The supreme irony. A signal that truly, the end times are at hand. Or merely a gratifying example of an artist looking beyond the established tropes of their chosen genre to trawl new streams of inspiration?

It could be said that this album, the Australian artist Ploughshare‘s second, could be all those things. But the single most significant of the three leads to perhaps the most surprising release of the year so far; the supreme irony of an Australian black metal band investigating the teachings of a medieval English Christian ascetic, Julian of Norwich.

Such juxtaposition is the thing of which dreams are made for those who seek fulfilment from art that refuses to tread the path of the everyday. A refreshing miasma hangs over the album, wherein all five pieces are given full reign to explore themes both musical and metaphysical. It could be said that Ploughshare’s music is relatively prosaic on first contact; Certainly they are reminiscent of other artists from their homeland operating in similar musical waters; My learned colleague Michael Stronge advises me that a strong affinity for similarly interesting antipodean names such as King and Alarum would set the listener on the course to better understanding the canon of texts presented here.

However this reviewer is not at hand to compare and contrast, but merely to note the supreme musicianship offered and the clear-minded vision required to construct pieces such as Desired Second Wound and Thorns Pressed Into His Head. The intensity of the latter piece sets it at the very forefront of progressive music released this year, as the artist creates a maelstrom of dissonance underpinned and coralled with supreme rhythmic control. The artist appears at all times to be at the mercy of the abyss, yet never takes the final step to take on the void. Death-defying indeed, just, perhaps, as was the inspiration  of the blessed Anchoress whose words, here, are made flesh in remarkable style.

Second Wound releases on November 8th.