Releasedate: 07.02.2025
Xavernah is a one-man project based in Rhenen, in the Utrecht province, the Netherlands, and was spawned by (Ramón Roest) in 2022. Ramón is a 24 year old drummer from Ede, the Netherlands, and he also plays drums for the Dutch Melodic Death Metal band Epistulum. Xavernah’s album ‘Absence’, released in February 2025, marks the project’s first full length that is released independently. Ramón wrote the album, played drums and did whispers and clean vocals, as well as the orchestration and sample programming. For the album ‘Absence’, Ramón employed several musicians such as (Thijs Ronteltap) on guitars and harsh vocals, (Martin Jaramillo) on guitars and (Siebe Sol Sijpkens) on bass.
Composition:
The record consists of 6 tracks and clocks in at 44 minutes. It is important to point out right off the bat that lyrically, the album is quite dense. An exploration of the state of desolation, nihilism, emptiness and Lovecraftian cosmic horror. This matters because the sonic analysis of album’s vibe is undeniably connected to the lyrical themes. That being said, the overall atmospheric sound of the album resembles a cosmic vortex where you feel like being devoured into a bottomless black hole of dread and despair. The album can be easily described as one (or all) of these adjectives; atmospheric, progressive, eerie, and epic. I would even dare to use the word “trippy” to describe some of the songs and passages, which are best showcased on the instrumental track ‘Thalassic Dream’. This song takes you on a hypnotic journey into haunted cosmic corridors and provides a fittingly gloomy, psychedelic soundtrack with the carefully composed synth work, tasteful drums and use of the ride cymbal throughout the beat.
In fact, from the very first couple of notes on the opening intro track ‘Absence (A Prelude)’, the listener realizes that the album relies heavily on a menacing and melancholic atmosphere. Moreover, the record has a good chunk of speed diversity. A prevalent characteristic is the slow “doomy” vibe that leaves you in a state of unease and anticipation. However, the sudden transitions from paralyzing atmosphere and hauntingly slow melodies to ferocious blast beats (as heard on tracks such as ‘Perpetual Gloom Across the Basaltic Horizons’ and the 14 minute epic ‘Desolate Sands’) are seamless. They even almost seem mandatory. They drag the listener from the state of hypnosis and throw them into a merciless storm of lunacy. These contrasting elements play an important role in completing the grim celestial art piece that Ramón has painted.
The track ‘Ozymandias’, which is one of my favourites on the record, is visceral. It literally sounds like a soundtrack to the end of the world, especially when the black metal shrieks burst at the 2 min mark. They send shivers down the spine as they create a wormhole of paralyzing void and bleak nothingness. The solo in this song is devastatingly melodic and emotional, and I certainly wish there were more lead work like that on the album. However, there are some fantastic licks on ‘Perpetual Gloom Across the Basaltic Horizons’ and ‘Desolate Sands’ which give the songs a transcending layer of emotion. Furthermore, the synth work throughout the record is creative and compliments the music and lyrics perfectly. It varies from gloomy, horrifying note choices, to hauntingly sad and sensational keys. This is adequately illustrated in the brilliant song ‘Perpetual Gloom…’ (min 6:15 onwards).
The closing track ‘Celestial Ruin’ creates a dissonant and eerie ending to this gloomy journey. The use of those numbing acoustic chords and clean vocals layered with the spellbinding whispers in the beginning of the track, and the sudden, yet smooth, transition to the frantic blast beats in the second half, set the proper tone for a disturbing and epic finale. Definitely a standout track on this album.
Performances:
The distorted guitar riffs and tremolo picking, melodic licks thrown here and there and acoustic passages are done tastefully by the duo (Thijs Ronteltap) and (Martin Jaramillo). One can hear the flooding emotions especially in the slower sections where the listener is left disturbed and alarmed. Although there isn’t much of a technical showdown on the record, the 2 guitarists are obviously capable musicians and that is conveyed in the tightness and accuracy of the riff execution, as well as the fast licks in ‘Perpetual Gloom Across the Basaltic Horizons’ and “Desolate Sands, and the brilliant solo in ‘Ozymandias’.
The bass sits comfortably in the songs and provides a solid ground for the album’s dismal sound. Though there isn’t any acrobatic display, the bass has its shining moments as heard on ‘Thalassic Dream’ and ‘Ozymandias’ where (Siebe Sol Sijpkens) lays some cool licks and melodies that eloquently compliments the atmosphere of the songs.
Ramón’s drumming is pretty solid and well-constructed throughout the album. His implementation of pummeling blast beats on a couple of songs where one feels as if a tornado is sweeping them off of the face of the earth (or any other planet), to the plotting and haunting slow drum work, provide an addictive layer of melancholy and hopelessness to the overall sound, especially when taking into account the eerie musical passages behind those slow beats.
I thoroughly enjoyed Thijs Ronteltap’s vocal diversity and shifts between low growls and punishing high shrieks. Additionally, the spoken words/whispers on ‘Desolate Sands’, ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘Celestial Ruin’ laid by both Ramón and Thijs are cleverly implemented and placed by Ramón and Thijs. Moreover, the word whispering on ‘Ozymandias’ reminds me of the serene and melancholic atmosphere of Sweden’s Doom Death veterans Godgory and the song ‘Resurrection’ in particular. It is certainly a positive nostalgic moment for me. Furthermore, the clean vocals on numbers like ‘Desolate Sands’ are reminiscent of Opeth’s (Mikael Akerfeldt) eerie clean vocal passages, which definitely add an interesting catchy layer to the overall vocal performance that is predominantly brutal growls and piercing black metal shrieks. Same thing can be said about the acoustic guitar passages on the same song, it cannot but remind me of the progressive transitions that are prevalent on almost every Opeth album which, I assert, is a positive thing.
Lyrics:
The lyrics certainly fit with the dark eerie atmosphere of the record and appropriately emphasize the visions of despair and dreadful existential void. I would add the word “poetic” to the description of the lyrical themes, and I wouldn’t be far from the truth. This is delineated in the literal use of the early 19th century poem ‘Ozymandias’, written by English romantic poet (Percy Bysshe Shelly). The song utilizes words from Shelly’s sonnet, and the title is a reference to “A tyrant dictator, a megalomaniac; someone or something of immense size, a colossus”. The poem (and song) elaborates on the fragility of human power when compared to the power of nature. No matter how brutal and tyrannical the powerful human is, the sands of nature (and time) will eventually prevail and all else will decay.
Another example to be mentioned is the song ‘Perpetual Gloom Across the Basaltic Horizons’ and with lyrics such as; “I await the dawn to arise across the basaltic horizons. I wait..I wait.. The brightest star fails to see. The depths of this abyssal reach. Faith in a fallacy. That this planet still thrives and breathes. And I will never see the light again! I will never see the light again!”, the listener gets devoured and consumed by the feeling of anguish and hopelessness in life and all its grandeur.
A very interesting and clever lyrical usage is showcased on the final track ‘Celestial Ruin’, which is predominantly instrumental. The song (and album) lyrics end with the word Absence, which is the album title. I give extra bonus to artistic details such as this.
Production:
The production is really crisp. A mix of old school and modern production that lets the music breathe and every instrument shine. The drums in particular sound a bit modern-ish, but at the same time there is that old school fuzz sound on the guitars, which makes the whole thing sound human and organic. Even the samples sound cohesive and engaging, not robotic and awkward. The vocals cut through the mix very nicely and the effects used on certain parts of the whispers and clean voice are very tactful. The whole album sounds dreamy and dense in details, which is very fitting for an epic record like this.
Critique:
If I have to nitpick a flaw on the album for the sake of objectivity, it would be that, at points, the eerie instrumental passages drag on in a loop a bit too long. This is best exemplified in the clean guitar lick at the end of ‘Desolate Sands’. The melody repeats for over 5 minutes until the song is wrapped up. Granted, the stopping and resuming of the acoustic rhythm guitar add a tasteful layer to this closure. Again, I’m splitting hairs here just to avoid sounding biased because I enjoyed this record a ton. I’m aware of the purpose of these repetitive patterns and long licks; to provide the disturbing and mesmerizing atmosphere that permeates the whole record. Moreover, they fit with the lyrical themes that explore existential dread, emptiness, loss and the horrors of the “deathlike silence” of the cosmos. But I could do with shorter or less repetitive passages though, because I feel that they took away from the power of the RIFF just a tad.
In conclusion, this is a solid effort and great debut by Xavernah and the visionary artist behind it; (Ramón Roest), and fantastic performances by all the artists on this record. Very dark, engaging, hypnotic, innovative and disturbing at the same time. Definitely enjoyed it.
Rating (9/10)
Tracklisting:
Absence (a prelude)
Perpetual gloom across basaltic horizons
Thalassic dream
Desolate sands
Ozymandias
Celestial Ruins
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