Review: Keys To The Astral Gates And Mystic Doors - The Endless Black and Melancholy Triumphant

Band: Keys To The Astral Gates And Mystic Doors
Album: The Endless Black and Melancholy Triumphant
Genre: Raw Black Metal
Country: USA
Label: Empty Pit Recordings
Released: 24th of June 2024

A Compilation; these keys can open all kinds of things...

One of the newest emerging acts in the raw black metal genre, Keys To The Astral Gates And Mystic Doors, has compiled their so-far existing catalogue into a compilation tape. Consisting of two demos, one from 2023 and the second from January of this year, this compilation has generated some buzz in the underground (I was blessed by the streaming algorithms which helped me discover these demos). While this compilation consists of demo material, I found it to be interesting enough that it deserves a review. These guys have a distinctive enough sound for a genre that has been done to death, while also writing music that is catchy and tight for such a young band.

Tracklist:

1. Knell
2. The Lighting of the Treasured Candles
3. Untitled / Thoroughfare of Disillusionment
4. Eternal Crushing Heat
5. Descended
6. That Which Dwells Within
7. Vampyric Comet
8. Snowbringer's Spell
9. What Is the Glimmer 'Top the Looming Castle Bell

Their sound

Stylistically, Keys ranges from the triad-based black metal of Darkthrone to dark ambient and at times even to bursts of post-black metal. The music is heavily melodic but doesn’t devolve to Aeolian boredom like too many bands that are trying to bite off Darkthrone. Instead, there are weird, happy sounding moments and depressive dual guitar work that reminds me of the demo era of Katatonia. The song structures are a bit simpler and less linear than with Katatonia, but there is definitely potential there for some grand moments of emotional payoff if they keep growing as songwriters. The opening song The Lighting Of The Treasured Candles is the best indicator of this, as the song progresses from rather standard melo-black to a doom metal section with some bright bursts of melody, before returning to a darker, blast-beat outro.

Keys keep things simple and stick to the barest elements of black metal. From the lo-fi production to the artwork or the obscure and silly band logo, the band has a very cultish feel to them, which gives them enough mystery and personality that they stick to your mind. The demos have a nice pace and curation where the listener can easily distinguish every song from the previous one without really predicting what the next one is going to sound like.

To me the best songs here almost venture to an indie rock territory, whether it’s the punk-inspired verse on What Is The Glimmer 'Top The Looming Castle Bell or the emo riffs on Untitled / Thoroughfare of Disillusionment. While these moments might be off-putting to traditional black metal heads, they are balanced with blast-beats and dark synth work that keep reminding the listener that this is indeed black metal and not a hipster curiosity.

Conclusion

Overall, I found this compilation to be very refreshing. This band is definitely worth keeping an eye on and I’m interested in seeing how they develop their sound and whether they can churn out something a bit more ambitious and weave their different influences to a holistic style on their full-length projects.

BMZ Rating: 8/10

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4f2UzdQuLg[/embedyt]

Support Keys To The Astral Gates And Mystic Doors here: https://emptypitrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/keys-to-the-astral-gates-and-mystic-doors

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