Canadians Hell Is Other People share their name with a contested quote attributed to Jean-Paul Sarte. With sentiments towards the intention of the statement rather than the origin of the quote their name, if referential, also aptly reflects the Blackgaze musings on this release. Hell Is Other People can refer to feeling restrained within society and its meta constructs. You don’t need to be a social pariah (or Stoner) to get it but listening to this album in a cool and dark place will certainly help you feel the torment.
With four tracks, each one longer than the last, this album tries to ease its evolution into becoming a magnum opus. However while it’s good the tired juxtaposition of black metal as beauty quickly takes over. Not wanting to rain on anybody’s parade here but with an album called Embrace, and knowingly a black metal derivative, I’d be too afraid to be impaled by a shit-tonne of spikes and a tetanus infused bullet belt when listening to this album. Hell Is Other People don’t quite mean that however. Offering a far more cerebral commotion unto the ears.
Embrace is unoriginal and suffers from cliches, unfortunately none of these involve Corpse Paint, which is a shame. The musicianship and the compositions are both good but consistently lack the intensifying passion that popularized the use of trem picking. With the texture and depth of the simple chord progressions Embrace is really just a prog album with a shitty production. Also it’s a wet one at that.
7/10
