ANKH TV

---

---

Foreboding Atmosphere, Precision Execution

Semblant’s “Murder of Crows” arrives as a dark, tightly constructed piece of modern gothic metal, sharpened by melodic death metal bite. The official video channels the band’s signature contrasts, pairing brooding elegance with percussive force, and foregrounding a dual-vocal dynamic that has become central to their identity. Even without narrative exposition, the work radiates omen-laden tension suggested by its title, using performance, texture and pacing to build a storm-lit mood.

Sound Design and Structural Flow

The track moves with a deliberate, mid-to-fast pulse that gives the guitars space to alternate between chiseled palm-muted patterns and climbing melodic motifs. Harmonically, it hews close to minor-mode tension with moments that hint at Phrygian color, a choice that enhances the song’s funereal undertow. Keyboards act as both atmosphere and anchor, shifting from low organ-like swells to brighter, cinematic pads that thicken the chorus without crowding the midrange.

The rhythm section locks into a modern, muscular approach. Double-kick bursts underline pre-chorus lifts, while halftime turns create impact points that make each chorus bloom larger. Bass is felt more than showcased, glued to the kick to keep the groove weighty as guitars trace harmony above. The arrangement builds in waves, reserving its sharpest accents for transitions and leaving brief pockets of space where the vocal lines can carry the emotional thread.

Dual Vocals, One Narrative

Semblant’s interplay of clean and harsh vocals is more than a stylistic signature; it is the fulcrum on which the song tilts between vulnerability and menace. The clean voice shapes the melodic spine, drawing the ear toward hooks that feel both haunted and immediate. The harsh vocal responds with a guttural counterpoint, giving the lyric a second perspective that reads like an inner voice, or an accusatory chorus rising behind the melody. Call-and-response phrasing turns the chorus into a dialogue, while stacked harmonies and occasional unison lines add heft without blurring character.

Themes and Lyrical Imagery

The title invokes a potent symbol. A “murder of crows” carries connotations of premonition, communal judgment and the uneasy beauty of carrion birds circling a scene. Within that frame, the song reads as a meditation on collective threat and personal reckoning. Lines about shadows, wings, or gathering figures lend themselves to interpretations of betrayal, social persecution, or the way grief can attract its own company. Rather than relying on explicit storytelling, the lyric sketches silhouettes and lets the delivery fill in the dread.

Visual Language and Editing Choices

The official video keeps its focus on atmosphere and performance. Costuming and makeup reflect the band’s gothic sensibility, with a visual palette that favors stark contrasts and desaturated hues. Lighting carves faces and instruments out of darkness, creating a chiaroscuro that underlines lyrical tension. Edits are musical, punching in on downbeats, kick patterns and vocal entrances so that each section lands with tactile weight. Subtle symbolic cues around avian imagery and funereal tones accent the title without lapsing into literalism, allowing the music’s momentum to remain central.

Guitar Work, Keys and Rhythm Detail

Guitar tones sit in a modern high-gain range, tight in the low end and shaped for articulate chugs. Leads favor lyrical bends and scalar climbs over hyper-virtuosic shred, which suits the song’s tragic arc. Harmonized lines arrive at key moments but never overstay, providing gleam without distracting from the vocal hook. Keyboards do quiet architectural work, thickening chords and opening sonic skylights in the choruses. Brief piano or bell-like figures act as scene-setters in quieter measures and return as echoes between vocal lines.

Drums prioritize clarity and impact. Toms appear in fills that feel architectural, ushering the band from verse to chorus, while cymbal work rides the edge between shimmer and crash to widen the stereo field at emotional peaks. Production keeps transients clean so that stop-start figures bite, and it leaves just enough air in the overheads to keep the sound natural despite the modern tightness of the mix.

Production Aesthetics

The mix aims for balance: vocals ride high enough to anchor the narrative, but guitars retain their serrated presence. Low-end management favors a carved-out slot for kick and bass, ensuring the arrangement hits hard without mud. Effects are purposeful. Reverb and delay on vocals create depth without obscuring consonants, and subtle modulation on keys softens edges in the upper mids. Mastering is assertive yet controlled, preserving dynamic steps between sections so that the chorus still lifts.

Place Within Semblant’s Ongoing Language

“Murder of Crows” reinforces what long-time listeners expect from Semblant: a carefully drawn balance of aggression and melody, metal heft softened by gothic romanticism, and songwriting that privileges memorability over showmanship. Listeners may hear echoes of early Scandinavian gothic metal and late-90s melodic death metal, filtered through a contemporary, cinematic sensibility. The track functions well as an entry point for new audiences, since it distills the group’s core elements without sacrificing complexity.

Why It Works

• Strong contrast architecture: harsh and clean timbres, tight riffs against wide keyboards.
• Memorable chorus design that prioritizes melodic contours anglers will hum after the first pass.
• Production that respects clarity, letting intricate parts coexist without masking.
• Visual focus that amplifies the song’s tension instead of overexplaining its story.

Final Thoughts

Semblant’s “Murder of Crows” is a study in control. Every element, from riffcraft to vocal arrangement to visual framing, serves the central mood of gathering dread and defiant poise. It is the sound of a band fluent in its dialect, shaping familiar tools into something with fresh immediacy. For fans of gothic metal with serrated edges, and for anyone who values precision in service of atmosphere, this is a release that lingers well after the last chorus fades.

---

From the album OBSCURA. Stream or purchase a physical copy HERE: https://radi.al/Obscura | Out March 6, 2020 on Frontiers Music Srl.

STREAM/ORDER: https://radi.al/Obscura (EU, USA)
https://bityli.com/qiJR7 (BR)

SEMBLANT IN EUROPE 2021:

From the album OBSCURA. Stream or purchase a physical copy HERE: https://radi.al/Obscura | Out March 6, 2020 on Frontiers Music Srl.

STREAM/ORDER: https://radi.al/Obscura (EU, USA)
https://bityli.com/qiJR7 (BR)

SEMBLANT IN EUROPE 2021:

03.03.2021 – HANNOVER (DE) – Indra
04.03.2021 – BOCHUM (DE) – Rock Fabrik
05.03.2021 – ROTTERDAM (NL) – Baroeg
06.03.2021 – NAMUR (BE) – Belvedere
07.03.2021 – LONDON (UK) – The Underworld
08.03.2021 – PARIS (FR) – La Boule Noire
09.03.2021 – LYON (FR) – Rock & Eat
11.03.2021 – PORTO (PT) – Hard Club
12.03.2021 – LISBON (PT) – RCA Club
13.03.2021 – SEVILLA (ES) – X Club
14.03.2021 – MADRID (ES) – Caracol
15.03.2021 – BARCELONA (ES) – Bóvedo
17.03.2021 – PRATTELN (CH) – Z7
18.03.2021 – MUNICH (DE) – Backstage
19.03.2021 – WEINHEIM (DE) – Cafe Central
20.03.2021 – BRATISLAVA (SK) – Randal Club
21.03.2021 – BERLIN (DE) – Musik Und Frieden
———–

“MURDER OF CROWS”
(music & lyrics by Juliano Ribeiro)

Unveil the foe with black wings
Moving in circles
Creeping down with secrecy
Awaiting its prey
Consumed by eyes full of envy
Flesh and blood in its teeth
The sum of one and the same
Aligned by vanity

(No matter who you trust)
By the ashes and the dust
(Reach the point of no return)

As we lie here bleeding
Shadows stand below
When time feels convenient
Before the afterglow
Unveil the foe with black wings
With its murder of crows
A sum of all and the same
Imminent vertigo

(In a path of no return)
By the hands of those we trust
(All you can do is just run)

Fly away, the words unspoken
Leave for once this vicious jealousy
That weakens your sanity
Turn away, the truth unbroken
Leave for once this vicious jealousy
That weakens your sanity once and for all

———–
(Semblant – “Murder of Crows” from OBSCURA, directed and produced by: Caio Cobra / cinematography and post production by: João Leão/ edited by Caio Cobra & João Leão / main assistance by: André Meister / cameras & lights: Alceste Ribas & Betão Sassarrão / make-up by: Glaucia Weidner / Acting: Marjo Suicide & Fran)

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIAS:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/semblantofficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/semblantband
Official site: www.semblant.com.br

SEMBLANT IS:
Mizuho Lin – Female vocal
Sergio Mazul – Male vocal
Juliano Ribeiro – Guitar
Johann Piper – Bass
Thor Sikora – Drums
J. Augusto – Keyboards

#Semblant #MurderOfCrows #Obscura

---