Year: 2024
Label: Hammerheart Records / Metal Star (local edition)
Rating: 8,7 / 10
The Hungarian band SEAR BLISS once had a big chance to become perhaps the most important signings of Possession Productions. Around 10 years ago, inspired by the release of GODS TOWER 8LP boxed set, Solemn decided to release the entire discography of Hungarians on vinyl, as SEAR BLISS is one of his favorite bands. I was very concerned about that idea, as I found SEAR BLISS (minus the debut album and “Eternal Recurrence”) rather boring, and their CD sales were not that impressive. Considering that vinyl must necessarily sell well, otherwise you as a label will get fucked, the initiative to publish SEAR BLISS looked very risky. Fortunately or unfortunately, our then-merch partner "helped" us by printing great-looking (no sarcasm here, they really looked awesome) T-shirts on some kind of profitable new fabric that shrank three times in size when water got on it. The band, of course, was not very happy about this, and the vinyl deal quietly disappeared into thin air.
After those events, I listened to SEAR BLISS a few more times, and then abandoned them, as it seemed then, forever. And that's why "Heavenly Down" especially impressed me. If you've never listened to SEAR BLISS before, then you need to know that this is a band with a unique approach. It lays atmospheric metal in a very old style that existed before all kinds of post-metals and shoegazes, and has a unique symphonic element, because Hungarians primarily use trombone and trumpet, and not a synthesized orchestra a la DIMMU BORGIR. They also have a synthesizer, but only for deep ambient fragments. It's not ska-punk at all; the trumpets in SEAR BLISS sound very serious, solemn and organic.
Throughout their career, Hungarians gradually reduced the degree of symphonicity in favor of experimenting with sound and compositions. It helped them become stronger in terms of songwriting, but it practically took their identity away. However, on ”Heavenly Down" SEAR BLISS combined all the best: they wrote powerful and consistent songs, discarding everything unnecessary, and filled them with the majestic drone of a trombone. The result, to be honest, is stunning. Each track, even the instrumental one, seems to ask you to listen to itself over and over again, as it contains countless musical treasures. Although there is no experimentation here, there are still so many different components in the songs that I do not know how the band managed to make them work.
But the main thing is not even that, but that ”Heavenly Down" is an extremely beautiful album. In the best moments, through the music, you seem to peer into the bottomless night sky, studded with stars, and breathe in the cold, fresh air, feeling all the calm power of the universe. This is a very mature beauty, which is not characterized by excessive emotionality. It has nothing to do with the ominous darkness as well. Somehow, the feeling of revelation does not disappear even in the most intense fragments. All I can complain about here is that the band made a bit of a mistake with the cover. I understand the references to previous albums, but they should have go back to the very beginning since the cover of the CD edition of the demo "The Pagan Winter" is just it. What you hear in 2024 was on this cover art already back in 1997.
The technical components of "Heavenly Down" leave no cause for complaint. Excellent recording, mixing and mastering (the latter was done by Dan Swano), where not only everything is audible, but each instrument has its own character and voice. The guitar solos are flawless, the spatial effects on them and on the keys sound fantastic. The cover was painted by the famous Chris Vervimp. Without exaggeration, this is a world-class release. Unfortunately, I would also classify the lyrics as "technical", since I did not find any deep meaning in them. Rather, it is a set of mystical images created only as a verbal accompaniment to music. The licensed edition from Metal Star has a 16-page booklet with lyrics, photos of all the musicians, and illustrations. Details on a video. You can order it at Possession.
English (UK) 
Крыўская