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[8.5/10] With one Tom G. Warrior (ex-Celtic Frost) hovering over the boards as a quasi-consultant, Ylem was all but assured of having a heightened degree of sophistication. Granted, sophistication and black metal are usually two diametrically opposed items, but Ylem is what the new age of black metal should sound like: smart, sinister, and devoid of the ghoulish (and oftentimes comical) sideshow that typically accompanies any and all black metal.
Picking up where 2008’s so-so Eidolon left off, Ylem is many things at once, none of which overshadow the other. Traditional, caustic black metal elements ooze from “Ylem,” “Silence” and “Osiris,” dungeon-y atmospheres flow out of the excellent “As the World Kneels Over” and the monstrous, world-beating “Evenfall,” a song that serves as Ground Zero for Dark Fortress’s song-first, gimmick-free sound.
The back half of the album is just as gripping. “Redriver” uncoils some tribal drumming amidst a haze of dark tones, while “Satan Bled” takes a firm Satyricon riff and morphs it into a black whirlwind, only to snap into a neck-breaking breakdown at the 0:52 mark. Closing out matters is the blast-happy “Nemesis,” foreboding “The Valley” (love the intro) and the drawn and measured “Wraith.”
Ylem poses a depth hereby not often seen in the black metal realm, thus pushing Dark Fortress into the tiny space occupied by the likes of Enslaved, Keep of Kalessin, and Septicflesh. Notice the intellectual forward-thinking parallel between all four bands – it should be the pulse of black metal going into the new decade. Ylem is the first grenade into the mass of half-assed basement BM bands and convenienatly coddled together side-projects. Excellent stuff.
www.thetruedarkfortress
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