Originally written by Jeremy Garner
At first I had absolutely no clue why it had taken me so long to finally get around to reviewing this one (not that it’s sat in my to do pile for nearly the almost year long duration since it’s been released), but the moment I realized that the source of my detached disinterest in the band was not of my own caprice, I finally had the direction I needed to finally put this release I’ve been toying around with for over a month to rest.
Sammath Naur play a sort of experimental astral black/death metal hybrid that while not exactly a common thematic groundwork at this point in time, this sort of genre has still had enough purveyors of sorts to prevent the idea from coming off as truly revolutionary, albeit there’s still plenty of work to be had as no band has really put themselves ahead of the rest. While spliced with a sort of tangential symphonic black metal approach reminiscent of bands like Limbonic Art, with an overwhelming reliance of a foundational Behemoth sounding reworking of Polish death metal with more than a fair amount of resemblance to that of country mates Vesania. But whereas the latter has been able to carve a name for themselves with a particular amount of gusto, Sammath Naur seem to be stuck in a bit of a stylistic rut at this point. While the apparent strength of the band is on the more atmospheric moments of “Landscape of Liquid Colours”, “VI-XII Nuctemeron”, and “A Hand Across the Galaxy” that truly do make for a rather ethereal listening experience, I can’t help from thinking that Self Proclaimed Existence still seems inordinately lackluster if not just plain mundane half the time. It seems almost as if the ornate stylistic trappings that are supposed to be secondary additions have instead become the predominate focus, allowing the core foundation of the music to stagnate rather than truly honing their planned attack.
To their credit, Sammath Naur easily boasts both accomplished musicians and some phenomenally interesting ideas, but the execution seems a bit rough for an undertaking of such grand a scale. Obviously the band has a very clear and distinct vision of what they’d like to accomplish, but Self Proclaimed Existence very well may have fallen short of this ideal. While I do believe that a bit more refinement is needed from this act before anything truly great surfaces, I would not be in the least surprised if the next time we hear from them it will be accompanied with showers of praise.
