Laster - Ons Vrije Fatum (CD)

With this strive, Ons vrije fatum sends one cascading wave of autumnal, almost-baroque bliss after another; tension builds and builds, a hysteric and nearly wounded sense of grimness, and then is released with spiraling swooshes of clean-guitar overlay and brooding bass-work, all to be built up again and explored in myriad manners. And although the four-song De verste verte is hier maintained a most epic aspect, with three of those four songs exceeding 10 minutes, here LASTER manage to move adeptly across comparatively more compact songwriting - never settling for too long, nor moving too quickly away from a potentially awe-inspiring construct - all the while adding subtle flourishes of electronics and even saxophone.
Through it all, Ons vrije fatum maintains a production that ably balances grit and gleam, grounded in the dirt and yet eyes wide open to the sun-setting horizon. With aesthetic ties to Agalloch, Strid, and early Ulver, nowhere this year will you find a more penetrating emotional rollercoaster than LASTER's Ons vrije fatum.