It took me far longer than I care to admit to "get" Mare Cognitum. But here we are, all the way at the beginning, where it all started; and what a masterpiece it is. "Ambient" black metal is seriously underselling this album. It is raw, it is brutal, it will not hesitate to eat you alive; and yet it is musical, it is emotional, and it will shelter you with its wings. I often turn to metal when in times of rage, but Mare Cognitum has shown that rage can still be contained and reasoned with. Faith
Thét Älëf continues to weave his totally idiosyncratic spell, glamouring you into a sonic world that does not sound like anyone else. A world of shadows and joy, of might and tiny shufflings, of lanterns in the dark, seeking and strange. Hard to pick a favorite track, but the quiet melody of the first, like a spider edging along a leaf or a fairy treading quietly in a moonlit marshland, gave me chills. pinkytheent
If “atmospheric black metal” implies majestic comedowns and dramatic dynamics, this powerhouse instead constitutes anti-atmospheric black metal. Bandcamp Album of the Day Mar 23, 2021