Ouija

Riding Into The Funeral Paths

1997 Repulse Records

Review by Neil St.Laurent

Thanks to Repulse for the CD

Created only in 1995, Ouija managed to sign their first record deal without actually ever having published even a demo CD, one was meant to be done, but it never happened. Repulse picked up Ouija with a three album deal based on their destiny to be a great a black metal band.

Starting with the cover art (which depicts four skeleton riders) you can just sense that this album is not going to be the typical extreme fare. Unlike the growing trend in the genre to be over the top or cheesy, Ouija approaches black metal with honesty and integrity. The speed isn't insane, yet it still blazes a trail through the dark atmosphere the music creates. There is a respect being paid to genuine melody and *gasp* harmony. While the transitions may require a little bit of work, the guitar riffs are definitely pleasant sounding, having a certain non-extreme aspect to them, which creates an unusual emotional feel, possibly anticipation or intrigue. A difficult factor that these bands have to overcome, which Ouija doesn't quite manage to do, is that fast riffs inevitably seem short and thus get monotonous very quickly, despite there being at least as much variation as on the average metal album.

Coalescing music, and intertwining vocals, that is both technical and emotional just the same; to call it a directed cacophony would be an adequate description. It has a very full sound providing an unbroken aural experience. Not even considering that this is only Ouija's debut, "Riding Into The Funeral Paths" indicts the band as a leader of this quickly expanding genre.

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