Review: The Spirit - Of Clarity And Galactic Structures

Look to the cosmos, Earthly life is meaningless, flawed, and doomed. Escape life, drop ego, and let space swallow your narrow-mind whole. Germany’s misanthropic The Spirit are back with Of Clarity and Galactic Structures to drive home their thoughts of humanity and returning to nothingness of space.

I became aware of The Spirt on their 2020 release Cosmic Terror. Immediately, I found myself agreeing with others that this band really likes Dissection, but somehow weren’t a blatant rip off of them. Their blackened death approach was seemingly culled from the 90s of Sweden, but also didn’t sound dated. It was catchy and incredibly memorable. Easily one of my favorites of that year.

Written and recorded in 12 months’ time, Of Clarity… showcases a hyper focused band that worked tirelessly to put forth their best effort to date. I can say with certainty, the duo has achieved just that. The album is a culmination of their first two albums honed to perfection and expanded upon in the best ways.

On surface, one could still easily call them a blackened death metal band with strong leanings towards Dissection. Yes, the Dissection influence is there, but there’s much more going on here. They mix the black and death metals very well and add in some progressive elements ala Death Human onward. Each repeat listen is just as fresh as the first while it continues to reveal more of itself to you. Of Clarity, while firmly rooted in the 90’s sounds, also steps into modern era of metal. One could say the album is accessible and I couldn’t disagree with them nor consider it a bad thing. The harmonies are memorable, often akin to the giants of traditional metal. The Spirit have become a well-oiled machine primed to give all metal fans a little something and keep you wanting to come back for me.

Of Clarity and Galactic Structures find The Spirit at their best form to date. With each progress they’ve made, I look forward to what they do next and am thankful for the music they’ve gifted us with in the meantime. Release your egocentric worldview, accept you are nothing in the grand scheme of the universe, and just a speck on a tiny rock hurtling through the galaxies. The Spirit have created the perfect soundtrack for it. 

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