Gaerea – Mirage
Gaerea – Mirage
Season Of Mist
Release Date: 23/09/2022
Running Time: 01:00:46
Review by Richard Oliver
9/10
Gaerea are certainly a band that have turned heads in the past couple of years. The anonymous Portuguese Black Metal band released their second album “Limbo” in 2020 to almost universal acclaim, but the band like the rest of us were stuck in lockdown and unable to tour and promote their newly released album. Wisely the band instead went into writing mode and Covid afforded the time to create the best album they could. The result is MIrage and it is no exaggeration to say that this is the band’s finest work yet.
Gaerea don’t stick to one branch on the twisted gnarl that is the Black Metal tree, instead taking the gnarly ferocity of ‘true’ Black Metal, adding in the darkness of Atmospheric Black Metal, the musicality of Melodic Black Metal and blending it altogether with harrowed melancholy and emotion. It is a mix that is absolutely brought to perfection on Mirage across nine songs of Black Metal majesty.
The album opens in low key style with ‘Memoir’ which is lots of atmosphere, slow build up and scene setting before the band unleash their power in blistering style. But it is nothing compared to what is to come, as ‘Salve’ is the band at their most ferocious and probably the most intense song Gaerea have done to date. As the album progresses you get more songs which match atmosphere and emotion with blistering Black Metal aggression such as ‘Deluge’ and ‘Mantle’ whilst ‘Arson’ and ‘Laude’ have a far more melancholic and tormented feel to them, still retaining the raw power of the band but with harrowing and distraught melodies running throughout the songs. The performances from the band are breath-taking with amazing guitar work, incredible drumming and some powerful tormented vocals. It all comes together with an amazing production job and stunning mix proving that Black Metal sounding good on record is not a crime against the genre.
Mirage is a breath-taking album which is astonishingly violent and heavy, whilst also being very emotional and atmospheric – and Gaerea seemed to have found the perfect mix of these sounds. Black Metal in 2022 is in very capable hands and with bands such as Gaerea, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Wiegedood and Uada the future of the genre is very promising indeed with these bands showing that Black Metal can explore other avenues, whilst remaining true to its core sound. Mirage is simply one of the must hear releases of 2022.
‘Salve’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Memoir
02. Salve
03. Deluge
04. Arson
05. Ebb
06. Mirage
07. Mantle
08. Laude
09. Dormant (Bonus Track)
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