Band: Vixenta
Album: The Oubliette
Genre: Ambient / Post – Black Metal
Country: Australia
Label: Pest Productions
Released: 20th of November 2024
Introduction
Vixenta is a two – piece Black Metal Band from Australia with their main influences being Panopticon, Emperor, Enslaved, Sacramentum etc. Today we’re having a look at their latest creation called The Oubliette; so grab a beer, spin this album and join me in this discovery.
The Oubliette
Tracklist:
- Majestic Bloodstained Nightmare
- Blood on the Idol I
- Blood on the Idol II
- Mountains Fall
- Downfall
- Demise
- Into the Oubliette
- Escape from the Oubliette
- Weeping Plains
- Faint Whispers (ft Rêvasseur)
The opening track Majestic Bloodstained Nightmare kicks off the album in a very Emperor-esque way with a clean, synth lead intro before going in a harsher direction with great reverb loaded vocals and a bass guitar louder than the guitars. The overall production is very classic black metal; lo-fi but still managing to convey the atmosphere of the record. About halfway through the song Vixenta it wanders off into a more Sognametal territory; very reminiscent of Todeswalzer by Windir.
Blood on the Idol I and II I decided to merge into one paragraph as I believe it’s encompassing parts of the same story. The first section starts, again, clean and stays melodic yet hard and is overall an excellent song that ends sadly too abruptly for my liking. Part two kicks off as hard as the first ends, but it feels like it’s missing a few seconds in between, as the connection is not quite there. Furthermore, the production seems different from in the first part, making it a bit more muffled, but nonetheless a good song.
The last song, Faint Whispers, ft. Rêvasseur, gets us involved with an enticing DSBM guitar and bass part and overall feels much like it could be a love-child of Happy Days and Nocturnal Depression. Overall, this track really stands out to me. It brings a much different vibe than the rest of the album and I thoroughly enjoy it.
Conclusion
The Oubliette is a decent record from a talented band that, in my opinion, should consider narrowing their focus a bit to allow for a more coherent collection of songs than what this album presents itself as.
Their songs are really well written and for the most part, the production is solid, yet sometimes appears to be a bit neglected. A highpoint for me is Moosh’s vocals, and I recommend you to check them out, even though I might not come back to this album as much. There is an abundance of top quality music being put out in recent times. As a recent example of this form of black metal done right (to my ears) would be Wolves in the Throne Room — Mountain Magick.
In short, exciting music, but lacking some cohesiveness and production.
BMZ Rating: 7,5/10
Support them here:
Vixenta: https://vixentamusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-oubliette
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