Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Wijlen Wij - S/t [Aesthetic Death - 2007]

The bizarrely named Wijlen Wij (Dutch/Flemish for 'us, passed away', MB) offer up an self titled debut album that's rather distinctive, often epic & atmospheric take on doom/slowed black metal craft mixing in dark monk chant’s, metal-lized medieval vibe, church organ grimness and slowed dark melodic synth swamps of sound to lose yourself in.

From the start of the first track L'anathème with its rich monk chants (clearly sang by the band them self’s with great black vigour & authenticity) and a melodic medieval organ unfold that gets roared over by crushing guitar riffing, your in for a special dark ride. Real thought has being given to every sound used and the way it balances with the rest of the mix to give both crushing heaviness and melodic evil presence, with the tracks always knee deep in atmospheric grim grandeur. The album as a whole brings to mind a dark sect of medieval monks and their grim, often barbaric rule of superstitious peasant village. Bells toll, growled black vocals bellow over banks of monk chants, as slowed riff craft cuts to the decaying bone and church organ/synth swam and simmer in dark melodic wonder.

A highly polished dark debut masterwork, that’s surprisingly fully formed with its own sound and audio place. So drag your self through the dark ornate gates Wijlen Wij's kingdom to be eternal lost in grim wonder.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Wijlen Wij - S/t
The bizarrely named Wijlen Wij (Dutch/Flemish for 'us, passed away', MB) offer up an self titled debut album that's rather distinctive, often epic & atmosphe...
080226   400 Lonely Things - Creature ...
060226   PBK & Howard Stelze - She Thi...
060226   Wilt - Mold The Earth
060226   Andreas Rönnquist - The Fou...
060226   Vampire Zombies…from Space ...
060226   This Is What I Hear When You ...
060226   Niacinamide - The Eyes Of Ages
060226   Aberdeen Abattoir - Only Pain...
050226   Crash And Burn - Crash And Bu...
050226   Visitors from the Arkana Gala...
Latest Articles

Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding Wall...
Back in 2024, I got my first taste of Absurd Reality, and I was so impressed by how crude and nasty its take on walled noise was. Behind the project is South...
290126   Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding ...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom