Welcome back metalheads - it's your guy Xander dissecting another black metal corpse on the autopsy table. Ttoday we have a band called Tableau Mort with their newest album Visio In Somniis which was released on May 6th. Tableau Mort hails from the UK, and again prove when it comes down to any style of black metal the medieval countries always kick our Yankee asses.
The album begins with the spooky atmospheric sounds along with the sound of a baby crying. Sure, that might be slightly generic but the rest of the album more than makes up for it. The first track is of course called "Metamorphosis". One thing I noticed right away was the vocals. James Andrews has the same higher pitch screams as someone in a new age down tuned deathcore band but still has enough raspyness to qualify as a quality black metal vocalist. The winding guitar riff of "Idolatry" is a clever way of making sure people remember the song's intro. There is an odd sound that occurs in this song that sounds like a distant choir. You can slightly hear it in the background as it changes to what sounds like Mongolian throat singing or chanting monks.
Next we have the album title track "Visio in Somniis". It begins with a calm and soothing musical start before a black metal screech rips your eardrum. It's a warm welcome that is accompanied by yet another fantastic guitar riff played by George Topor. He continues to bring in a solid rhythmic style as the album progresses. The drum work on this is absolutely stellar - NOT another disappointing cluster of blast beats like you get with other generic black metal bands. George Bratosin keeps a steady pace on his kit and makes it all come together in a wonderful tune. "Blood Echoes" follows after and I must point out how I noticed the bass guitar supporting the main riff. Marek Basista does a phenomenal job of making sure that the lead guitarist Cristian Giurgiu has that crisp reverb.
The first minute of the song "Hope Ablaze" sounds like a cross between the beginning of "Sworn To The Dark" by Watain and the beginning of "Vortex of Negativity" by Naglfar. However it uniquely blends into its very own song that could be a great choice for a future music video. That is something I would definitely want to see!
"Their Throats Are Open Graves" kicks things off with some kick drums and some other drums for a very small 10 second solo. By the 10 second mark, the rest of the band joins in to give us a fucking powerhouse of a song and its one of my favorites on this record. Every member of the band doesn't pull any punches when it came to this particular track. Everyone was on point and totally nailed this masterpiece into oblivion. Between the vocalist screaming his lungs out, the drummer going as fast as he can and the guitarist providing us with a nice little solo, it's not hard to see why I get so much enjoyment out of it. The track ends with a haunting fiddle conclusion.
"The Fire, The Star" is what I would call the best example of modern black metal song. It has an old sound but with a clean studio recording. If you're looking for that less grimy Emperor esq feel, look no further than this track ... unless you want to finish listening to this incredible album. Of course you do.
"Candle in the Darkness" is the grand finally. The sweep picking of the guitars in this song is what grabs my attention along with the rhythmic sounding chugs from the other guitarist. The drum speed on this track fluctuates from a moderate pace to blast beats and continues back and forth. This song also has the brief finger tapping guitar solo that mashes well with this great song. The perfect song to close an album of this scale. If I were to score this album I would rate it no lower than an 8/10. Feel free to show this band some love by buying their music from their Bandcamp page.