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ALBUM REVIEW
- I Shalt Become - The Pendle Witch
Trials
- No Colour Records
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- I Shalt Become is the work of US solo
artist S. Holliman, who gave painful birth to the project in 1998 with debut “Wanderings”, before entering a
decade-long period of ominous brooding in advance of a rather more prolific period between
2008 and 2009 which resulting in three more full-lengths, the most recent of which is “The Pendle Witch Trials”. The word which
instantly springs to mind is ‘subterranean’ – this stark, unwelcoming but
evocative USBM seems to well up from hateful, airless caverns snarling at the light of
exposure.
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- “The
Pendle Witch Trials” is a hauntingly sad affair, with tracks such as “The Serpent Song” with its glacial synth
air proving why. Although I Shalt Become sits not-too-uncomfortably alongside other
depressive acts from the States, with the buried, torturous, grumbling vocals and the
echoey pools of indulgent noise, you don’t necessarily need to dodge it if you loathe
Xasthur; Holliman has a distinct lightness of touch that can make, as in the stated
example, one thin line of soaring melancholy into your whole world. The vocals are kept in
reserve a lot of the time, and there’s a sense of mystery and stateliness amid the
relentless hopelessness that sets I Shalt Become aside from some of its more overwrought
peers.
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- “In
Absentia” and “A Ritual Killing”
showcase some great usage of synths to add dark, brooding, mysterious melody to the
otherwise harsh sound. “Enstasy (The Theory of
Maxwell’s Demon)” reaches towering heights, which, whilst grounded firmly in
the dirt by the gravel-gargling vocals, create an amazing, soaring atmosphere of intense,
almost sublime despondency. “End Time”
and “Denial” succeed in adding variety
to the album’s approach, the former with a more blustery and possessing sound and the
latter with tricksier guitar and a more grumbling tone, even if it does wind up to a
surprisingly stately conclusion. Should you need to add more dead, wet wood to the fire of
your imagination, head for the lyrics sheet; even when arranged in between literary
references to Shakespeare and CS Lewis, Holliman’s sparse poetry has the power to
haunt.
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- There was a time a couple of years
ago when depressive, ‘experimental’ black metal of this sort had reached what
seemed at the time like a critical mass – every second promo featured a sad young
American just waiting to break out of the bedroom. Post-boom, it’s those with a real
commitment to their sound that are still standing, which explains just how I Shalt Become
is a project with more potential now than ever before. Not to everyone’s taste, but
if you like it esoteric, pained and interesting, you’ll certainly get a buzz out of
“The Pendle Witch Trials”.
- 75/100
- Ellen Simpson
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- www.myspace.com/ishaltbecome
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