A review of Tekeli-Li by French Black Metal band, The Great Old Ones!
If you know anything about metal, its that metal bands love their H.P. Lovecraft and his mischievous Old One, Cthulhu. Metal owes much of its heritage and ideals from the bleak outlook of Lovecraft, as Metallica has given us the Thing That Should Not Be and Call of Ktulu, and several bands have done works that were straight from the words he penned. His bleakness and profundity of thought about the universe, and our place within it, are almost a perfect parallel for one another. Specifically, his attitude is perfect for black metal, the most bleak and nihilistic of the genres.
The french black metal stalwarts, The Great Old Ones, themselves showing their appreciation for his works, perfectly capture how small he saw us. To HPL, we were nothing in the cosmos, a spinning green microcosm that happened to have sprouted insignificant life upon its surface. Germs unto the grand scheme of things. And the Great Old Ones, or Elder Gods as he wrote mostly, were things that were beyond our world, above or below our plane of existence, and which hated us for reasons completely unfathomable. They were truly Outside of humanity, and even death was but a sleep for them. The Great Old Ones has captured the imagery, tone, and attitude perfectly on their newest, Tekeli-Li (if I am not mistaken, this is also the call of the Deep Ones, who serve Dagon, Chtulhu, and others who rest in Sleep).
The album, on first listen, is a very European black metal album. It has the stripped down sound, with very little production on the core bass, guitar, drum, whathaveyou, with the added elements of acoustic guitar, classical arrangement, and other genre touches. Like I stated, its a very black sound, and should be to carry across the source material. Its handled very well, very involving for the listener, and is very much worth repeating as songs 2-8 range from 7:28-17:50 in length. Track 1 is an intro track, running 1:18. For fans of H.P. Lovecraft, black metal, and dark folk metal.
As to the cool pics in this review, I was lucky enough to snag a very limited edition package. Its contained in a matte black box, with a silver foil insignia of the band’s design, which carries over into the contents. The box is very sturdy, and is perfect for collectors wanting something that will last a long time. Inside, we have a pin that is the relief of a very awesome tree, with a black,silver,blue patch of the same design. Both have the band’s name and album title on them, and arcane looking symbols carved upon the tree itself. Pin came in a black velvet bag, to keep the Lurker at the Threshold at bay. Then a catalogue of the band and label, a really cool flier for a secondary band related to them, and a medium sized poster for the album. All in all, this is a very cool collectible piece, and if you can afford the fairly high EU shipping cost, if in the US, then definitely grab one while available at the The Great Old Ones Bandcamp, HERE. Album comes with a free digital download as well, on the bandcamp page.
