I had not heard of Aelter before I received this in the mail, but in looking at the press sheet, they invoked one of my favorite bands of all time, Clan of Xymox, so I was quite interested to check this out. Evidently, this is a side project of Wolvserpent guitarist Blake Green and a reissue of two albums that were previously released on vinyl. According to the press sheet, 'where Wolvserpent blends this chugging Melvins-esque heaviness and haunting slowcore arpeggios with violins, pounding drums, and a propensity for extended hypno-dirges, Aelter dispenses with the drums almost completely and goes for a more cinematic approach using layered keyboards and gorgeous harmonized voices that reminds me of something you would have heard on Beggers Banquet or 4AD being fused to a malevolent black heaviness.' So let's see if it lives up to the hype. Dusk-Dawn kicks us off with a sparse, atmospheric guitar line. In some ways, I could see this act doing a collaboration with Locrian because each seems quite interested in the idea of repetition. This is not quite Clan of Xymox kind of atmosphere, but the sentiment is there. If you think that Clan of Xymox is a bit synth heavy and prefer guitar, this is where you will want to look. Follow You Beloved moves in much the same direction, but is a bit more complex and even incorporates vocals, although these are difficult to make out and seem to be more there for atmosphere. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when I read the sticker on the cover declaring them 'an offshoot of Idaho chamber-doom sorcerers Wolvserpent,' but this is actually pretty good. Heavy without being too oppressive, dark atmospheres without resorting to cheesy horror samples. File under old CMI-era Arcana. Disc 1 weighs in at around 32 minutes. Disc 2 weighs in at around 38 minutes, so I'm not sure why they decided to go with a double CD, but that's what we have.

4 stars