Metal May #9: Sear Bliss

Sear Bliss delivers their opus magnum after a thirty year long journey of epic darkness!

Welcome to a journey into space itself in which its divinity is formed by progressive components and blackened chaos: Sear Bliss – Heavenly Down…

Externally mighty and internally filling, Hungary’s metallic frontrunners once again apply their signature formula of conjoining elegance and evil; two separate worlds that flawlessly connect into one special entity of supreme distinction. A galactic quest in which Sear Bliss rewrites the rules of experimental metal is found within Heavenly Down and the trip is very exciting, believe us.

Though containing common black metal qualities, Heavenly Down shows a neat shape of Sear Bliss’ own originality mixed in with several of the usual endowments. As expected, the band preserves their blackened roots intact with epic tremolo picking sections, firey blastbeats, and András Nagy’s graceful shrieks, yet the use of beautiful clean guitars and majestic keyboards add to the already-mighty picture. But don’t fear for too much soft stuff, because there are some massive head-banging riffs that just shred your eyeballs out of their sockets.

The harmony between two separate musical extremes is reached in precise unison, and such a joyous tension is never broken from its state of wonder; this is how black metal and empyrean moods are supposed to wed. During the voyage, Sear Bliss keeps the ride interesting with the band’s hidden weapon that seems a bit odd at first, but ends out working excellently: the trombone. Zoltán Pál‘s strange position in Sear Bliss is not that of a clueless musician hitting symphonic notes, but rather an individual that can intelligently wrap the trombone around the harsh guitars and ethereal surroundings superbly. The thing is, however, that the trombone takes absolute control of Sear Bliss’ music whenever the master permits its freedom: you’ll be enjoying a cool riffing section, and then a blast of brass just explodes like no other instrument. It’s truly a unique experience that needs to be heard to be believed.

Overall, we dare to say Heavenly Down is a fantastic album with countless incidents of atypical independence and atmospheric delight. Everything is solid as a rock, and the consistent display of cosmic instrumentation definitely make this record a highlight in the Sear Bliss discography. Those looking for something outside the musical norm will most certainly appreciate Heavenly Down and its metaphysical significance as a black metal recording unlike most of the genre in and of itself.