Alkymist - Sanctuary (2020) Hi-Res

Alchemy: the process of transmutation, a magical process of transformation. For millennia alchemists have sought to achieve progression in their fields, leading to the unearthing of a higher elemental power. In this world of mysticism and occult infatuation, alchemists guarded the truths of their findings with violent fervor. For many, the quest would be complete with the creation of the philosopher’s stone resulting in the formulation of a perfect body and soul. Metal is alchemy: music created from chaos into another form of chaos. The quest – a magnum opus of metal. Danish progressive four-piece Alkymist are here to enhance their own maturation of the progressive metal medium, imbuing a curious genre-bending identity to the extreme metal pot. Dragur are the undead – icy, chaotic, magical creatures risen from the dead to live a second life. They are the malevolence of alchemy and at the heart of this record. Sanctuary – Alkymist‘s second full-length – is the sound of humanity in refuge, fighting against the twisted world of alchemy’s waste.

A unique tone permeates the record from the beginning. Alkymist elicit an atmosphere of dread peculiarity as “Oethean” withers into existence. Peter Bjørneg’s ritualistic vocal approach is at the fore from the beginning. Crust-flecked throat-stinging gruffness alternates with a melodramatic semi-spoken gait that hovers through the record with curious weight. Instrumentally, this is cryptic doom smattered with touches of sludge and black – monotone riffs surge through the mix, a tenderness applied with subtle, mellow melodies. Breaks in the maelstrom aplenty uncover black holes, sound is commonly sucked from songs as interludes and breaks in the cataclysm of sound are guided by Bjørneg’s incantations. A psychedelic warbling of bass and vocal echoing splits “Oethean’s” core in two; the stomping throb of “The Dead” is swallowed by a vortex towards its end, vocals and shards of instrumentation sucked into a vacuum before being spat as sludge at its close; the stomp of “Astral Haze” is briefly visited by a flare of tender reflectiveness before, as in the previous tracks, a supernova of wailing solos and chunk riffing. These are the formats of the four longer tracks on the record: a magical ebb-and-flow of sound.