Review: “To Bare the Weight of Death” by Andracca

Starting life as a solo project in 2016 which laid the foundations for debut album “Morgulduin” two years later, Lancashire Black Metal outfit Andracca are now a four piece who feature in their ranks musicians know for their work in Burnt Empire, Solus Nihil, Insurgency and Forvitnast to name but a few. Their eight year reign of terror has seen them grow exponentially and now it seems it is time for them to abandon the Tolkienian mythology with which they began. Some four years in the works, sophomore album “To Bare the Weight of Death” has a different promise as a record which lyrically contends with the strain of grief through to the depths of sorrow before an eventual reconciliation…

Cathartically capturing the varying stages of grief from the depths of sorrow and despair through to the an eventual life affirming acceptance, the Andracca have embraced their personal experiences of struggle and loss and somehow turned that into a captivating and enthralling experience. Embracing classical Black Metal tradition, the melancholic tones of title track and opening cut “To Bear the Weight of Death” are soon cast aside with the dark and brooding atmospherics into a towering inferno with inspirations from the second wave for the genre like Darkthrone or Gorgoroth. Despite being a record at the raw end of the spectrum there is a epic quality to the cut as the mountain builds to its eventual crescendo, the sheer power of the musicianship matching that of an oncoming storm. The vocal performance maybe harsh but it is still emotive, conveying the depth of the lyrical narrative with presence and power over a near seven minute magnum opus. A Funeral Doom introduction gives “Rise, or be Forever Fall’n” a different atmosphere, the quality of the solo before the first verse doing nothing to prepare you for the skull battering to come once the blast beats whip up a storm. Primitive and raw but with warm touches this tirade feels uplifting when it shouldn’t, an oxymoron of a lyrical narrative cut against dark, ominous and sinister atmospheres. That makes way for “Oceans of Fire“, a cut which represents the end of the fall into despair and the beginning of the journey to climb from the poison well with a sense of mortality redefined in the fires of Valhalla. Caustic and abrasive, it feels like a bolt of lightening from a wrathful god as well as being something of a genre tour de force that shoehorns in all the classic elements and leaves no stone unturned in doing so.

The Black Metal aesthetics cannot mask the majestic qualities of the opening strains of “Antithesis of Hope” and if the band hadn’t taken such a purist approach to Black Metal then they may have embraced some orchestration with this one. You can almost taste the bleeding edge that would have given this song, especially in the centre when the tornado of percussive battery is at its most pulverising. That makes way for a surprisingly vibrant extended solo which forces chinks of white light through the black clouds overhead in stunning fashion and is another piece of impeccable musicianship in a record littered with moments of black magic. Bleak riffs pour from every orifice as the pounding war drums of “Lamentation of Divinity” gather pace, the essence of 90’s Scandinavian offerings having been distilled down to its purest form. As ravenous as a wolf pack out for blood and yet reeking with emotion this one feels like it should perhaps have been the opening cut, such is the quality of the delivery to evil the band conjure. Placing the bass higher in the mix for the grand finale that is “Hollow Altars” is an interesting move, the chugging rhythmic abrasions adding another dimension before another extended solo mesmerises. A classic tale as old as time, Andracca cast a spell on us with this burnt offering and the promise that death is only the beginning…  [8/10]

Track Listing

1. To Bear the Weight of Death
2. Rise, or be Forever Fall’n
3. Oceans of Fire
4. Antithesis of Hope
5. Lamentation of Divinity
6. Hollow Altars

“To Bare the Weight of Death” by Andracca is out 19th January 2024 via Vendetta Records and maybe available over at bandcamp.