BRIQUEVILLE
IIII PELAGIC
Belgium’s shadowy post-metallers offer a meditation on murder
Conjuring an atmosphere that falls somewhere between the ancient and the dystopian, Flemish five-piece Briqueville’s fourth album shudders with unease as it combines dark post-rock, bleak electronica and eerie field recordings. Inspired by the discovery of a murder that once took place at their practice space, their brooding, conceptual approach manifests in the robes and masks they don even while practising. After the slow build to bombast of Akte XVI, the bass lumbers loosely on through pensive guitar hypnosis and scythes of industrial electronica on Akte XVII. Deeper into IIII, the storm eventually breaks, revealing a shimmering post-rock expanse. It’s the sound of a band with a penchant for the dismal finding joy through creativity.