Aesthetic Death

In general, Of Spire & Throne excels in conveying the silence behind the music. The guitar tone is deep and spluttery like a guttering candle, the drumming is terse, the vocals run the gamut of extreme styles and negative emotions, all of which conveys the fact that every note is wrung from nothingness and sustained with great effort. OSaT revels in the weakness and the merely human impetus behind even the heaviest and most inhuman music — which is surely what doom is all about. ‘Reliquary’ is a good example — a long, grueling quick march through purgatory, ending in muted chords with just enough space between them to reveal the silence, nimble drumming, and layered angry vocals. As a whole, Penance is no exception to this rule, but, somehow less abstract and less ethereal than Toll of the Wound or Sanctum in the Light, places greater emphasis on the catharsis of raw emotion through motoric, flagellatory pummeling and melancholy droning. As a result, perhaps, in places it isn’t quite as inventive and experimental as previous releases.
Rating: ★★★★★