Album Review: Chiral – Gazing Light Eternity (Self-Released)

Chiral is an Italian one-man band that sprung into life near the end of 2013. Gazing Light Eternity is his third full length release & was released on October 27th, 2016. You can pick up a copy of the album right here.

Gazing Light Eternity is a four part epic journey that is as all about taking you places you’ve never been before. About new experiences for the mind, body & soul all with a stellar soundtrack to accompany you along the way.

Part I (The Gazer) combines haunting melodies with an undercurrent of dark threat particularly coming from the intense vocals. It’s nearly 15 minutes long but from the first note to the last it never drops in quality.

At its core this is a black metal album but one that has one eye on the future, black metal is changing & Chiral are a big part of that change.

Part II (The Haze) is 6 minutes of atmospheric sounds & soft melodies mixed around fascinating spoken word sections. It’s the kind of softness that was needed after the The Gazer & before The Crown, perfectly freshening up the ears.

Part III (The Crown) continues the journey back into dark places. This 13 minute epic has all the wonder that was found in the first two parts but expands on that with much more subtle elements playing along in the background. It’s impossible to not get excited when Chiral throws back his head & lets out an evil sounding roar.

For all it’s atmospheric stylings when it comes to just letting rip, Chiral does it wonderfully. Near the mid-point of The Crown things build to a thrilling explosion of heaviness that will leave you wanting to tap the person sitting next to you on the train, at the bus stop, at the coffee shop etc & just say “listen to this”.

This incredible album comes to a close with another ambience driven track. Part IV: (The Hourglass) is way darker sounding, much more oppressive & it makes for a much more exciting listen as you wait to see just where it’s going to go. It’s the perfect ending to this journey, one that you’ll want to go on again & again & again.

Gazing Light Eternity is one of the best things to come out of 2016 & proof that there is so much life in this new, modern approach to black metal. You have no excuses, buy this album.

Overall Track Listing:

1. Part I (The Gazer)
2. Part II (The Haze)
3. Part III (The Crown)
4. Part IV (The Hourglass)

We’d like to thank Chiral for providing us with a copy of the album for this review. You can find out much more about the album & previous work by going to Chiral’s official website here. Make sure you like the Facebook page, follow on Instagram, Soundcloud & check out some of the music over on YouTube!