ANDRACCA: To Bare The Weight Of Death
Release year: 2024
Label: Vendetta Records
Would you be surprised to hear the UK act Andracca’s second album has a tricky title? The digital promo had the name tagged as To Bear The Weight Of Death, and the same error is repeated in the name of the title track on the indispispensable online resource Metal Archives. But in Andracca’s case, we don’t have to bear the weight of death, we have to bare it.
OK, this minor annoyance vented, what we have on our hands is – to reiterate – the second album by this UK act. It’s been a long time in the making, as the debut album was released already back in 2018. Of course, there’s been a pandemic in between, so perhaps it’s understandable. On the other hand, To Bare The Weight Of Death is a very coherent and well-formed album, so perhaps the band have just been gestating it for a long time.
Black metal is the name of the game here, and in a very traditional manner. In a way, Andracca’s style could be called neo-classical black metal in the sense that very obviously it owes a heavy debt to the classics of the genre, but instead of being mere nostalgia or pastiche, it takes the classical sound and all of its elements and creates something more. Not necessarily very original and certainly not pioneering or trailblazing in any way, but still something with a bit of own character.
Andracca’s style does lean heavily on all of the classic elements: speedy drumming, sawing guitars, viciously croaked vocals, and so on. And certainly, if the second wave is your thing, Andracca’s style will have many elements that are right up your alley. But it’s not just a rehash of that. Take for example Rise, Or Be Forever Fall’n, which starts with a moody, atmospheric bit with a very classic heavy metal type guitar solo. The guitar leads inside the track proper remind me of certain Black Twilight Circle acts, especially Arizmenda.
And otherwise too, Andracca draw heavily from other sources than 90’s Scandinavia for their sound: you can hear a bit of the old French sound, for example. This adds up to a mixture that is – well, as said, neo-classical in the sense that it takes tried and tested musical aesthetics, but is not satisfied with reheating yesterday’s stew.
There’s one act that pops up as a reference several times throughout the album: Burzum. And in particular, Burzum’s “comeback black metal album” Belus. Just listen to that starting riff on Oceans Of Fire: pure Belus, to the extent of being a bit on the nose. The overt similarity in sound and riffing style pops up again on Lamentation Of Divinity, but is otherwise a bit more enshrouded.
But I’m not complaining. I love Belus, it’s right up there with my favourite Burzum albums, and Andracca “borrow” quite tastefully, creating tracks that again as a whole don’t allow themselves to become mere Belus pastiche. They weave these elements into the whole, which is one bit 90’s Scandinavia, one bit late 90’s French black metal, one teaspoon of the Finnish sound, and so on.
To Bare The Weight Of Death turns out to be a very solid album, created both with an understanding of the conventions of black metal, and an ability to adhere to them without becoming their slave. The style and sound are raw and organic, but still have a certain melodic softness to them when needed.
Andracca find that precarious thin line of drawing from the classics and conventions of the genre, but not becoming self-servingly retro, and manage to balance on that line for the entirety of the album. “Original” is not a word I strongly think of when listening to To Bare The Weight Of Death, but I do think that Andracca manage to create something with an identity all their own on this album.
Only Death Is Real 