Hailing from Ottawa, Canada, the blackgaze powerhouse UNREQVITED has recently transitioned into a full touring band, which probably factors in as to why the seventh studio album, “A Pathway to the Moon,” released on February 7th, 2025, via Prophecy Productions, is so heavily inclined toward more lyrical realms. The prominence of clean singing on 2021’s “Beautiful Ghosts” seems like an obvious hint at what was about to come. These new excursions into the lush, ever-expansive soundscapes are still firmly rooted in the familiar blackgaze terrain, with the songs reaching out to ambient, post-rock, and post-black metal. On occasion, the music resonates with the air of ALCEST at their most delicate, hipster black-metal, then the next thing you know, you will be bulldozed over by a harsh blast-beat assault, only to be soothed by haunting orchestral flourishes a little bit later. It’s almost as though the Faroese fairy queen, Eivør, and EMPEROR had collaborated on a soundtrack for an epic film that does not exist. This sonic journey to the Moon is only seven tracks long, but it is a trip to remember.
The soundtrack impression is further pronounced by the fact that the opener is titled “Overture: I Disintegrate.” Isn’t overture the term used in classical music for the instrumental intro to a ballet or an opera? It’s a kind of prologue, which hints at a narrative of sorts. Here, it is quite befitting since the album weaves quite a heart-wrenching sonic narrative with its overly immersive approach. So, since the opener is an overture of sorts, it’s merely 2 minutes in length, which is a bummer, really; I could have listened to its ambient, piano-driven melancholy ad infinitum. This ethereal beauty of a song could easily be from the songbooks of said Faroese singer, Sylvaine, or Myrkur.
Next, “The Antimatter” unfolds into a 10-minute blackgaze epic, balancing between delicate, clean-sung sections and harsh black-metal outbursts, sprinkled with the odd guitar legato soaring high above the atmospheric passages. The multilayered riffage beginning around the 4-minute mark is groovy as hell! I didn’t think I’d ever get to write this about something that is so essentially black metal, but the riff is actually quite funky. Then, the symphonic flourishes might even trigger subtle DIMMU BORGIR flashbacks. The song is quite an everything-bagel, but I like it!
The absolute highlight of the album is “Starforger.” Kicking off with a somewhat Romantic-era-like, ethereal-sounding guitar arpeggio, the song evolves into a slow-crushing Gothic riffer. The main chord sequence resonates with a classical-music aura, but it sure gets under your skin after a few repeats. As far as I could discern, it is something like Cm – Ab – Eb/G – Fdim, and it has probably been in use in classical music since the dawn of time, but it just works with those lovely synth arpeggios and harsh vocals croaking faintly in the background. Then, when the clean vocals kicked in, don’t tell me you didn’t feel a bit goosebumpey! I’m quite sure, however, that 8 minutes is nowhere nearly enough for this haunting beast of a song.
As luck would have it, “Void Essence / Frozen Tears” is another lengthy epic. Clocking 9 minutes, the song drifts slowly forward as though floating into the void. The song rolls out all the signature quirks of UNREQVITED – a wall of distortion, layered vocals, soaring guitar melodies, and the whole nine yards. I listened to the album with headphones, but I reckon, judging by the low end, that a good, high-end stereo setup would really do justice to this music. Blasting this album at full volume through a good speaker setup would allow you to be fully immersed in the music.
After two blackgaze marathons, it is time for a mellow breather, “Into the Starlit Beyond,” a song that gears up on the post-black aesthetic with both clean and harsh vocals. The song is ”only” 5 minutes long, but it packs an equal amount of punch compared to the epics. It is another highlight of the album, hands down.
The brief ambient interlude, “Celestial Sleep,” leads into the cinematic soundscapes of the closer, “Departure: Everlasting Dream.” According to the band’s Bandcamp profile, the artbook edition includes a cover of the iconic Hans Zimmer composition, “Cornfield Chase,” from Interstellar, which sounds more than befitting. Despite the intense black-metal flourishes – or, perhaps, because of them – this selection would work wonders as a soundtrack; the emotional peaks and valleys in the songs have a strong cinematic flavor about them. I’ll be damned if this album is not in the top three when it comes the time to put the albums of 2025 in order by their sheer magnitude – a great sonic trip!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Overture: I Disintegrate
- The Antimatter
- The Starforger
- Void Essence / Frozen Tears
- Into the Starlit Beyond
- Celestial Sleep
- Departure: Everlasting Dream
Lineup
Ghost – everything, I reckon
Additional staff:
Jamie Turton – orchestral arrangements
Label
Prophecy Productions
