Clandestine Blaze
Resacralize the Unknown
Northern Heritage Records
Released: 7/3/23
Version Reviewed: 12″ LP, Black. Unknown Pressing Info.
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A1 – The Birth of the Sun
A2 – Tombstone of Christianity
A3 – Only the Shadows of this World
A4 – Our Cross to Bear
B1 – Bring Me the Head
B2 – Resacralize the Unknown
B3 – Mass Graves of All Eternity
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Clandestine Blaze is a long-standing institution in Finnish black metal, having been around since 1998, with Resacralize the Unknown marking the 12th official full-length under the blazing banner of the project’s name. Mikko Aspa, the steward of Clandestine Blaze, is well-known for fronting the Northern Heritage Records label, as well his involvement in a great many other projects in various genres including Deathspell Omega, Grunt, Clinic of Torture, and Fleshpress, as well as performing live with acts such as Ride for Revenge, Warloghe, and Morbid Savouring.
Anybody familiar with the prior history of Clandestine Blaze knows that Mikko Aspa is the sole custodian of musicianship, playing all instruments on every recording in the project’s discography. They should also know what to expect from record to record. Cold isolationist and militant black metal with no compromises and no bullshit frills. Clandestine Blaze is a band that does not experiment often and is not a band that typically alters its approach or musical formula. Resacralize the Unknown does not break this trend.
Beginning with ‘The Birth of the Sun,’ one is greeted in typical Clandestine Blaze fashion, a hook-worthy intro riff of grinding chords, crushing downbeats and Mikko Aspa’s guttural screams to lead into the album proper. From there the intro riff morphs into a seething quagmire of revolting dissonance that trades and spars back and forth with the intro riff. A half-time breakdown in the middle of the song cracks the narrative and leads the track into a new devastating direction. Aspa’s vocals still remain as some of the best in both the Finnish underground and, respectably, the international underground.
‘Tombstone of Christianity,’ starts off with a foray of interchanging melodic chords that create a sorrowful and desperate atmosphere. The track itself is a slower mid-tempo number that is built upon two main riffs, the introductory riff and a single-note transitional riff peppered with bends and other accents to build effect and atmosphere.
‘Only the Shadows of This World’ plays like a combination of the prior two tracks, combining the tempo and riffcraft of ‘The Birth of the Sun,’ with the simplistic structuring of ‘Tombstone of Christianity,’ with a primary riff built upon fifths and open chordal phrasing with some accenting added by half-tone alterations.
It is entering the fourth track that there is a marked change in pace, attitude, and composure. In the prior three tracks, there is an almost dour underlining within the musical composition and a strong existential philosophical component to the lyrics that felt equally grim, if not sorrowful. It is on ‘Our Cross to Bear,’ that the sensation begins to turn to pure rage and hate. The percussive element, a hybrid of a hammerblast of sorts, violently thrusts the song forward, while a simple but effective riff rides beneath. It is the sensation of pure militant fury. The hammerblast transitions into a blastbeat and the introductory riff centralizes, and the song obtains a stark level of forward-launching density. It is a thick moving wall of sound that topples the efforts of the previous three tracks that came before it. It is borderline late 1990’s Scandinavian death metal in its execution. Surely, a punishingly good standout track for the album and great closer to Side A.
Side B opens with the desolate and foreboding ‘Bring Me the Head,’ another impressive standout track on the album and, quite frankly, one that could and should be a classic in the Clandestine Blaze canon, both for musicality and lyrics. It is one of the most consistently structured tracks on all of Resacralize the Unknown with a verse/chorus structure and a simple slew of primary riffs driven by wide, charging fifth chords with light melodic accents during the chorus sections and a vicious half-time closing section towards the end of the track. Again, lyrically, this is a deliciously cruel song.
The title track ‘Resacralize the Unknown’ returns to the dour and dissonant themes established during the early parts of Side A. It features an absolutely neck breaking primary riff, arguably one of the strongest on the record, to drive the song forward. Much like the earliest three tracks on Side A, it utilizes a simple song structure whereas the track alternates between two strong riffs as the primary driving vessel.
The album closer, ‘Mass Graves of All Eternity’ stands as the longest song on the record, clocking in at just over seven minutes in length. With more time to utilize, the dynamics of the riff structures are more drawn out and emphasized, but ultimately, the Clandestine Blaze formula remains the same as always.
Blood for blood, this is yet another quality release for Clandestine Blaze, with Mikko Aspa showing no signs of slowing down either musically, lyrically, or certainly not vocally, delivering one of his best vocal performances to date. With the animalistic brutality of tracks like ‘Our Cross to Bear,’ and the pure spite and maliciousness of ‘Bring Me the Head,’ there are moments on Resacralize the Unknown that are absolutely worth seeking out.
Label: Northern Heritage Records
Band: Clandestine Blaze (no official website)
-AJK
apanthropy 
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