Häxenzijrkell - Portal

AMOR FATI PRODUCTIONS is proud to present HÄXENZIJRKELL's highly anticipated third album, Portal, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Ever since the release of their first demo tape back in 2016, HÄXENZIJRKELL marched on their very own path towards the bottomless pit of darkness. However, it was the band's two albums for AMOR FATI - 2020's Die Nachtseite and 2022's Urgrund - where that bottomless pit dropped out completely. What opened up was a maw both majestic and horrific, ritualistic and ceremonial but by no means sound without purpose and intent. That each of those two albums were divided into three epic tracks was perhaps not coincidence; that one album was suffocating and the other more spacious was definitely not coincidence. From resolutely raw black metal in the beginning to something idiosyncratic and strangely spectral despite the obvious heft, HÄXENZIJRKELL were skillfully creating their own soundworld with few present analogues. And so it goes with the aptly titled Portal, where HÄXENZIJRKELL bring past, present, and future into startling (dis)harmony. The album begins attackingly enough, a metronomic pendulum pulsing beyond control, riffs slicing and spiraling in an infinite vortex. But now expanded to five tracks across 44 minutes, HÄXENZIJRKELL's third album reveals yet more depth - in all senses of the word - and becomes the fullest manifestation of their still-expanding lexicon. The watchword here is patience, as these five non-less-epic tracks are never in any hurry to reveal their true selves; tension and terror build s-l-o-w-l-y, even if the overall tempo is decidedly more energetic than past works, or at least more measured and insistent. Here expanded to a trio, HÄXENZIJRKELL have also found a symbiosis between atmosphere and songcraft; even when riff and rhythm drop away and there's (tense / terrifying) quietude lingering like a spectre, the usage feels dramatic and effortlessly transitional, marking a moment that's integral to the flow of each mesmerizing movement. That that expanded lineup expertly uses both molten heaviness and shimmering ambience equally well should speak volumes about the band's growth on Portal. All this culminates in the grandiose and hauntingly gorgeous closer, "Aeon," which sounds like a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse - simultaneously. The keys are thus laid at the listener's feet...do what thou wilt.