In an epic saga built on the shared hubris of the all-knowing demigod hero-king of Uruk and an enlightened Wild Man of the Woods questions of purpose, legacy and existence itself are raised amidst the cacophonic throes of ‘From the Waters of Death‘ a four-band split album from MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY, SWORDS OF DIS, ÔROS KAÙ and SERPENT ASCENDING who provide black, death and doomed voicing to an extreme metal retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh. A highly sophisticated, ambitious undertaking which combines the most ancient of literary classics with the voicing of self-built black metal artistry this ~95 minute double LP is not only a concept album but a uniquely entertaining collaboration between idiosyncratic types. Their work here begs for iteration of modus as it soars through its five extended length chapters ’til ultimately transcending the roughly hewn edges of sub-genre via expressive narration.

‘From The Waters Of Death‘ is (again) effectively a retelling the Epic of Gilgamesh, and in this sense there is no reason for me to identify the source material or elaborate on the plot of the epic poem because that is the job of the performances found on this album. They’ve done thorough work presenting the story here (w/lyric sheet of course) but if you must gain context you can find a free version of the epic via Stephen Langdon‘s translation from 2006 for reference. There are countless variations the artists could’ve used in sourcing their lyrics here, so I won’t speculate. In short itis the oldest surviving example of epic form poetry, likely transmuted from Sumerian oral traditions and translated (in Akkadian) to clay tablets dated around 2100 BCE, or, four thousand years ago.

There is no reasonable way to approach this undertaking in review beyond a track-by-track description of events due to its split authorship and separate-but-collaborative nature though I will more broadly suggest that they’ve done well enough in piecing this ambitious project together with consistent atmosphere and tonality. There are a few “bedroom black metal” moments on the way through but these motoric deficiencies don’t necessarily detract from their representation of the epic, only lack some of the organic vibrancy one’d expect from the tradition of Sumerian mythos themed metal music.

Opener “Aruru Births The Lord Of The Wilderness” comes from from Finnish artist SERPENT ASCENDING, a solo project from Jarno Nurmi who is best known for his contributions to Nerlich and Desecresy. Naturally his work in collaboration with both folks from Swords of Dis introduces us to the amorphous hand of the artist where he’s created a realm of mythological death metal with some prog-death breaks illuminating each transitional phrase. This is perhaps the most orderly, meticulous work on the full listen and perhaps the one which best escapes the tone-deafness of black metal unto warmed and emotive reactivity. There is a radiance found within this first ~15 minute piece that sets the tone well here and this is accentuated as ‘From the Waters of Death‘ develops its continuity of narration via Alice Corvinus‘ vocals which serve as the presence which binds all five pieces. The origins of and symbolism surrounding Enkidu are, to me, the most compelling devices found in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Next up is a piece from French black metal artist ÔROS KAÙ a harsh experimental project from Guillaume Cazalet of Neptuniam Maximalism. “Into The Wailing Darkness They Fell, Where The Mouth Of Fire Awaits” is the shortest piece here at just over eight minutes in length and features grimy tension, microphone chewing and effects-drowned vocals as one of the more chaotic and unhinged contributions to the story. Its place in the story is basically an equal-matched clash between Gilgamesh and Enkidu ’til they decide to band together and kill Humbaba. The lyrics (and some instrumentation) here are once again notably presented in collaboration for the sake of cohesion. This is the least compelling piece of the lot here, an overly cold and abrasive black metal grind-through with a mostly uninteresting tempo map.

The third and fourth pieces included come from U.K.-based duo SWORDS OF DIS who present their form of black/doom metal away from the subtleties of past releases and given to a narrative form of black metal. The harsh vocals are loud and overwhelming on “From Egalmah They Rode Toward The Howling Cedars Where The Blood Of Beasts Is Spilled And The Silence Of A Scorned God Cracks The Earth” where vocal effects, quite a lot of snarling narrate our heroes felling the Cedar forest and killing Humbaba. Though it is a verifiably illustrative piece where characterizations are strongly placed it lacks the cinema I’d been expecting from the group to start; One ~20 minute song would’ve had quite enough impact based on track three but the more reverent focus of “Blood Stains The Altar Of The Sun And In Ishtar’s Mourning The Feral Lord Of Desolation Awaits The House Of Dust” after it adds some extra composure to balance out the previous song. Despite recalling some prime aspects of say, post-90’s Ancient Rites briefly these weren’t my favorite pieces on the album as I’d found their outsized contribution distended the belly of their beast a bit. Having a full twenty plus minutes more to show here than the other three bands suggests either a band dropped out of the equation or perhaps Swords of Dis were the central catalyst/visionary for this work beyond presenting a directorial role, pulling this idea into cohesion.

Beyond the thrill of hearing some new stuff from Serpent Ascending I was most stoked to get another twenty minutes with Dis Pater‘s MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY who provides “From The Setting Of The Sun And Through The Waters Of Death, The Faraway, Uta-Napishtim, Lies Hidden”, my favorite piece of the lot in terms of evocative narration. It is an incredible highlight for this experience per its four page lyric sheet (most songs are 1-2 otherwise) and fittingly ‘epic’ station of the band as they serve a grand finale that should rightfully stun the listener as it escalates in line with the suggested storytelling. Not only does this piece leave me readied for the inevitable next canonical entry from his project but it provides a fitting endpoint, the final piece of theatric bookending which helps to characterize this project. It also creates a sort uncomfortable contrast with the oft repetitious black metal whipping that comprises the major bulk of ‘From the Waters of Death‘.

More than a split, generally a collaboration, yet still parsed in chapters which reflect artistic sovereignty it is a wonder that ‘From the Waters of Death‘ works at all in terms of such singular entities conveying a unified narrative. In this sense it does not read like a prog-black metal opus so much as a clandestine act cracking open an odd-shaped series of windows to the wisdom of the ancient past, accentuating the crux of oral tradition becoming writ into culturally inspiring folklore. The connection between this thought and the ultimate takeaway from the epic itself are brilliantly aligned in purpose. A high recommendation.

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