Tableau Mort – Veil of Stigma. Book I: Mark of Delusion

When thinking about black metal with orthodox-christian atmosphere, the first thing that springs to mind should be Batushka, and for good reason: their 2015 album Litourgiya, was a turning point for what black metal can be bent to sound like. It set a template on a new sound, one which had a lot of promise, but ended up being disputed between lawyers, social media and devolving into a horrible dumpster-fire. At the time of writing, the second album has seen the light of day both from Derph-tushka and Bart-ushka, and neither live up to any already low expectations a fan may have. So therefore we need a new reference in an emerging genre. The debut from UK’s Tableau Mort has been released just in time to save a, seemingly dangling, good idea.

I intended that first paragraph just to alleviate any references one may directly have when approaching Veil of Stigma. Book I: Mark of Delusion (further referred to as Veil). There is no direct comparison, because we are talking about a much more metal-focused album here, one that truly shows what you can do with a cool concept while also having restraint and transparency. Yes, the olden-orthodox vibe is ever-present, but so is a keen sense of melody and of what modern black metal should sound like. I use the term black metal loosely because the multi-genre experience of the band members clearly shines through, bringing much needed innovation to a seemingly narrow niche of an underground metal genre.

Ok, so let’s start with the basic introduction. Tableau Mort (TM) is a London-based band, with a multi-national crew of both eastern and western European descent. Their debut album Veil has been released on the 28^th of June on Loud Rage Music and is available in both digital and jewel-case form at the links below the review. Now scroll down a bit, in case you haven’t already, and press play on the god-damned player, and let it wash over you.

Just to set the expectations straight, what you will find here is sorely missing from the Polish counterpart, and that is a keen sense of pacing and directness. I truly respect the album format, and fitting into something that is LP-recordable is held in high regard. So clocking in at around 36 minutes, Veil strides the length between EP and LP, but provides enough material to keep you pressing the rewind button just as soon as “Beyond His Gaze” ends. As advertised by the band, it will shortly be followed by an EP, Book II, that should conclude the subject.

Selecting the first track on a debut album is always difficult. TM have gone with “Impending Corruption”, the single that was released almost a year ago. The track tends to simultaneously summarize and simplify the album while also highlighting it’s strenghts. It’s a safe start, which leaves none of the core elements of the band hidden, and also serves to gently shepherd the listener into the correct mood. So what are we talking about? Triple tremolo-heavy harmonized guitars, pneumatic drums, ethereal keyboards, chanting orthodox backing vocals, all topped with a deranged preacher staccato-screaming on top of the hypnotic bass laden melody. So indeed, the spectrum is fully covered with sinister, discernable (chapeau! James Andrews) lyrics about the burden of blind religion:

Your voice has revealed

all that is final

I trust in your word

A trodden path

I must walk

Father, as I return from the oblivion

I have burned myself in the flames of your rapture

In my eyes, your image burns away

After this one, the album slowly starts to open up, with “Fall of Man”, another advance track, which will keep any Schammasch fans happy. The buildup continues, relentlessly, until the last minutes of the record, and I’d rather not spoil it too much for you with a track by track decomposition. So I will refrain to some highlights; please pay attention to the following (in a truly corporate enumeration):

The lyrics of “Carpenter of Sorrow”:

The carpenter will never atone for what he has wrought

upon the world and all the innocents that it has sought

the ringing in his ears grows louder each and every day

All the knowledge through his years, wasted this way

Good orthodox interludes

The leviathan bass of “Broken on the wheel”, throat searing vocals and Harakiri For The Sky leads;
The “broken tractor” drum intro of “Tapestry Sewn”, that would make Krihm proud, along with the classic poetic verse structure that drives the music forth;
The triple guitar attack of “Beyond His Gaze”, fitting to a The Great Old Ones Cthulhu-fest.

The only track which I want to dwell upon is “Mother’s Promise” which is the clear album highlight for me. Starting with the rhythmic diversity, clearly showing Death-Metal roots, frostbitten clean intro, orthodox chanting, post-metal worthy suspended-chord chorus composition, and threading thoughtful lyrics (“We cannot rely on these prophets!”), it wins the top spot. This is also the one on which, I think, the band seems to become truly coherent. If up until this point, various elements of the sound tend to compete for the listener’s attention, at this point in the album we see the band performing as a whole.

This also brings me to the main gripe with the album or what I would rather call “Debut Curse” (trademark pending…). Recording material with this scale and ambition takes a lot of effort and commitment. It also is a long and arduous process. What I see in Veil is the story of a band evolving, and slowly breaking out into a sound of its own. This may be wholly intended, but it also adds a layer of incoherency to the experience. Some of the elements, such as the quintessential orthodox chants and effects seem rather tacked on in certain parts. The same goes for the three guitar approach, which does not truly shine until the end of the record. While I appreciate the bluesy in the middle of “Beyond His Gaze”, many will see a flaw of flow here. The production tends to lend a rather artificial feel to the drums, while keeping the chants of George Bratosin (drums) and George Topor (guitars et al) in the background at their most spiritual moments.

This is music hard to produce; the sharp guitars and drums need a clinically modern approach, while the vocals, bass and keys (that bring Summoning to mind at times) need more room to breathe. So please find an abandoned church that has the acoustics for a deathcore recording while also including a 1400s pipe organ, an echo-y altar with a condenser mic, and record the next 33 albums there.

To conclude, TM has served the scene with an album that is both true in spirit to its legacy, but also forgoes the opaqueness of its predecessors. You should hold Veil in reverence for what it has achieved in this niche, bridging influences both new and old, while also putting a novel spin to an already esoteric concept.

PS this review is a source of 2 wine spill accidents on my laptop, thanks TM!

Tableau Mort is:

George Topor – guitar/keys/backing vocals

Cristian Giurgiu – guitar

George Bratosin – drums/backing vocals

Radu Vulpe – guitar

Marek Basista – bass

James Andrews – lead vocals

Links:

Purchase here:

https://loudragemusic.bandcamp.com/album/tableau-mort-veil-of-stigma-book-i-mark-of-delusion

https://tableaumort.bandcamp.com/releases