Short Reviews [My Silent Wake - 2020 - "Damnum Per Saeculorum"]

‘Damnum Per Saeculorum’ is the eleventh full length album from My Silent Wake and the fourth in their series of ambient, acoustic, experimental releases. The last release I heard of theirs was 2017’s ‘Invitation to Imperfection’, somehow missing out on 2018’s ‘There Was Death’, but am certainly glad to have made their acquaintance once again. When I reviewed that album, I said their music was not doom as such, or dark ambient, or atmospheric black metal, but somehow brings all those influences and many more into something that is completely engaging and essential. That is indeed what we have here, music which also moves into areas such as folk and drone, truly experimenting and progressing. Although their last album was recorded as a quartet, they have now brought in an additional guitarist and are back as a quintet. Musically, although this album fits in within all the sub genres above one is never sure what each song is going to bring, so while there may be a dark duet with just picked guitars for support and choral backing, there are also numbers that are instrumental as they move with the flow. It feels like an album rooted in the earth, and the title really is descriptive of the music within as it translates to 'Loss Throughout the Ages'. They go back in time to sound as if the songs are coming to us straight from the medieval while others are far more futuristic in nature. There are times when the sheer variety of the album is also its downfall in that it does not always hang together as well as it should, but on an individual level the songs are often mini masterpieces. This is packed full of atmosphere, like a deep fog on a Yorkshire moor, and rewards being played on headphones.