Vertebra Atlantis is a brainchild of Italian multi-instrumentalist Gabriele Gramaglia, known for other acts like Cosmic Putrefaction, Turris Eburnea, The Clearing Path, and Summit, and the range of black metal, post-metal, and death metal that it embodies as well as the experimental sensibilities that each implies, he attacks netherworlds in conjunction with drummer/vocalist Riccardo Nioin of Husqwarnah and rhythm guitarist Gianluca Stagni. While Vertebra Atlantis’ debut felt somewhat disjointed in a jagged smattering of ideas, A Dialogue feels like a streamlined and far more vicious whole – a united abyssal front. Ultimately, armed with riffs galore, blackened darkness, and a frosty ambiance that conjures ice-crusted stars, it is a resounding success.
The biggest complaint with Lustral Purge… was its wavering commitment to black and death metal influences, a blackened death pendulum swaying between the two. What makes A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime so effective, while still utilizing the two wayward extreme styles, is its bulletproof flow and seamless fusion of the two. Like a cinema soundtrack, it flows from scene to scene with organic fluidity, mammoth weight, and frostbitten cruelty. Opener “Into Cerulean Blood I Bathe” is just a taste of this, its lumbering off-kilter riffs collapsing into ripping blastbeats, before arriving at its satisfying conclusion. I was already impressed and never wanted it to end, while follow-up “Frostpalace Gloaming Respite” takes a nearly punky beat aligned with thick dissonant death metal leads to a tantalizing quality. Solos, while liberally dispersed across the album’s forty-six-minute runtime, are perfectly placed in song peaks, capitalizing with dramatic flairs and keenly orchestrated arpeggios. While subtle in the purest sense, instrumental “Cupio Dissolvi” recalls its predecessor’s excellent “Altopiano Celeste” inpatient sprawls tied to growths and explosions of death metal intensity; meanwhile, the closing title track takes a calm-after-the-storm approach with ominous bass vocals and building riffs that recall The Ruins of Beverast.
An easy improvement over its predecessor is that A Dialogue simply feels absolutely colossal instead of merely hinting at grandiosity. From the powerful drumming, the subterranean roars, to the powerful mix, everything screams triumphant in tones of insanity not unlike legends like Immolation or recent classics like Serpent of Old. This monolithic quality is achieved to near perfection in “Drown in Aether, Sovereign of Withered Ardor” and “Desperately Ablaze, From the Lowest Lair,” both climaxes of their respective halves (two acts separated by “Cupio Dissolvi”). Apexes of Vertebra Atlantis’ sonic journey, they morph seamlessly from dissonant leads and thick riffs to bleeding blackened portions, ominously cloaked in the cloth of Evilfeast-esque synthwork. Accomplished with an urgency unseen in the other tracks, which rely on more patient tempos and contemplative bombast, these two centerpieces accomplish the awe and reverie A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime’s cover evokes in the best possible way. While arguably better than its surrounding tracks, each track has its place in this Dialogue, whether it be a curious opener, slow-burning crescendo, or transitional bridge, contributing to its notable flow.
A Dialogue of the Eeriest Sublime is slightly top-heavy, with “In Starlike Ancient Eyes” falling relatively short in its chaotic structure and “Cupio Dissolvi” feeling too brief, but anything following song-of-the-year contender “Drown in Aether, Sovereign of Withered Ardor” is bound to feel inadequate. Some might find the clean baritone of the closing title track jarring. Featuring more Evilfeast and Emperor influence alongside its trademark blackened dissonant death metal palette, Vertebra Atlantis feels much more refined and streamlined compared to its predecessor. Icy, devastating, and potent, the minor qualms disappear in the forgotten logistics of this majestic and mammoth journey, embodying the nightmarish and the beautiful.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Website: facebook.com/vertebratlantis
Releases Worldwide: October 20th, 2023
