Entrenched in the loathe of Sisyphean absurdism and the postmodernist need to parse the cold indifference of the natural world in relation to human self-importance Venezuela-borne and Santiago, Chile-based black metal act SELBST continue to divine the self through contempt of exacting and prescribed formae. At the emotional peak of this exploratory gouging comes the clearest-yet exposure of the embattled psyche at the heart of all of their work which does not necessarily intend to escape the throes of choosing between connectivity and rescission of the self. A post-metallic stretch of hesitant embraces and distantly threshing observations ‘Despondency Chord Progressions‘ does well to represent the inner self pulled outward in these dual-reactive states without allowing the mind to escape into either point of potential rest. The choice to connect or withdraw is darted between in order to convey the struggling vacillations of an existentially questioning mind as it is variously fascinated and revolted in a descending spiral, a beauteous shape and an entirely uncomfortable state of being as a quasi black metal experience on decidedly modern terms.
Selbst began circa 2010 by way of musician N. who’d struck out on his own with the project as the main guitarist and bassist with help from vocalist Frozen (Velo Misere) and engineer Lúgubre (The Empty Hall) both of whom would soon be known for Aversio Humanitatis as well as the drummer from Holbach, a band N. was briefly a part of as guitarist. This initial collaboration would invoke the entirely graceful, crestfallen melodic black metal demo tape ‘Veritas Filia Temporis‘ (2011). With consideration for the era there was a unique quality to their work which was often compared to the severity of key Polish groups (Mgła, Furia) but not quite as bruising as say, Ascension‘s master work ‘Consolamentum‘ nearby. Though the band’s first official releases were splits between various related projects (all of which were collected on ‘Secular Compendium‘ in 2018) it would be their debut EP (‘An Ominous Landscape‘, 2015) that was generally the first most folks had heard of the group. For my own taste their work had vastly matured per its focus on guitar technique allowing a bit of classic melodic black flow to still break through, some potentially ‘Paracletus‘-informed chord shapes to take hold, and a blustering dramatic voice would craft melodrama far more despondent than their first tape. The first impression of their work was that of primarily emotionally driven craft, black metal which is evocative by nature and purpose. At that point it seems some folks involved moved to Spain and N. moved to the Santiago area by 2017, allowing more possibilities for music and collaboration in general.
Among those possibilities lay a self-titled debut full-length (‘Selbst‘, 2017) and an album I’d go as far as to describe as a dissonant post-black metal in style for the sake of tentative, often surreal compositions and an ever-ringing haze of dread lain upon the majority of its pieces. At the core of the experience was a post-metallic version of dark metal draped in moderne avant-black voicing, abstract as that take might seem the resulting effect of each song should be clear enough when reduce to its melodic device. Also, for the sake of trivia we can note that the session drummer for that debut, Jonathan Heredia of Aversio Humanitatis, also returns for ‘Despondency Chord Progressions‘, as does this sensation of dark metal melody infused semi-dissonant post-black progressivity. Selbst would soon sign to Debemur Morti for album number two (‘Relatos de Angustia‘, 2020) an album which I’d entirely missed that year, a far less sleepy vision of their sound and the first to find N. taking on vocal duties and live performances. This’d been the album to set expectations best, to step away from the entirely too sour post-metallic etch of their debut and dive into the possibilities of lead guitar impact more direct in the suggested dark metal inspired voicing, upholding the blustering drainage of avant-black metal sound design and rhythm guitar technique (see: “Silent Soul Throes”) for a far more impactful release. If we can with some tentative certainty suggest that’d been the artist arriving upon clearest distinction, then the question is what to expect of ‘Despondency Chord Progressions‘, eh, besides what the title itself suggests in a curiously blunt fashion.
Self-strictures cut loose. — Part of the answer lies in the song “The Weight of Breathing” on the previous LP, where some unexpected clean vocals create a brief but illuminating chorale alongside a depressive black-level shrieking moment both of which suggest Selbst had now begun to reach for tools which’d help realize a different range of cadence which might better match their ambitions. Said ambitions haven’t necessarily hinted at any sort of progressive black intent in terms of style, though, as each record finds its own marriage of emotionally driven dramatism and guitar-forward black metal aggression. This seems to change as we take a chisel to the features of ‘Despondency Chord Progressions‘ and begin to find a marked increase in attempts at connectivity from an expressly introverted and introspective mind. In this sense we get vocal performances which enunciate with more clarity, heavy rock inspired guitar solos, and a full-on reprisal of the choral vocals previously mentioned… all of which present a new paradigm from N. on key track “When True Loneliness is Experience“, an eight and a half minute piece which best represents the forward-thinking insight of the artist left to its own devices. I mention this song up front for the sake of it likely being the make-it-or-break-it moment for the passing listener wherein those seeking black metal “dissonance” with a melodious side may be potentially unwilling to partake in the expressivity of the vocals. This is crucial because this song sets the tone for the remainder of the experience and carries its momentum directly into the similarly enthralled “Third World Wretchedness”.
Selbst have long been a band to explore philosophy for the sake of better understanding the self, occasionally zooming out to the brunt of thought on human nature to extract the helplessness of situation for the sake of their own setting rather than aiming for broader statement. In a sense this is a window within the introverted nihil available to the individual rather than a cold, declarative black metal experience. Not only does this match up well with the evolving vocal treatments found on ‘Despondency Chord Progressions‘ but also its somewhat antinatalist themes which frame the internalized tribulations of the main point of view wherein one feels damned by circumstance of birth without consent, facing the merciless reality of existence as a self-important triviality. At least that is what I gather from suggested themes and symbolism available as we step into another key song, “Chant of Self Confrontation” having already felt the gamut of N.‘s vision on the previous two pieces. The estranged waltz of this song once again features a bit of rock guitar, some verifiably prog-metallic strain in the vocal department, and all of which rings as a step away from the dissonant glare of previous work towards the “music box” sentimentality of post-black metal. As much as I don’t typically care for that particular style this’d registered as something I’d not heard before, a different touch seemingly readied to divorce itself of black metal entirely or at least fully dive into this particular tangent as deep as it might reach.
The restlessness of Side A loses its momentum around this point and the remaining three pieces manage a cumulative statement (“The One Who Blackens Everything”) a questionable melodic metal ballad (“Between Seclusion and Obsession”) and thankfully at least one more harder-bruising piece to yank us back down to their signature melodious yet dissonant furor after an extended detour out of their old skin; Throughout the course of listening and relistening to ‘Despondency Chord Progressions‘ I’d had two trains of thought worth following, the first being some admiration for how boldly they’d stride into the unknown and manage a healthy dip into the modern dark metallic and post-metal realm without fully dissociating from any recognizable sense of their former self. The second was that this release feels like a different band entirely beyond its opening and closing moments, that perhaps ‘Relatos de Angustia‘ wasn’t enough of an intermediary step between then-and-now for Selbst. In the spirit of the album’s themes the torment held between these ideas, the pros and cons existing together in unsettled strands, feels about right. Not every moment impresses, a few choices grate, and some of the dark magick of the band’s aggressive side has been set aside for now but this’d been in the cards since 2017 and should not wholly alienate folks enchanted by their body of work thus far. The album itself won’t necessarily last on my shelf but I’ll still continue to follow thier work, needing to know what happens next beyond this successfully dramatic stab into the unknown. A moderately high recommendation.
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