Olhava - Sacrifice (2024)

Perfectly balancing fragility and raw aggression, today we have Olhava and their latest opus “Sacrifice”. Featuring members of Trna, this duo unleashes eight tracks clocking in at nearly 87 minutes of music. Filled with magical soundscapes and crafty songwriting ideas, this album is highly intoxicating. Recommended for fans of bands like An Autumn for Crippled Children, Heretoir, Show Me a Dinosaur, etc. this release is quite dreamy and hypnotic.

Opening with the sixteen minute “Forever With You”, the band sets a very atmospheric and immersive mood with lush keyboards alongside a wall of distortion. Setting the mood between the album’s longer tracks, we have a number of enigmatic atmospheric instrumentals called “Ageless River VI-IX”. These tracks provide a nice and varied transition between the more cathartic and crushing pieces.

It is hard to pick a favorite between songs like “I See Myself In Your Eyes”, “Eternal Fire” and the album title track as each one contains its own magic. With different tempos and sound pallets, each of these 15+ minute songs take the listener into a transcendental journey. We particularly enjoy the harsh vocals that add that extra layer of desperation to the very poignant melodies created.

With each track, the band unleashes a wave of vibes that nicely transition between elation to desperation, all of them reaching highly cathartic moments. As a whole, “Sacrifice” is one of those releases that hooks you from start to end, with the atmospheric passages adding mystery and pace to a very moody and engaging aural adventure. If you like dreamy and shoegazey Atmospheric Black Metal, this is the release for you.

Label: Avantgarde Music

Release: January 26th, 2024

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal/Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze

Country: Russia