ARA SOLIS is a black metal band from Galicia, an Atlantic region in the northwest of Spain.  I couldn't find any information on the members other than they are a duo born from the ashes of many previous obscure black metal bands. As far as I know, 'Ashvattha' is their full length debut and their only release so far.  'Ashvattha' is as raw as Satan's gonads and twice as evil (probably). I'm really picky about raw black metal. I'll forever die on the hill if the idea that just because an album/band is necro doesn't mean it has to have toilet production.

But every now and then I hear an album that has benefited from having a nasty production because it is the only way it could possibly sound. 'Ashvattha' has the kind of decayed atmosphere and unrelenting songwriting that wouldn't sound right if it was pristine and shiny. This three track, thirty-five minute runtime album brings unbridled fury as black metal of this style should always do.  However, it also has moments of atmospheric clarity and gentle touches that lend it a surprising sound that has the occasional twist in the myth.

The first track, 'Tromo Negro do Firmamento,' opens with a deep ambient tone that drones on for about a minute....afterwards, the sounds fade off into near silence before blackened riffs pierce the uncomfortable quiet.  Buried under the static riffs is actually some decent bass that rides like an undercurrent, lifting everything else up.  The vocals are nearly ridiculous-at this point, they are nothing more than some kind of weird yell, sounding not unlike some person being skinned alive in the middle of a forest.  But what else would work here? A deathcore boy band clean chorus?  Absolutely not.  The band embraces these insane elements and makes them work in their favor.

The second track, titled the same as the band, takes a more biting approach.  By the time a minute has passed, the guitars and drums have already pummeled their way through the senses.  Faint blackened vocals can be heard in the background, the distant calling of some sort of dark creature arriving to claim the soul.  Over three minutes into it and the music becomes hypnotic and very much encompassing.  It is hard to describe this track but listening to it is like some sort of half remembered dream or an out of body experience.  The last couple minutes of the track are a key laden outro that sounds great but does little to offer respite from the fever dream just experienced.

The final song is the seventeen and a half long title track.  Its opening is a two minute long segment of ambient tones and ghostly sounds that creates fear before the chaos hits at the 2:03 mark.  These riffs are dizzying within seconds, turning the world upside as it crashes around you.  Up until just after the twelve minute mark, the black metal gives unrelenting attacks until the final part of the song fades off into strange otherworldly tones.

All in all, I find ARA SOLIS' 'Ashvattha' a very intriguing album that is its own unique beast.  It may not be for everyone, even for other black metal fans, but it is one of the biggest surprises I've heard in the genre this year.