1000 Vultures will sound familiar to those already close to black metal. The typical features of tremolo-picked guitars, raw guitar tones, and raspy, uncomfortable vocals are present and correct. The exception is blast-beating drums that are surprisingly infrequent due to the record’s mid-pace compared with other blackened bands. In fact, these drums are far more interesting than is ordinarily the case for black metal, due to a preoccupation with the hi-hat and some inventive rolling fills. These tools are packaged in great production that, while not the most dynamic, uses robust and well-rounded instrumental tones that I find innately satisfying. This results in core music that’s sat firmly in the middle of the road for black metal but with touches of atmosphere that elevate the bleak material into something earthlier. Subtle embellishments like haunting chants, infrequent background synths, and an acoustic finale ensure that Efraah Enhsikaah is more moody and evocative than most. It isn’t as formulaic as the sub-genre from which it evolved.
1000 Vultures therefore has a core sound that rubs me all the right ways, across instrumentation, production, and atmosphere. Unfortunately, I find that its songwriting isn’t quite as thrilling. The title track loops one core melody for the entirety of its eight-minute duration; while the tempo, rhythms, and instruments ebb and flow around this melody, the result is a somewhat lethargic introduction to the Efraah Enhsikaah songwriting style. The riffs feel deliberate and precise, but deliberately and precisely plodding. I want a bit more reckless abandon, a bit more emotional catharsis. There’s a cool, heavier passage on “Letharia Vulpina” but this only lasts for less than a minute. Likewise, “Dead Sun Shine Bright” opens with a rocking, swaggering lead which the band strangely diverts away from into drabber material. They’re good at sounding deadly and controlled but I want something a bit wilder from one of metal’s heaviest sub-genres. It’s a good thing that Efraah Enhsikaah has fundamentally sound core elements as I’d say a lesser band had some unexciting songs.
As a point of contrast, and saving the remainder of the record, are a few of the stronger tracks. “Budgeting for Betrayal” offers a soothing/energizing balm to counter the first two tracks, striking out with a big lead and fun, rhythmic counter-points. One of 1000 Vultures’s few fast passages is also heard here. Meanwhile “Cold Blood and Broken Teeth” exhibits the band’s best qualities, levering the atmosphere and production I enjoy elsewhere but wrapping these into music that flows between slow and fast with excellent transitions. It’s exciting and dramatic for its seven-minute duration. Moreover, I’m generally suspicious of ambient or acoustic conclusions to heavy albums, but “Fed” justifies itself. It layers flickering flames, cawing crows, and a simple acoustic melody into something emotive, but the real highlight is when tremolo-picked guitars feed into the background. This textures the song in a way that Efraah Enhsikaah doesn’t do elsewhere. I wouldn’t be averse to some of these textured compositions featuring among the proper black metal tracks rather than reserving 3 minutes for the end.
Existing black metal aficionados will undoubtedly glean more from 1000 Vultures, but it equally won’t win over existing detractors. It says a lot that a band featuring more bland songwriting than good across a whole album still achieved a 3.0; such is the fundamentally enjoyable sound of Efraah Enhsikaah. Withdrawing and returning to the record over the course of a couple of weeks revealed something more engaging than I initially thought as it features all the evil, bleak, and evocative qualities one could wish of black metal. It’s just a shame that the band can’t quite harness these strengths into a stronger collection of songs. If this unnamed individual of unknown origin can do this, then they’d really be on to something.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps
Label: Osmose Productions
Website: Web presence is for posevrs
Releases worldwide: October 27th, 2023
