History has long played an important part in bringing metal to life in many different styles with the most popular and widely used form of historic representation being down through retellings of battles, struggles, and events throughout war that capture our imagination when put through the lens of gut-wrenching metal. On the rare occasion, however, we get an effort that shrinks the breadth of focus to something much more localized with the result becoming as provocative as it can be vicious at times in its many different themes. With their latest effort, Genune not only manages to tap into that under-used aspect of the concept, but they manage to bring it to life in an utterly gorgeous fashion.

The themes of family, heritage, and tragedy throughout the countries of what was formerly the Soviet Union are ideas and concepts that as an American I simply cannot fathom with how much it permeates the many different cultures and the very identities of its people, but it’s every so often that I feel blessed enough to see such concepts through their very eyes with bands like Genune crafting fantastic albums like what we see with “Inert & Unerring” that manages to be so much more than a mere piece of black metal. Even then, it’s hard not to become all but enthralled by the melancholic and melodic elements that make these four tracks so engaging right out of the gate with the acoustic interlude being just the cherry on top of this magnificent piece that Genune delivers with real conviction and passion threaded throughout the undeniable entirety of the album. It’s somehow without making this a concept album that we’re given a creation that holds all the same themes as each song plays seamlessly and beautifully into the next without a moment of faltering for even a second which quickly accumulates to make for a splendorous effort right out of the gate. The themes of heritage, the passing of time through the eyes of different generations as old voices begin to wither away, and one’s very identity all play massive roles in the overall experience of “Inert & Unerring” to make it not only one that’s immensely evocative but up for interpretation that becomes unique for virtually every listener, allowing the impact to hit much differently from one person to the next as Genune allows their hypnotic craft to truly take hold and seize the listener without compromisation nor lack of potency.

A single piece of black metal like this that manages to bring together even a hint of what Genune has managed to summon for this record is enough to bring forth a powerful reaction from any listener, yet it’s the very whole of the band’s second full-length effort that one cannot help but be brought to their knees in the face of such magnificence. To let “Inert & Unerring” take hold of you is to be thrown into a vicious sphere filled with so much of what we could ever hope for out of a quality work of melancholic black metal, yet it’s even then that Genune manages to achieve so much more at the same time.

“Inert & Unerring” re-releases on vinyl via Consouling Sounds on February 25th!

LISTEN to “Inert & Unerring” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Genune on Facebook here.