Black metal – Page 155 – Wonderbox Metal

Einherjer – Av Oss, For Oss (Review)

Einherjer are from Norway and this is their sixth album. They play Viking-influenced Black Metal.

This is an album that has a lot of variety in it. We get melodic, almost martial Pagan-influenced interludes, scorching fury, rhythmic sections, colourful leads, mid-paced workouts, subtle keyboards, lots of interesting instrumentation and experimentation, blistering guitar solos and a cold Black Metal core.

Black Metal screams, shouted group vocals/chants and other vocalisations are included across these 44 minutes.

The band have a quirky, almost jaunty feel to them in places. Some of the rhythmic riffing may have that Black Metal sheen but they also have a more upbeat feel to them as well, recalling bands such as Countess and Sigh being played by Darkthrone or Satyricon, perhaps.

They also have a bit of a driving Rock influence to some of the guitar leads and solos; sometimes it’s just so damn Rocking you can feel the wind in your hair.

I like that each song has its own identity and the band keep things interesting by incorporating a whole plethora of different ideas and sub-styles into their central Black Metal vision.

The album whirls by in a blur and is over before you know it. Av Oss, For Oss is a very strong album and a big achievement for Einherjer.

Give it a try and see what you think.

Posthum – The Black Northern Ritual (Review)

This is the third album from Black Metallers Posthum.

The album starts with an immediate display of emotive riffing and charismatic vocals. Okay, I’m hooked.

Blood-curdling screams are distinctly of the Black Metal style, but there’s something about them which gives them an edge; in the same way that when you’re listening to the singer of, say, Satyricon – there’s just something extra going on with his voice that allows him to stand apart from the hordes of other, similar Black Metal vocalists.

The riffs and dark melodies that Posthum use are a major highlight for me. There’s a lot of emotion and expressiveness going on here. You could almost class it as Post-Black Metal in this regard if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s just so damn evil. In a way the guitars share that similar something extra that the vocals have; they’re just plain better than most.

This extends to the songs themselves as well. The level of songwriting and riffcraft is extremely high. On first listen the tracks already feel intimate, but not in a bad way; not in the way that makes you think “I’ve heard all this before”. No, this is the intimacy of a familiar lover, just one that you’re meeting for the first time. It’s a slightly disconcerting feeling but a very welcome one. On subsequent listens whatever dark magics Posthum are party to worms their way into your brain even deeper and The Black Northern Ritual is a powerful beast indeed.

On the face of it Posthum do nothing different or new; this is Raw/Underground Black Metal. However, and this is where the magic lies; they play this well-worn style with some undefinable and special quality that just propels them onto a whole other level. It’s something about their songwriting that connects on a visceral level and reminds you of why you loved Black Metal all those years ago when you first heard it.

I pressed play on this album, expecting yet another decent but ultimately average Black Metal album. More fool me. What I got instead was the start of a Blackened love affair.

This album is special.

Wayfarer – Children of the Iron Age (Review)

Wayfarer are from the US and this is their début album. They play Atmospheric Black Metal/Post-Black Metal.

For fans of Enslaved, Cobalt, Wolves in the Throne Room, Altar of Plagues, Entropia and the like – Wayfarer are a band to add to the list of top quality, interesting Black Metal.

As soon as the record starts we’re treated to this quality; immediately we get emotive Black Metal with a Post-Metal-wall-of-guitars-style riff and sharp screams that can cut through steel.

The riffs and guitars are an instant hit with me; emotive and textured whilst still staying true to the Quintessential essence of Black Metal.

They certainly have a good Post-Black Metal element to their sound though as it’s not all darkness and icy guitars. Light and shade is used extensively; the songs contain rich textures and encompass a multitude of feelings.

There’s enough aggression here to satisfy fans who want a straightforward fix of the good stuff, but Wayfarer also include enough nuance and subtlety to draw the listener back into the fold and keep them engaged. This is music with depth and capability. They have a desire to rule, to rise above the mediocre and they don’t lack the ability to do so.

This album is full of wide, expansive music that seems to fill the horizon with its ambitions.

Children of the Iron Age is a stunning début. A definite one to get your hands on.

Witchclan – The Dark Binding (Review)

Witchclan are from the UK and this is their second album. They play Black Metal.

This is raw, underground Black Metal with more melody than you are probably expecting and more evil than you can fit into a very large box.

Sinister, inhuman vocals scream out hatred and occult messages whilst the band play at breakneck speeds.

Surprisingly thick rhythm guitars provide a powerful base for the Blackened melodies to dance over, some of which are unusually upbeat. The entire production is unusual actually, and it lends the band a definite edge over their peers as The Dark Binding just sounds different.

This is added to by the band’s songs themselves. This is not your usual Darkthrone-worship. Witchclan have a lot more personality and individuality than that.

Don’t get me wrong; this is recognisably Black Metal and no-one would think otherwise, but the sound they have and their choice of melodies and riffs…Witchclan are forging their own way through a genre that has seen it all before and they should definitely be commended and supported for this.

Rather than just echo the Black Metal greats, Witchclan put their own individual spin on things in a superb way. They have ended up producing an album that is very obviously Black Metal but with a rotten freshness that puts most other raw Black Metal bands to shame.

Witchclan court their auras of darkness and mystery with great zeal and fervour, and the hymns to fell powers that are recited on this release have all of the requisite components to engage and terrify the listener in equal parts.

If I was to sum up this album in one word, that word would be evil.

There’s Underground Black Metal, and then there’s Witchclan. This is a dark gem and a must for connoisseurs of supreme Black Metal art.

Favourite Track: Dawn of the Serpent Kings. One of the shortest tracks here, but with a brilliantly realised air of malevolence and an otherworldly martial quality. Music for a daemonic invasion.

Haate/Chiral – Where Mountains Pierce The Nightsky – Split

This is a split between Haate, who are from Italy and play Dark Ambient, and Chiral, also from Italy and playing Black Metal. Both are solo projects.

Haate’s contribution is made up of 3 tracks, 2 of which we’ve heard before on As The Moon Painted Her Grief. The remaining track, (the first one on this split), is new, or new to me at least.

Everything stated in the review of As The Moon Painted Her Grief about Haate is still true here, and the additional track follows the same theme.

Dark atmospheres and much expanded proto-Classical 90’s Black Metal interludes/intros are the order of business, and judging by this business is booming.

Only one of these three tracks may be new, but it’s a joy to hear all of them regardless. And if you’ve never heard Haate at all, then do yourself a favour and have a good listen now.

Chiral are a relatively new band and I’ve really enjoyed following the development of this artist from first demo Winter Eternal to début EP Abisso. For such a very talented and promising band I was excited to hear Chiral’s contribution to this split, especially as it’s a whopper of a track at 20 minutes in length.

Synths start us off before guitars, blasting drums and screaming daemons join the party. The brain behind Chiral, once more, has outdone himself.

This is quality Atmospheric Black Metal, frozen to the touch and icy to the core. It’s a highly emotive and engaging work with variation and good pacing.

The song – Everblack Fields of Nightside – seems to draw you into its dark embrace and keep you there. The Blackened melodies are enhanced by keyboard backing in a way that seems to be both subtle and overt, which is quite an achievement.

The general sound is extremely satisfying, with everything having the right level in the mix and the drums in particular sound well-rounded and surprisingly warm for such a frigid release.

Chiral keep getting better, there’s no other way to say it.

Top split, check it out.

Bhleg – Draumr Ást (Review)

Bhleg are from Sweden and this is their début album of Atmospheric Black Metal.

This is underground and under-produced with the result that the music has a brittle quality to it that still somehow retains a strength – like shards of ice. The fragile guitar tone still manages to inflict lacerations with how sharp it is as the scything vocals scream out from behind this torrent of frostblades.

Theirs is a blend of the atmospheric and Blackly melodic. To cold for the more perky Melodic Black Metal tag, instead they go the path less travelled down a cold winter path, lonesome and desolate. Many others have gone this way over the years, of course, but Bhleg are content to not mix with any other travellers and instead keep to themselves, exploring the snowy landscapes.

Okay, okay; enough of the ice and the frost and the winter – you get the idea. Suffice to say that this is Black Metal that harkens back to an earlier time and an influence from bands of these earlier eras can be heard in their sound, Burzum for one.

The Black Metal is offset with more atmospheric forays into lighter territories and these parts help break up the release.

Screaming vocals are joined by cleaner approaches on occasion, adding another aspect to the delivery of the band’s message. The Bhleg vocalist has a clear, powerful scream and the cleans are performed well.

An enjoyable album. The kind of album to just drift off with and become almost hypnotized by the droning Blackened riffs. Give Bhleg a spin and see if they can show you their frosted visions of a natural landscape.

Toxoid – Aurora Satanae (Review)

Toxoid are from India and this is their début album. They play Black Metal.

The frigid Black Metal winds are strong with this one. Upon pressing play you’re almost immediately hit with a wall of ice at hurricane strength. Toxoid have arrived.

This is a band who have nailed their Blackened sound down completely and have tailored their recording to suit. This screams out from the classic Black Metal template and has the warped, spiky riffs to prove it.

Over six songs lasting just under half an hour, Toxoid demonstrate their infernal art and it’s a grim pleasure to let it wash over you and seep into your pores. This kind of Black Metal will never go out of style and Toxoid worship the dark gods as well as any devotee.

The shrieking vocals are delivered at perfect temperature and the riffs are sharp enough to draw blood. I love their Blackened melodies; they’re like colossal sheets of ice infused with iron scraping across each other in the night.

This is true Norwegian darkness in everything other than geography. These are anthems to hate and malice writ black.

This is not innovative or new; there’s no experimentation or fanciness here. This is Raw Black Metal and it does its job perfectly.

Unfathomed of Abyss – Arisen Upon Oblivion (Review)

Unfathomed of Abyss is a one-man project from the US. This is his début album of Symphonic Black Metal.

It’s clear from the start that the brains behind this album is a very talented individual as the musicianship and songwriting is at an advanced level.

The drums are the only instrument he doesn’t perform. Rather than going the easy route and opting for a drum machine however, instead he has enlisted the considerable talents of Kevin Talley, (Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Chimaira, Misery Index, Six Feet Under, etc.), which lends the album much more presence than a mere drum machine ever could.

Symphonic Black Metal can sometimes lack bite and attack, but this is not the case here. Unfathomed of Abyss boasts an aggressive demeanour which is only enhanced by the keyboards, effects and piano additions.

Powered by the relentless drumming, the songs are lengthy and layered in thick atmospheres. Care and attention has been spent on these creations that much is clear. Strong soundscapes and expansive Blackened auras permeate everything.

There’s more to these songs than just Black metal though, as influences from Death Metal and even wider genres, (elements of Doom and Djent, for example), can be heard in some of the riffs.

The vocals run the spectrum from deep growls to the very high pitched screaming that forms the bulk of the performance.

Taking off where early Emperor left off; Arisen Upon Oblivion manages to capture a similar feeling to those early classic Black Metal albums. Mix this with a bit of Ihsahn’s solo work and Peccatum and you have an album that manages the admirable achievement of being strongly influenced by a notable Metal legend without sounding like a pale imitation.

This is an enjoyable album that won’t please everyone, but then again that was never the aim of Black Metal was it?

Lord of Pagathorn – Nekros Philia (Review)

Lord of Pagathorn are from Finland. This is their début album of Black Metal.

Now this is the stuff! Underground Black Metal that’s both scorching and frozen to the touch. The fires of fury and the frost of winter combine in Nekros Philia.

Lord of Pagathon have got Black Metal’s aura of frosted damnation and Hellish torment down to a fine art. The vocals scythe and scathingly burn whilst the guitars ply their dark melodics and groovy Blackness like they were born to it.

The blistering speed is offset by mid-paced malevolence and small interludes. The band successfully set the stage for their icy Black Metal and then populate it with Blackened fire and storms of razor sharp ice.

This is passionately played and delivered with real bile and venom. There’s a palpable aura of darkness and hatred emanating from these songs and you can feel the weight of Black Metal history pressing down as you listen.

Lord of Pagathorn have produced an album that documents an aural descent into the maelstrom and straight into the heart of the abyss.

Check them out.

Mangel – Mangel (Review)

Mangel are from Germany and play Melodic Black Metal.

After a nice piano intro the blasting starts and we’re into wind-swept, frosty Black Metal territory. Dark melodies and Blackened riffs abound.

The band create their grim atmospheres well and some of the riffs and moods are inspired.

This may be Melodic Black Metal but don’t make the mistake of thinking this is the overly-polished commercial variety. This is underground Black Metal with quality guitar playing and lots of lead work.

The vocals are sharp and sound as if they’re forged from pure evil. They work in conjunction with the music to spawn fertile breeding grounds for hordes of Black Metal Hellspawn to fester and lurk.

These are quality songs that have good structure, pacing and dynamics. They do the job they set out to do and this is a remarkably enjoyable listen.

At only 16 minutes in length this is a relatively brief introduction to the band, but to my ears Mangel could become a force to be reckoned with in this particular sub-genre.

Have a listen and decide for yourself. Me? I’ll be listening to this again quite a bit, as well as eagerly awaiting a début album from them.