TRNA – Istok | Album Review

Love it, loathe it, think it’s the natural progression of the black metal genre or a mere mockery of the questionable dinosaurs of the scene, it’s clear that the blackgaze movement has no end point in sight.

Which for all intents and purposes is a certainly a good thing if we keep getting releases such as Istok, the latest offering from St. Petersburg’s TRNA. The trio’s fourth record and first to be released under the Candlelight Records banner, Istok certainly fits snuggly into what is to be expected from the blackgaze sound; the band’s inspirations of Wolves In The Throne Room, Amenra and Slowdive are clearly evident over the course of Istok’s run time. But what set’s Istok apart from the blackened throng is the fact that it’s almost entirely instrumental and TRNA’s dedication to creating what they dub as “celestial blackgaze”. It’s certainly a bold and lofty description to allocate to your own music – especially given genre’s long rooted fixation on holding reverence to the Earth and it’s wildlife – but regardless, there are moments where this self-appointed accolade does live up to it’s namesake.

Istok’s opener and respective title track does show that TRNA can remould the blackgaze sound to their own design all whilst still retaining the core identity of the genre. A comprehensibly picturesque soundscape, one comprised of barren mountains resisting crushing reverb below nebulous lashings of cold colour, the track is a sweeping shot of almost cinematic scope. It’s also more shoegaze orientated than it is black metal in terms of musicality. But thematically, the callous nature of the blackgaze identity is prominent, with the tips of the genre subdued under the gazing weight of the track. Such tips do jettison on the proceeding ‘Echoes Of The Past’, a track of similar frosty nature, but it does feel that the aggression synonymous of blackened extremity has been substituted for atmospheric majesty. Even with bombastic assaults of fury charging to and fro across these tracks, the focus very much here is on introspection and is very much the sound of a band that’s rooted yet looking skyward for inspiration and guidance.

The third track, ‘Shining’, is very much the anchoring point of Istok. Standing at a monolithic 13 minutes long and the only track here to feature vocals – courtesy of Portugal’s Gaerea – ‘Shining’ is a multi-faceted and chaptered ordeal of a song, one that feels like it requires the rest of the record to support it’s towering height. But still, even with Gaerea doing an impeccable job in providing textured bellows of torment, the track does ultimately feel more pensive and completive than it does venomous. Across it’s run time, passages of blind fury and borderline post-rock placidity ebb and flow, producing brilliant and well-tempered juxtaposition that allows it’s emotional punches to land with devastating force. However, as the track continues, these emotional blows do lose force with each consecutive blow. ‘Shining’ does feel organic, but somewhat middling towards it’s finale. If the final four minutes where cut prior to being fleshed out into it’s own entity It would be a far more cohesive and coherent listen, but regards, this is still a fantastic exercise in it’s own right.

The final third of Istok is where the black metal focus lies on this record. Leading with forlorn and defeated strings, the 9 minute and aptly titled ‘Burning Bridges, Shattered Dreams’ is a punishing ordeal of apparent self-loathing and the closing nature of ‘Hearts Turn To Stone’ also stands as ruthless and cold, albeit more quietly eloquent at times. Such tracks are great in the way they balance sonic ferocity with composed contrast, but they do slip into the same pitfalls that beset ‘Shining’; they’re simply too prolonged for their own good. The messages and themes of these tracks, both musically and narratively, are delivered and articulated finely in each track’s first five minutes or so, but following this it appears the tracks lose structure and begin to meander needlessly. Whilst prolonged runtimes within the blackgaze genre are common place and whilst the aforementioned two tracks of the record justify their lengths due to their consistently changing atmospheric tones, the lengths here are just slightly unnecessary.

In all though, this is still a fantastic listen it’s own right. More contemplative and self-scrutinizing than the a large portion of it’s contemporaries, TRNA have done a brilliant job of establishing their own sound and take on the genre with their record debut – and with just some tinkering and tightening – have a very promising future within the blackgaze hierarchy awaiting them.