AETHYRICK Gnosis CD

Immediately and recognizably Aethyrick from the very first notes to the ever-resounding last, Gnosis is a deceptively subtle spin in relation to its predecessor Praxis. In fact, one could almost argue that Gnosis' embrace is a warmer, more comforting one, its hanging 'n' somber melodicism pulling on the heartstrings in unusual (and some would say "uncomfortable") ways. But, pull back this no-doubt-passionate development and one finds stark 'n' glittering BLACK METAL suffused with the same mysticism and magick that so endeared Praxis to the intrepid and intractable. More pointedly, Aethyrick's songwriting here has developed piecemeal layers that paradoxically lay even barer their stargazing, wanderlusting aims. It's obsidian sonics for dreamers and rogues, theorists and realists. And it's still 1000% black metal of a proudly purist stripe, for the duo of Gall and Exile choose to work within the idiom rather than without.