Review: Teitan – Vákuum

Style: Black Metal, Avant-Garde (mixed vocals)
Review by: Dan
Country: Netherlands
Release date: 16 September, 2021

One of the primary merits by which I judge an album is its uniqueness. Filling a musical void with something never done before creates a reason for an album to exist; cloning someone else often strikes me as unnecessary. I of course fully understand the joy of creating music, regardless of its innovation, but in my personal listening, few albums wow me without bringing something new to the table.

Enter Devi Hisgen’s solo project Teitan. I haven’t heard much like this. Sure, it takes some well-worn elements and combines ’em together, much like anything else, but for whatever reason, it feels fresh and exciting to this pair of earballs. The vocals, especially, grabbed me quickly, and never let go. I’ve spun this a few times consecutively without getting bored – a worthy feat, if you are unfamiliar with my borederline-psychotic listening habits. Yeah, I punned, and it was bad. Deal with it.

Vákuum is twenty-two captivating minutes of acerbic and ritualistic black metal, blending vicious harsh vocals with uncomfortable cleans into walls of throat-rending expression. There’s tremendous variation across the runtime, with riffs that pay homage to the forefathers of hypnotic, churning black metal, but are also unafraid to venture into new territories of melodicism or atmosphere. There’s a completely unfettered (and perhaps unhinged?) approach to songwriting on display here that speaks directly to my inner darkness, and I’m all for it. These songs twist and turn with thoughtfully executed surprises, never really settling or feeling comfortable; there’s a pervasive, droning air of malcontent, even in the most ambient or atmospheric passages.

The production is densely layered – especially for the vocals, which I’ll get back to – but impressively digestible. The guitars are not buried in fuzz or filth, but instead ring out their chosen tones clearly and brightly, which helps them claim a well-defined sonic space beneath the vox. The bass is present, occasionally driving a noticeable melody, but isn’t otherwise particularly remarkable throughout the runtime. The drums are punchy, dynamic, and well-mixed, adding massive weight to the heaviest passages.

The vocals here, though, are the standout for me. Among your traditional harsh tonalities are layers of cleans, occasionally wordless, sometimes even venturing into – could it be – throat singing territories? Each vocal passage seems to have three or four harmonized demons snarling in a soul-rending chorus rich with both blackened emotion and melody. The vocals also serve as the harbinger of transitions – often used to execute skillful tension-building and effective songwriting.

The riffs are varied, with representation both of hypnotic psychedelia and of more intricate, riffier melodicism. They don’t stand still for too long in any song, providing constant motion and engaging energy, supported tastefully by the drums and bass. There are reasonably big dynamics, occasionally even swelling from mellow chants (reminding me of Sunnata) all the way into oppressive blasts over the course of a few minutes, but honestly, the dynamics are not the core songwriting element here.

I’m not entirely sure I understand the inclusion of the final track – it retreads territory introduced at the start of the preceding song, and just… exists, I guess… until it doesn’t, leaving the listener with a haunting spoken-word conversation, whispering in the wind. I suppose the content – including “it’s supposed to be easy, but it’s like walking through mud” – conveys the message, but I would be just as satisfied with this EP even without that final track.

To conclude, this is a brief black metal recording with some unusual elements: densely layered mixed vocals, a flair for hypnotic psychedelia, and bright, almost twangy guitars. You’ll note I haven’t drawn too many specific comparisons to other bands over the course of this review. I’m honestly really struggling to identify anything in my mental library that presents a soundscape akin to that of Vákuum. To me, that’s a glorious, exhilarating thing, and for that reason, I keep returning to experience it again and again.

Recommended tracks: The Grinding Teeth of the Wheel of Time, Metempsychosis, …or just all of it because it’s so short
Recommended for fans of: the lovechild of Entropia and Sunnata, perhaps?
You may also like: Esoctrilihum, Stone Healer, Noctambulist
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: Void Wanderer Productions – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Teitan is:
– Devi Hisgen (everything)