[THE FLYING LUGAW] ALBUM REVIEW: Basalt Shrine — From Fiery Tongues
With towering layers of distorted guitars, a consuming diabolic ambiance, and the seething, almost theatrical, vocals — Basalt Shrine paints a gloomy backdrop of the occult through a mix of funeral doom, sludge metal, and many more.
Basalt Shrine is a five-person supergroup consisting of members from Dagtum, The Insektlife Cycle, Surrogate Prey, Abanglupa, Malicious Birth, Imperial Airwaves, and Kahugyaw — some of which have their own share of crossovers among members, like the Vivo Brothers Ronaldo and Ronnel, who are widely known for their joint works on Dagtum, The Insektlife Cycle, Imperial Airwaves, and most recently, Abanglupa. With them are Bobby Legaspi and Rallye Ryan Ibanez, who have shared the studio as members of Surrogate Prey.
From Fiery Tongues marks Basalt Shrine’s debut album release. The album, in a way, highlights many of doom metal’s rudimentary concepts all the while crossing boundaries through well-paced progressions and abrupt switch-ups. The transition from the opening track Thawed Slag Blood, a dark ambient tone-setter to the record, to In The Dirt’s Embrace, a stoner-ish black metal and drone fusion, is a prime example of the former. There is nothing particularly new to this structure in metal-based projects across the board that it has almost become customary for just about any band nowadays to feature a slow-burning opener.
It is also worth noting that In The Dirt’s Embrace, while it is diverse in style with elements of stoner, drone, and black metal simultaneously thrown into the mix, the song is more of a 12-minute odyssey compartmentalized into two different chapters, each with their own cohesive song structure enough to make for a separate track, than a long-winded melting pot of the same two or three doom riffs that loop ad nauseam. The transition is abrupt, but it gels nicely, somehow.
Adorned For Loathing Pigs shares many similarities with In The Dirt’s Embrace and the title track that comes after it. But unlike the other two songs, it has a more cohesive structure akin to a progressive metal song with a continuous flow. The title track, From Fiery Tongues, on the other hand, is more traditional in design with an infectious riff so well put together that it will linger on the right side of your brain hours post-listen. It easily has the catchiest — and therefore most memorable — riff in the entire record.
And because of that, From Fiery Tongues is a personal favorite of mine — quite the ingenious decision by the band to name the entire project after this song, actually. And while I do not recommend listening to an album by bits, From Fiery Tongues is what I would consider a good starter to any newcomers to the heavier sides of metal, whether it be doom, sludge, or black metal.
In contrast, the closing track The Barren Aftermath is just that; a barren aftermath. In my defense, after three hard-hitting, bloodcurdling songs, it’s hard to top what the band has already showcased three songs prior, as far as my expectations go. The album closes out in a calm and collective manner and it seems like the proper way to go. A lukewarm reception seems expected.
Who knows what coaxed the Vivo brothers, Legaspi, and Ibanez to start a new band to add to their already expansive backgrounds of projects they’ve started or worked alongside with? For all we — the spectators, the regular consumers of their media — know, they might have just decided it on a whim, perhaps over a bottle of beer. But Basalt Shrine is certainly one band to look out for. What a kickoff that was to one of the Philippines’ most ambitious crossovers in the underground metal scene in 2022!
