Band – Summer Haze ‘99
Album – Inevitable
Country of Origin – Austria
Genre – Blackgaze
Release Date – May 5, 2023
Label – Fiadh Productions
Author – Hayduke X
How do you capture perfection in an album review?
Summer Haze ‘99 is the latest vehicle for the prolific Erech Leleth, an artist I was first introduced to by Fiadh Productions through his exceptional Bergfried release last year. Romantik I was an excellent release in its own right, mixing traditional heavy metal and medieval influences “to tell the greatest love story ever told!” Inevitable opens a whole new world of genre bending possibilities with its beauty, power, and passion.
By way of example, let’s examine the shifting genres of Idle Hands. The track starts with a beautiful, subtly reverb filled piano intro. Then, the track jumps to a dreamy, soft rock vibe with stunning, almost jazz club vocals by Anouk Madrid. In the chorus, the piano comes in to interweave with the dream rock, morphing into pop territory. At almost two minutes into the track, an 80s influenced guitar build up, which mirrors the vocal patterns of Madrid in the last section, leads into a few seconds of anxious blackgaze, before settling back into a rock vibe. Then the tremolo picking starts again, and we leap into furious black metal with Leleth’s scathing harsh vocal attack. The bottom drops out of the heavy, but Leleth stays mainstage through a section that feels like melodic hardcore. Then we’re back to furious black metal, alternating back to the melodic hardcore vibe. With about two minutes left, the song comes back to the dreamy chorus and Madrid’s vocals. And then back to melodic hardcore. The 80s guitar buildup reappears briefly leading back to the furious black metal, then the melodic hardcore again. This all happens in just under eight minutes.
Like Idle Hands, the album as a whole shifts through a multitude of genres, though that particular track is the one which probably travels the farthest in its own right. Reading back through my words above, this comes across as an utter mess. It is, in fact, the opposite. The composition of Inevitable is so incredibly strong that everything flows together beautifully, pushing the musical narrative forward. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard an album weave together so many styles so perfectly, so effortlessly.
Filled with emotion, Inevitable has been living rent free in my head ever since I first listened. That time, I wasn’t sure what had just hit me. I’m still not sure. I started out listening to dream pop and the next thing I knew, blast beats were coming at me. If you listen to nothing else I recommend this year, please listen to Inevitable. I cannot stress that strongly enough.
How do you capture perfection in an album review? I probably can’t, but Leleth can and does on this album.
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
