Schammasch (Switzerland): “Hearts of No Light”

​It is now clear: when Schammasch do something, it is never something simple. After the triple album Triangle from 2016, the Swiss quintet churns out another extremely complex work consisting of nine songs for a total playtime of one hour and seven minutes. Hearts of No Light is difficult to describe, not only for the quantitative aspect, but also and above all because there are so many layers in it; it is an album that defies any premade classification. Musically speaking, it weaves a number of unique and diverse soundscapes. Take for example the long instrumental outro, or a song like “Katabasis”, but above all “I Burn with You” where you will find relentless black metal, vaguely influenced by Deathspell Omega, but also, out of the blue, ten seconds of declamation accompanied by dissonant piano chords. From a thematic point of view, I have noticed an evolution through the album. At the beginning there is “Ego Sum Omega”, which in Latin means “I am Omega” where ‘omega’ is the last letter of the ancient Greek alphabet and, from an eschatological point of view, a symbol of death and end of everything; the text is in fact full of imagery related to the concept of death. Towards the end of the album there are songs like “A Paradigm of Beauty” and “Katabasis”, which, on the contrary, are full of imagery connected to birth and the sun; in particular, the text of “A Paradigm of Beauty” can be considered as a sheer prayer. It is as if the album wanted to represent the circle of death and rebirth, common in the spirituality and ritualism of many ancient civilizations. From this perspective, it can be seen that the instrumental intro “Winds that Pierce the Silence” is impetuous and eerie, while the instrumental outro “Innermost, Lowermost Abyss” is more peaceful and tranquil. In conclusion, with this album Swiss Schammasch have proven to be in the vanguard, black metal at their core whilst vast and expansive in experimentation.  Hearts of No Light is definitely a must listen!
 
Notes:
Hearts of No Light was released on November 8, 2019 through Prosthetic Records.
 
Personnel:
C.S.R: Guitars, Vocals
B.A.W: Drums
M.A: Guitars
A.T: Bass
J.B: Guitars
 
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com