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Panopticon is a left-wing, anarchist one-man American black metal band founded by Austin Lunn in Kentucky in 2007. The name comes from Jeremy Bentham's architectural surveillance model. The topics covered from this artist range from: history, nature, paganism, philosophy, politics, spirituality, environmentalism and anarchism
I wouldn't normally listen to bluegrass/American folk on it's own but Austin perfectly blends this together with 2nd wave-like black metal guitar riffs and tones with heavy blast beats and fuzzy bass on this and many other albums (Roads to the North (2014) and his breakout record, Kentucky (2012)).
The album is a thematic companion to his two previous LPs, but musically, it eschews the “blackened bluegrass” approach in favor of emotionally charged, mournfully melodic black metal. Austin isn't afraid to wear his emotional side on his sleeve and in fact incorporates these thoughts and feelings into the lyrics of many releases.
With guest feature Johan Becker on violin, this is a brilliant opening bluegrass piece with lovely banjo plucking and layering. It's slow and a great standalone song clocking in nearly 5 minutes (other black metal bands would have perhaps a 1 minute folk track to start with)
This songs kicks off straight away into a fast double rolling kick drum pattern and overdriven high-pitch black metal riff accompanied by shouted vocals and low growls blending into the mix. The track then bleeds into an ambient piece with a rolling snare and floor tom over a somewhat winter-y sound (bells can be heard in the mix), akin to the previous record, Roads to the North.
The previous track blends into this one beautifully - going straight back into the black metal riffing and insane blast beat playing. The main riff is catchy and the bass is mixed highly, meaning that you can hear the bass creeping in a filling the gaps - creating a complete sound. The Slower part of this song has a mixture of growls and shouts with again that bass rolling over the top of some poly-rhythmic playing
The song starts with some waves crashing (perhaps taken from his own field recordings?) that crash and wind into a daunting and blazing fast riff and drum pattern. This is the heaviest track on the album with the mix clearing up at about the 2:50 mark where it breaks out and lifts itself into a symphonic piece with gurgling growls, choir chanting and another appearing of Johan Becker's violin playing not before thrashing back down into a black metal frenzy
The song then clears, bringing forth a wonderful (almost tear jerking) violin and synth passage with waves splashing in the background and bells ringing - not before overdriven winding guitars tear through and unleashing some of Austin's fastest drumming ever only to just drop off into a dungeon synth almost ending that blends into the next track
This track almost takes on a blackgaze sound with the reverb guitars and guitar passages that wouldn't go amiss on a Explosions In The Sky record.
Fav: Tamarack's Gold Returns / Into the North Woods / Oaks Ablaze / Sleep to the Sound of the Waves Crashing
Least Fav: Pale Ghosts / A Superior Lament
Score: 9/10