Review by Jeger on September 8, 2024.

Since the pre-plague days of 2016 and on through Death’s iron grip upon our world into our dystopian present day, Portugal’s Gaerea have bestowed upon their devotees some of the finest dark art to come out of Europe since the glory days of the Second Wave of black metal. But it hasn’t been through Satanism or anti-Christendom that Gaerea have chosen to make their voices heard, but instead through one of life’s few guarantees and that is suffering. The complex inner workings of yours and my disordered psyches as detailed through concepts pertaining to misanthropy, narcissism, and total self-destruction. “It’s in your nature to destroy yourselves” as Terminator so profoundly put it… 

The human model is a failed design: prone to disease, disorders, syndromes, and the like, but it’s our minds that are really fucked up - a twisted quagmire wherefrom nightmares are realized and things like murder become a reality. And very few black metal collectives possess such an astute understanding of all this than our shrouded-in-mystery group of dark arts extraordinaire. Three well-received and highly-reviewed LPs make up their discography with another looming o’er us like storm clouds of perdition. On October 25, 2024 Gaerea will release Coma via the prestigious Season Of Mist. 

True black metal? Most certainly not. Not for fans of Armagedda and Satanic Warmaster, but instead we have this profound vision of contemporary black metal: the aesthetics and the mystique like something otherworldly yet familiar all the same. 'The Poets Ballet' - as entrancing as its title suggests - a cathartic mood-setter for the imminent dread that awaits. Trancelike and dreamy up until the floodgates open and maelstroms of tremolo-driven riffs and blasts unfold. Ascending into the azures now upon every ethereal passage and every melodic arrangement, only to be plummeted back aground under the weight of depression-heavy rhythms and oppressive bass lines. Quite simply in a league of their own are Gaerea and this record just feels like the culmination of almost a decade’s worth of toiling - the apex as it were. 

Coma is no concept album. Each track tells a different tale and boasts its very own essence, from 'Suspended' with its deeply meditative parts, to the avant-garde titular track, all the way through to 'Kingdom Of Thorns' - another fine example of soul-moving melodicism to culminate to what’s been a transformative experience. 

Black metal for the exploration of the darkest recesses of the human psyche and a passageway into the realm of the visceral. Misery-drenched poetry backed by music of competition-intimidating proportions, and Gaerea proving once more that black metal’s evolution cannot be stopped or even slowed. The world’s most unique black metal band whose notoriety only grows with each album release. So, step out from within the inferno and into where real monsters dwell - the human mind. What a fucked up place to go poking around, but Gaerea do it with such unabashed thoroughness and with such zeal for agony that it almost feels fucking good to peel back all those demented layers; exposing myself as the anti-social, misanthropic, narcissistic sociopath that I am. An album to inspire brave introspection along with the kind of epiphanies that manifest only as you listen to black metal. Musically, expect momentum and lift, but also torque and gravity. Quite simply some of the finest, most dynamic shit you’ve heard all year. Misery awaits! You’d normally run, but not when it sounds so damned good. A near-perfect accomplishment from the world of contemporary black metal’s most artful group of musicians.

Rating: 9 out of 10