The Canadian post black metallers quintet is back with their sophomore effort Adore. I don't really like the label “post metal” however sometimes it’s difficult to give an idea of how a band like Numenorean sound like. Labeling them as simply black metal would give you the wrong expectation. For the most part there are almost no blast beats in Adore, but rather a more atmospheric sound with moments of aggressiveness. They remind me of Defheaven or Ghost Bath due to their mix of beauty, harshness and melancholy. The difference being that Numenorean is groovier than those peers. That's a good differentiation as I really enjoy the occasional Black n' Roll moments, e.g. “Horizons”.
Overall Numenorean displays quite a lot of diversity in this record. You can feel that the band did not limit themselves to any boundaries. For example, while the vocals are mostly pure black metal, there are some shorter tracks like "Stay" and "Alone" that offer a Gothic influence with clean vocals at slow tempo. In addition, there are many instrumental passages being “clean” and slow tempo in between the harsh fast tempo parts. But the versatility doesn’t stop there, a Gojira-like sound is all over the 7-min title track. In all honesty, I'd create a new label for them, what about post blackened death metal? The band does sound like Behemoth at times, e.g. "Portrait of Pieces".
The album is very well crafted to display all this diversity, I really enjoy the flow of it, it makes it easier to listen to it from start to finish. Five of the ten tracks are full blown heavy longer tracks with ups and downs within them (but never over 9 minutes). Moreover those songs are intertwined with shorter instrumental or slow tempo Gothic songs. All and all, one songs builds on the next with seamlessly transitions. The production is very clean and dynamic, one minor complain is that the drums are sometimes too prominent in the mix.
Although I enjoyed listening to the album quite a few times, I am not sure it is one that I will return to very often. For big fans of the genre and this style of metal, Adore is certainly one disc to give a shot.
DR: 6
Genre: Post Blackened Death Metal
Released by Season of Mist on April 12th, 2019
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