Arescet - The Crackling of Embers [Demo] (2013, Self-released)

Some bands take years from their initial creation till they release anything. Arescet, a band formed in Denmark in 2012, have managed to release 26 minutes worth of atmospheric black metal on their first demo, The Crackling of Embers, in spite of them having had some unavoidable lineup changes early on in their carreer.
One might think that a demo released such a short time after the birth of a band would be indicative of something of a make-shift nature, or perhaps music that would be somehow lacking. But I found that Arescet are mighty potent in their songwriting, and though the demo only counts two tracks - "The Crackling of Embers" and "Extinguished" - these two tracks are displays of a fair amount of skill on the bands' behalf.

Getting down to basics with Arescet is pretty straightforward. The two tracks are more or less textbook examples of how to write good atmospheric black metal, meaning that the Danish band avoids the obvious pitfalls of writing songs that are too monotonous. While some bands of the genre favor this style I mostly find it to be mundane, tedious and downright boring. There are plenty of examples of bands that do it well, but ultimately this tendency is rather dreary. Arescet manage to write music in this style that has just enough variation to surprise the listener once in a while, and I found that the funeral doom-influenced passages that are strewn around the songs are more than adequate for that sole purpose.

This genre can be described with a bunch of adjectives such as droning, irksome, weary, insipid and dreary, but all these descriptors can be both positive and negative. As is the case with Arescet and their first demo. The music shows great promise and reveal a band that may well have more in store for us in the future, but the things that make Arescet's music great are the same things that ultimately make it a bit humdrum. I have often lauded Ash Borer as a band that succeeded in making atmospheric black metal catchy. Their music features plenty of what I'd almost call "hooks", and this is exactly what Arescet need. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their demo "The Crackling of Embers", but in the end it all seemed a bit nondescript and commonplace. The funeralesque break in The Crackling of Embers and the morose part permeated in melancholy in the second half of Extinguished are the closest things we come to making the demo truly distinguishable. As such I feel that Arescet's first demo is a release that bears a promise of better things to come and at the same time leaves me wanting more and looking forward to what they might come up with next. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. The Crackling of Embers
2. Extinguished

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