ÆVANGELIST is a Black Metal duo hailing, at the moment, from Tampera, Finland. There is some controversy around the "true" iteration of the band. One faction claims the band is split up; another that it is alive and well, albeit with a different line up. The newest version of the band became active in 2018 with its two current members: Matron Thorn covering all instruments and Stéphane Gerbaud on vocals. This lineup has one EP and three full-length albums to its credit, including "Dream an Evil Dream III" which was released on February 22, 2021 via Dead Seed Productions.

While the album weighs in at over 46 minutes, it comprises a single track. Granted, almost three minutes of that track is lifted directly from the 2016 Lovecraftian film, "The Void," but that still leaves 43 minutes devoted to one musical theme. That theme, as you might expect, is unadulterated horror, or at least severe unease. The title of the track is, of course, "Dream an Evil Dream III." And in case you are wondering if there is a "II" and a "I," the answer is yes . . . though the controversy continues as "II" is by the current version of the band and "I" by the other. Sigh.

The album is a Black Metal hellscape and the production values are pretty much geared to capture that dark Geist. Adding texture to that razored haze are interspersed field recordings, or maybe snippets from the aforementioned movie. Guest artist Laurent Clément (THE REPTILIAN SESSION, ex-CHRISTICIDE) also provides some layered nuance with what promo materials describe as "inward hell-synthesis." I should also mention that toward the midpoint and further around the last quarter of the track, Matron lets the bottom drop out and plays up the bass, which provides even more contour.

The album starts with a section from "The Void" and ends in a convulsion of screeching violins, ominous spoken word, and more distorted riffs all of which then tapers into a long fade of more swirling violin, a feedback loop, and programmed drumming. To be honest, the ending is my favorite part of the album. Not because it signals the conclusion, but because it compels me try to unpackage and deconstruct what's happening in my ears. It teases me to lift the sonic folds and attempt to discern if I'm hearing synth or ambient noise or just the demonic static hum of the abyss.

Yeah, and the rest of the album is cool too, but you pretty much have to really dig Black Metal creepy shit to like this album. Along with no clean singing and no whole chords, there is also no optimism, light, or comfort. You gotta applaud a band that has the mental and intestinal fortitude to lay out a one-track, full-length album that has an average bpm of somewhere north of "a lot." Controversy aside, this is one solid slab of malevolent dark metal.