1.) Endlhëqhani 08:12
2.) Endlhënven10:08
3.) Endlhëdeënaj15:49
4.) Taj Tu Dëhajdsëja Bë 09:51
Trhä are going down a storm within the B.M. community, especially on the format Bandcamp. Its like Trhä are the flame and the moths are the fans gravitating to his light and mystical aura that surrounds both him, his sound and that little bit of mystery that we all know and love with our B.M bands.
Hailing from Texas, though I have seen others say from Finland. This act has managed to release a plethora of self releases since 2020. Little is known about the act or when it’s first inception truly was however some info I did gather on this intriguing act is that “Trhä” means “the key to true perfect magic, true fantastic desires and pleasures, and this distant magic place”. This is all I could find on Encyclopedia Metallum. This would certainly explain the nature aspect and the lights used on the covers of most of his releases. So after reading the glowing recommendations I start to wonder through this mystical and magical world of Trhä.
Track 1) “Endlhëqhani” opens with a beautiful astral and ambient track, this definitely draws the listener in with its great use of synth and samples this track creates that level of dream scape to it. Its elevating yet melancholy at the same time. It definitely installs that magical feeling throughout your brain, yet has the tremendous ability to give you the feeling of being alone and drifting through the nebula of both space and time.
The track has wonderfully distorted moments too where you feel that maybe not everything is all sweetness and light. As the distorted notes drift through you start to get those almost creepy fairground vibes. Almost like something much darker is lurking and waiting for its true moment to strike.
Track 2.) “Endlhënven” is where the unsuspecting vipers nest truly opens up, as the raw guitar riffs open up and the howls of the frontman call out like banshee howls in the darkest of night. The entities vocals remind me very much of that of Nattramn of Silencer and if you can remember these they definitely have the ability to pierce right through you. There is almost a desperation to his vocal work, the more I listen the more I get how these tracks meld together and bring a strange serene sound in places, yet desperately also very Dsbm within style.
The synth parts almost have a festive feel to them as strange as that sounds. This I feel is only amplified due to the timely fashion that this e.p. has dropped. The mix of raw b.m. against this almost yule tide sounding synth in the most bizzarest of combinations but it really works. It creates a very bleak and cathartic sound to what sort of music is typically blasted from every household and shop around this time of year.
Track 3.) “Endlhëdeënaj” starts with a very subtle synth opening almost backed by some xylophone/ marimba percussion once again delivering a serene and dreamlike intro which gets literally destroyed by the razor like riffs that come tearing through, however those light notes are still there and appear to break through the mirk of riffs and blast beats. The vocals carry that heavy desperation and shriek and howl between intervals, however much more subdued and into the background letting the music transcend and carry this track forward. The big surprise comes in the midsection where this track almost takes a very Euro/ bubble pop break. If you weren’t already confused then this track will certainly do that. The combination of all these sounds is literally a total head trip in this midsection, but amongst the carnage and sped up sections to this track.
We slowly start to slowdown and drift on an ambient plane, this matching and sounding very reminiscent to that of “Barber’s Adagio for Strings” by “William Orbit” this track is a wonderful and beautifully composed pieces of music and the influence I feel shines through on this track. As the last verse of the track drifts in were taken right back to an almost yuletide sound which is combined with the bubble pop sound. The ripping riffs are played against the very joyous sounding synth moments as this all blends into a pure cacophony of sound your literally left feeling almost disjointed from the spiralling sounds you have witnessed.
Track 4.) “Taj Tu Dëhajdsëja Bë” starts with a beautiful melancholic synth part with the keys imitating a soft flute or pan pipes backed by a wonderful ambience of the deep chords. As the track progresses it shifts to the sound of a piano and the key structure follows that of a track called Heart and Soul this was composed by Hoagy Carmichael while the original features lyrics from Frank Loesser the piano part is unmistakable the deep resonating make it much more of a haunting piece in comparison to the original. As the track progresses were treated to a much more dance/ trance like section and when the beat kicks in this could easily be a floor filler in any club.
This is a brilliant transition to have included on this very extremely mixed bag of sounds. Once again the guitars tear through this mix however rather than burying the original sound they almost enhance it.
This is an amazing closing to this EP/ full length. It certainly puts a fresh twist on this both mesmerizing yet bizarre album.
In all, this has been an experience to review, it has certainly not been an easy one to say the least. This E.P. has taken many twists and turns. It is truly a journey through sound, one that will leave your brain and hearing discombobulated. This E.P. is nothing short of both fun and sinister in the same breath but is it possible this was rushed and not as well constructed as its predecessor “vat gëlénva!!!” Or is it merely a part two to the aforementioned album? All these questions could be answered but the only person who’ll ever have the answers is the entity himself.
In all honesty I found this a hard E.P however it’s not without its little gem areas that seem to fill my ears with joy. However it’s only the opening track and the closing track that manage to do this. I feel the middle two tracks whilst they have their moments they do not add up to the opening and closing tracks by a long shot whereas the predeceasing album moves seamlessly throughout.
In all I do prefer Trhä’s previous releases, this sadly falls just short of the mark for me in both sound and production. Yes raw black metal is definitely lacking in production more so than not on occasions but if this album had been purely instrumental I feel it would’ve gone down much better. Sometimes less is more and it can still pack a punch as hard as any band with the ferocity to deliver it.
Hails #Foras #LordOfTheShadows
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