Band: Merciful Nuns
Album title: Oneironauts
Release date: 8 February 2024
Label: Solar Lodge
Genre: Gothic Rock
Tracklist:
01. Oneironauts
I The Gate
II The Watchers
III The Innerverse
IV Rise And Fall Of Kvltan
02. Requiem For The Departed
03. Baal'gor
04. Summoning The Fallen Host
05. Souvenirs De Kvltan
Bonus:
01. Oneirophobia
02. Oneironauts (The Lesser Light)
03. Enoch's Lament
04. Baal'gor (Single edit)
Cult German gothic rock band Merciful Nuns has recently dropped its twelfth full-length offering. As is usual with the trio gathered around the idea leader, charismatic vocalist, lyricist and composer, Artaud Seth, Oneironauts is another concept album, and it expands and deepens the idea from the previous album, Kvltan, to unimagined dimensions. In short, Artaud Seth, Jawa Seth and Jacques Moch once again invite us on a sound journey into the realm of what we can call gothic rock. However, the group that arose from the ashes of the legendary Garden Of Delight surprises again with many innovations.
Oneironauts is a strong album that throws up the darkness with immense power as if it were an apocalypse. The tapestry of sound is eerie and convincing and offers - in addition to guitar-based sound lines - enough atmospherics to make the listener experience a dream state. The supernatural realms are revealed song after song before the eyes of all the already accustomed listeners of Merciful Nuns. Oneironauts is one of the strongest albums this band has released. And, if we can get past the epic opener "Oneironauts", which serves up almost everything this band has to offer and is judiciously split into four parts and nearly 18 minutes long, then we are well on our way to the gothic occult revelation that follows.
After the opening heavy guitar riffing that would be the envy of many metalheads, deep reverberating bass and a hoarse dark-velvety voice that roars at the top of its lungs, Merciful Nuns takes us to slightly "lighter" waters with more dark, atmospheric and gothic synths, and somehow a narrative style, especially with the slightly more emotionally coloured "Requiem For The Departed", followed by the typical, more dynamic, Merciful Nun-ish, "Baal'gor", which serves a kind of progressive structure in addition to evocative vocals. Here, the driving rhythm and intricate guitar work provide a stark contrast to the album's ethereal moments.
Without respite, the journey takes us back to the noble dimensions of ritualistically esoteric gothic rock with the piece "Summoning The Fallen Host". Resounding basses, howling guitar sounds, cosmic synths and a pulsating rhythm conjure up an extraterrestrial experience. I could say that while listening to Oneironauts, the boundaries between reality and the supernatural blur. The powerful, sometimes epic soundscapes interspersed with many undertones should be a real treat for the consistent listener.
The story ends in melancholic tones of the last act, "Souvenirs De Kvltan". Now, there is a moment of pause, which invites the listener to reconsider, to think, before the next possible entry into the sound world that only Merciful Nuns can offer in this way. Of course, as is usual with Merciful Nuns, that's not all. In addition to the main work, there is an additional mini-album containing four more acts, altered versions of the songs "Oneironauts" and "Baal'gor", and two original creations.
Those of you already familiar with Merciful Nuns or its predecessor, Garden Of Delight, know what to expect. Oneironauts will surely conjure new dark sound sensations for all followers of this German trio. Maybe this album will also attract some new listeners, even though it does not contain instant captivating hits as we were used to on some previous albums. In any case, what Merciful Nuns has offered this time is an extremely strong, sonically rich, quite dynamic, turbulent and dark album worth multiple listens.
The review was written by Tomaz
Rating: 8,5/10