Folklore‘ and ‘Heart of the Ages‘. That thought will slowly but not completely shake out of the skull once you’re awash in the shimmering gloom-tones of ‘The Deepening‘ but that doesn’t mean we should overlook the long period of development that preceded each of their full-lengths, both of which have their own distinct burl, and appreciate their work as more than a revived side-project.

In the midst of post-black metal’s changing definitions in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s the label most would apply to Vemod‘s work was something like atmospheric/ambient black metal by the time they’d managed a second demo-level release (‘Vinterilden‘, 2011) wherein the duo featured adventurous use of synth to break up the post-rock/black metal meander of those higher impact pieces, most of them decidedly short compared to the ~10-12 minute droning songs on their first demo. That initial 2004-2011 period of incubation found both members honing skills in other projects as well, eventually finding the right inspiration for their well-received debut full-length ‘Ventar på stormene‘ (2012). Often described as something like ethereal Norse metal that debut was broadly recommended in my own circles at the time of release for its droning, “shoegazing” approach to repetition and its patience testing running order, a record more concerned with immersion than statement from my point of view. If you’d loved nine minute forest synth interludes and other points of excess available to Vemod‘s debut I’d say ‘The Deepening‘ has just as many points of fixation in mind but a lot more to say.

That is to suggest the experience ‘The Deepening‘ offers is still meted out by way of quite long pieces which serve to bulk their return but each of them are driven by strong vocal characterization, memorable guitar melodies, almost prog-rock inspired basslines, and there’ll be no confusing one piece for another. If you find that most post-black adjacent music has nothing to say yet babbles on endlessly there is some potential curative to be found herein though you might have to sit all the way through ’til closer/title track (“The Deepening”) to fully sate that notion. The first bookend and opener “Der guder dor” offers the relief of fasciae torn away from aching muscle, a slow peeling free of strictures which comes with relieving melodious hum amidst mid-paced blast and tumbled kit work and rasps which echo downward, interrupted by a thin strata of clouds as they pass. The auld rush of this post-black/blackgaze feeling at its most dramatic and I suppose high-fidelity capture is still viable in this respect though it is a surprising angle which makes ‘Ventar på stormene‘ feel half-baked or humble compared to the memorable gusting of this 13 minute piece, a song which comes in two chapters and may very well be satisfying enough to hit pause and ruminate even within the first listen. To start, I’d found myself walking away from the record something like four times after solely listening to the opener, having found myself sated in the moment.

“True North Beckons” is a bit more strident, lending similar result in different ordered thought as a slightly more active pace and silvered guitar hooks carry the piece through its ever kicking movement. There is a sophistication to this song which is also obvious, or, accessibly plain in its cloyingly sentimental guitar language but doesn’t cause the usual roadblocks for my taste. When the pacing is upheld and the atmosphere captivating enough ‘The Deepening‘ manages some believable singularity in this sense, not that this type of music hasn’t been done a thousandfold but they’ve presented something inherently tuneful despite excessive extension of each statement. The largely instrumental “Inn i lysande natt” grants passage beyond two somewhat demanding longform pieces with a simple enough statement, briskly jogged and run-on in its crossed streams of thought enough that the concerted listener will depressurize by the time the aforementioned closer asserts itself. The only real criticism I have for the listening experience is that “The Deepening” indulges enough in its final traipse out of view that it feels unnecessarily overstated, overlong when it might’ve had more impact if cut off around twelve or so minutes.

Though I am not one to partake in post-black, blackgaze, or the softer realms of black metal in droves as a very selective listener there is some notable er, depth, to the experience ‘The Deepening‘ offers as a memorable and finely rendered listening experience. Their work appears to at least imply some fundamentally personal meaning beyond the usual maudlin celebration of sad-rock presented by way of atmospheric extreme metal texturing and I’d found it held up well to repeat listens even if there were points of impatience on my part, particularly when it came to the final song. Vemod‘s style isn’t something I reach for all that often so the lasting value of its presence finds some grey area when it comes to a recommendation, when it comes time to be objective as possible I’d felt this was standout enough to warrant some strong enthusiasm among fans of post-music loft applied to modern atmospheric black metal’s core aesthetic. A moderately high recommendation.

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