Year Of No Light - Consolamentum [LP]

Year of No Light's lengthy, sprawling compositions of towering walls of guitars and somber synths irradiate a sense of dire solemnity and spiritual gravity, and couldn't be a more fitting soundtrack for such grim medieval scenarios. But there is also the element of absolution, regeneration, elevation, transcendence in the face of death. Consolamentum is dense, rich and lush and yet somehow feels starved and deprived. Consolamentum was recorded and mixed by Cyrille Gachet at Cryogene in Begles / Bordeaux and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side. "We wanted this album to sound as organic and analog as possible," comments the band. "All tracks were recorded live. The goal was to have the most natural, warm and clean takes possible, to give volume to the dynamics of the songs. We aimed to have a production with a singular personality." For the adept listener, Consolamentum seems to be venturing deeper into the dark and claustrophobic spheres explored on Tocsin - but the band doesn't conceive of the evolution of their music in a linear way, as it would be apparent from looking at their discography. "It's more a matter of sonic devotion. Music against modern times. Year of No Light" is above all a praxis. We wanted intensity, trance, climax and threat, all of them embedded in a bipolar and mournful ethos."