Capitalising on ambition is rarely something to be curtailed. However, there’s always the chance that, in striving for greater heights, additional trouble comes along in the form of ambition harming the results put forth by the ambitious themselves. After the flatten-and-conquer combo of 2020’s Limbo and 2022’s Mirage, it was patently obvious that, behind their sigil-branded masks, Portuguese quintet Gaerea housed ambitions beyond atmospheric black metal. The trick was to figure out how to synthesise all the other stuff into the mix without sounding disjointed, meandering and clunky.
Coma offers up plenty of the weapons-grade, baroquely dynamic, inky venom, awash in the melodic charge responsible for the popularity explosion of its predecessors, not least on Hope Shatters and Suspended. But at times, their exploration of sounds, moods and tones presents as willy-nilly and dilutes the album’s overall impact. Opener The Poet’s Ballet pulls a Mirage-like move and takes its sweet time getting to the point, though the establishment of atmosphere is tepid rather than an incendiary splash. Shapeshifter’s temperamental post-metal ups and downs never fully launch into the exosphere, and the efficacy of Wilted Flower’s unexpected stadium rock twang is in its title.
However, when they put their cloaked heads down, Gaerea indubitably deliver the goods. The dizzying speed and masterful changes in World Ablaze are majestic. Kingdom Of Thorns consistently triumphs in both the devilishness and smoothness departments, and the connective tissue riffing in Unknown are nominations for riffs of the year, helping the song flow like classic Metallica ballads and demonstrating how good they can get when the peaks and valleys are thoughtfully considered beyond abrupt stops and starts. Let’s hope that as they move forward, Gaerea are able to pull back from becoming too clever for their own good.
Coma is out this Friday, October 25, via Season Of Mist
