I’ve always had a hard time wrapping my mind around Heretoir. While they seemed to be very much in the European blackgaze scene (Fursy from Les Discrets even did the artwork for their debut), they didn’t feel like an easy fit with those peers. Their acclaimed sophomore record The Circle certainly had moments that could be called blackgaze, but it spent a lot of time exploring anthemic prog rock in a way that felt much closer to Skyharbor or even Coheed and Cambria than Alcest or Lantlos. I had a hard time understanding what they were doing with these various influences, I think because they were a little insecure, or even confused, about their own voice.
If that was the case though, any issues they had with their own artistic identity seem to have been resolved on Wastelands, a six-track mini-album that includes three live recordings of songs from The Circle and three new tracks that are easily their most fully realized work yet.
All of the elements that have made up the German metal outfit are still here: clean-voiced anthemic chorus, lush post rock atmospheres, punishing blast beats, and throaty screams still make up the sonic palette. However, they seem to have a more deliberate mastery of those elements. They’re not mere parts of the formula that they’re trying to copy—they’re familiar tools in their own toolkit. The songs still have many of the same points of reference as before, but they sound more like themselves than any influences they might be emulating.
“Anima” opens the disc with a triumphant blackgaze figure, with shredded tremolo guitars, double-kick-drum blast beats, and screamed vocals borrowing from black metal’s power without being beholden to its bleakness. When the chorus hits, the clean vocals deliver a singalong-ready chorus that feels almost like post-hardcore. “At Dusk” is much more subdued, guitars trading distortion for reverb and delay alongside a thick cloud of synthesizers (or strings? Hard to tell). Drums play at a measured tempo while Soldusk’s Emily Highfield adds gorgeous vocals.
As powerful as these two tracks are though, the main event is the title track. The drums open with a doomy, plodding groove before guitars explode with a morose lead line over a crushing riff. The vocals put a word to the somberness, reflecting on mankind’s suicidal impulse to destroy the planet we live on. When the song explodes into a blackgaze catharsis, it feels far less formulaic than it does earned, bursting at the point where the song can’t contain its own tension yet.
It might be the impressive display these three songs put on, but even the three live tracks seem to benefit from the new fire in Heretoir’s chest. The passion that sometimes seemed stifled by the sleekness of The Circle’s production is clearly visible, especially on “Golden Dust,” which feels particularly more organic than the album version. The other tracks mostly serve to demonstrate how much they’ve grown in the last few years, but it’s enough to make me want to go back to The Circle to reevaluate what’s going on there. But, if the three new tracks on here are any indication of where Heretoir may be going from here, they definitely have my attention.
The Wastelands is out now through AOP Records.
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