By Dustin Carroll
Underground black metal supergroup, Twilight, has been host to a revolving door of musicians throughout the years. Featuring members of such diverse acts as Kreig, Leviathan, Xasthur, Nachtmystium, and Draugr, the melding of these minds produced their first dark and tortured album. Five years later, the band resurfaced with a more experimental sound, parting ways with Draugr’s Hidolf and adding Aaron Turner (Isis), Stavros Giannopoulos (Atlas Moth), and Sanford Parker (Minsk/Corrections House). These changes to the lineup, as well as their new musical direction, garnered attention even outside of the black metal community.
Their newest album, III: Beneath Trident’s Totem, has likewise ventured beyond the boundaries of black metal. While minor key tremolo picking, painfully raspy vocals, and an overall grim atmosphere pervade the music, there are so many other elements at play. The album is carried by a stoner metal groove, which comes and goes through various songs. The percussion is far more prominent, featuring live drums, programming, and auxiliary percussion instruments that add a sludgy, dark industrial feel. The track, “Beneath Trident’s Tomb” in particular takes listeners through peaks and valleys of harsh noise, harsher vocals, and pounding aggression that brings acts like Batillus and Godflesh to mind, while other sections of the album are more in the vein of Old Man Gloom. Further reshaping the band is the addition of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, who replaces Aaron Turner on the new album. With so many talented individuals contributing to this release, it will be a welcome addition to fans of dark and punishing music.
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