MISTS - Summoning Eternity

MISTS, a Belgian-American project, steps outside the conventional album format on its debut by featuring just two compositions. Released through Amor Fati Productions, "Summoning Eternity" takes shape through these two extended pieces, running for approximately 39 minutes in total, and explores a more primitive, dark and ritualistic side of atmospheric Black Metal. The involvement of musicians known from bands such as OERHEKS, SILVER KNIFE, HÄXENZIJRKELL and WOLVENNEST provides a glimpse into the experience behind the project, while also offering an important starting point for understanding its musical character.

At approximately 22 minutes, 'Through Eternal Graves' is a defining opening statement that establishes the album's dynamics. In its early minutes, slowly unfolding guitars, clean tones and distant, chant-like voices create a ritualistic atmosphere. Rather than immediately pulling the listener into a high-speed Black Metal assault, the music allows tension to build on its own terms. From around the five-minute mark, harsh vocals, heavily distorted guitars and increasingly frantic drums transform that anticipation into a sharp eruption. Tremolo riffs and blast beats represent the aggressive side of traditional Black Metal, while melodic lines emerging between the guitars prevent the composition from relying solely on speed and sheer intensity.

Repetition plays a distinctive role in MISTS' songwriting. Guitar motifs circulate in similar forms over extended stretches, but this repetition does not necessarily translate into stagnation. Particularly when the music shifts from slower passages into denser, faster sections, the same melodic material takes on a different character. Rather than constantly introducing new ideas, the composition develops its tension by revisiting existing ones at varying levels of intensity. The sudden interruption midway through the track serves a similar purpose. When the music briefly withdraws altogether, the resulting silence amplifies the impact of the heavy passage that follows. This is where dynamic control becomes particularly important in an extended composition: instead of maintaining maximum intensity throughout, MISTS knows when to pull back and rebuild it.

The album's second composition, 'Carved Miseries of Ancient Times', runs for approximately 17 minutes and follows a similar musical path. Its impact is somewhat more immediate, but slow passages, dark melodies and sudden bursts of aggression remain its defining elements. Although it continues the approach established by the opener, the two compositions never feel like extended versions of one another. The movement provided by the rhythm section and the more pronounced melodic expressions occasionally emerging from the guitars give the second track its own sense of progression. The brief pause employed here also reinforces the shared compositional approach behind both pieces. Towards the end, a spoken-word passage featuring female vocals introduces a different shade to the album's otherwise harsh and raw narrative. This choice broadens its atmospheric dimension and brings an expressive element beyond the conventional Black Metal vocal approach into the closing section.

What unites the two compositions is their combination of aggressive Black Metal elements with an atmospheric and melodic sensibility. High-pitched screams, tremolo guitars and powerful drumming maintain the genre's traditional foundations, while extended repetitions and slowly developing passages draw the music into more hypnotic territory. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that melody is never treated as mere decoration detached from the music's aggression. The melodic lines rising between the guitars provide points of orientation within the surrounding darkness. As a result, the album's musical identity is not built on intensity alone; the more fragile and fleeting expressions that occasionally emerge take the oppressive force of the heavier passages in a different direction.

The production supports this approach as well. Steering clear of the increasingly prevalent sterile, sharply separated sound associated with modern Black Metal, the recording retains a raw and dark character. The instruments have enough presence to ensure that neither the dense guitar textures nor the impact of the drums gets lost. The roughness of the faster sections, in particular, reinforces the music's connection to traditional Black Metal roots. At the same time, the overall balance allows the atmospheric passages room to breathe. Rather than obscuring musical details, the rawness of the production becomes an integral part of the aesthetic MISTS has chosen to pursue.

The lyrics revolve around imagery associated with broken tombstones, forgotten crypts and death. The cover artwork by Blaeks visually completes this dark world. While these themes are familiar territory within Black Metal, MISTS integrates them into its music through the deliberate pacing of its extended compositions and their ritualistic atmosphere. The band's originality is not to be found in distancing itself from the genre's familiar dark imagery, but rather in making these images a natural extension of its musical narrative.

Still, "Summoning Eternity" is far from flawless. The recurring motifs can retain the same character for extended periods, which may occasionally feel limiting to listeners looking for greater melodic or structural variety. The fact that both compositions rely on similar dynamics also creates a certain degree of predictability across the album. While this can be understood as a consequence of MISTS' deliberately primitive and hypnotic approach, not every repetition proves equally effective. There is room for the band to take its musical ideas in more varied directions.

Nevertheless, "Summoning Eternity" makes good on the risk of entrusting a debut album to just two lengthy compositions. MISTS strikes a consistent balance between the melodic and ritualistic side of atmospheric Black Metal and the genre's raw, aggressive traditions. The objective here is not constant innovation or technical showmanship, but the construction of a dark atmosphere through repetition, tension and sudden shifts in intensity. Although this approach could benefit from greater variety, the result is a noteworthy debut, particularly for listeners drawn to long-form, hypnotic Black Metal. The next challenge for MISTS will be to determine how far it can expand its songwriting while preserving this distinctive sonic identity.

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https://summoningeternity.bandcamp.com/