Cloak of Altering – The Night Comes Illuminated With Death

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Mixing electronic ambience with black metal is a dangerous game. Fans of each genre are purists, unwilling or unable to accept radicalism in their beloved scene. Some bands have found success with the fearsome formula (Anaal Nathrakh in particular have broken down the noise/metal barrier), but acts who try to make the blend atmospheric rather than intense (Abigor, for starters) have mostly fallen flat. The long-running but rarely recorded Cloak of Altering have come close to perfecting that elusive art with The Night Comes Illuminated With Death. Masterminded by Gnaw Their Tongues mainman Mories, the six tracks on the album combine Xasthur-like lo-fi ambient black metal with industrial and darkwave effects. Melodies eke out around the edges, but songs like opener I Diabolus, Fallen and Vengeful and album highlight Veil of Stars are all about the overlapping regions of darkness and atmosphere between the fused genres. Some of the songs necessarily come out sounding a bit samey, but the effort alone here is immense, and that’s worth rewarding.

Written by Brad Sanders
More: 2011, Albums, Black Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Cloak of Altering