Black metal – Page 156 – Wonderbox Metal

Askrinn – Hjørleifsljóð (Review)

Askrinn is a solo Black Metal project from France and this is his début album of Melodic Black Metal.

This is Black Metal with mellifluous melodies and a sound like cold water running down a mountain. It puts me in mind of atmospheric/melodic Black Metal bands like Vinterriket and Windir, and although Askrinn don’t sound the same as either of the two mentioned they share the same kind of feeling to my mind.

The tracks on this release seem to roll out of the speakers like a newly discovered fresh spring, bringing vitality and renewed vigour to all that sup from it. The style is an enjoyable one and the constant, rolling atmospheres that Akrinn creates means that it’s easy to like Hjørleifsljóð.

The music is Pagan/Viking theme, with lyrics apparently sung entirely in Old Norse. I say apparently, as the vocals consist of sharp rasps that fit the music perfectly but are completely indecipherable, at least to me. Either way, the vocals, like the music, have a melodious liquid quality that sees them streaming alongside the fluid music and adding bucketfuls to the emergent atmospheres.

This is the kind of release that it’s easy to just fall into and get swept away with, like a fast-running river. The atmospheres and melodies created are easy to absorb but are not lacking in depth despite this. It’s testament to the brain behind the outfit that these songs are well-composed and delivered so competently.

A top quality Black Metal release. It’s time to hunt this one down.

Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta III – Saturnian Poetry (Review)

Blut Aus Nord are from France and this is their 11th album.

Blut Aus Nord are one of the most inventive and unique bands out there, and you never know what brand of darkness they’re going to unleash. As such, this new album is somewhat of a surprise to me as gone are the Industrial influences and this time we’re back into the realm of Melodic Black Metal, Blut Aus Nord-style.

Atmospheric Black Metal, rousing cleans, muddy-yet-warm drums, windswept melodies; Blut Aus Nord show that they’re perfectly at home with this style of Black Metal as they are with their more experimental/Industrial works. As the third installment in the Memoria Vetusta series this album is a majestic triumph.

This is an epic album, wide in scope yet focused and well-fleshed out. The music and album cover combined evoke feelings of natural landscapes and pagan times. It also harkens back to the glory days of the first Emperor album. If In the Nightside Eclipse is the darkness in the dead of night then Memoria Vetusta III – Saturnian Poetry is what follows.

But this is not cold, evil Black Metal, although there are certainly elements of frost strewn throughout the landscape; no, this is warmer and pulsating. This is the sound of the frost melting and vigour returning to the forest. Rather than the sound of winter this is the sound of spring just starting to thaw and come alive.

Memoria Vetusta III – Saturnian Poetry is beautifully aggressive and poetically powerful. Blut Aus Nord have once again proven why their name is a synonymous with quality.

Essential Black Metal listening.

As Light Dies – The Love Album – Volume I (Review)

As Light Dies are from Spain and this is their third album of Black Metal.

Atmospheric and moody, As Light Dies create darkly melodic compositions that take the Melodic Black Metal theme and add some interesting twists to make it their own. Avant Garde and Gothic/Depressive Black Metal influences come together across this very professional album.

Mournful cleans accompany jagged screaming growls on their journey from tragedy to tragedy, like dark tourists in a town of pain.

Quality guitar work is apparent from the off with Blackened rhythms being performed alongside emotive leads. The songs aim for maximum emotional impact whilst retaining the bite of their Black Metal core.

The album has a good sound and everything sounds clear and punchy, allowing the band the room to spread their creative wings with freedom.

The keyboard highlights work with the music instead of dominating it and add texture to the already expressive guitar work.

This album is well-written and well-performed. Check them out.

Twilight Fauna – Hymns of a Forgotten Homeland (Review)

Hymns of a Forgotten Homeland is the fourth album from this one-man Black Metal project from the US.

This is a strange and, I would guess, deeply personal release. It’s an album that’s all about creating mood and atmosphere and will undoubtedly not appeal to the vast majority of music fans out there, probably not even most Black Metal adherents.

Why? Because this may be rooted in Black metal but it’s equal parts acoustic/Drone/Ambient in scope. The tracks seep together with dark ambience and seem to corrode at the edges when you listen to them.

The brain behind the project creates a harrowing soundscape of brittle Folk and Blackened Depressive noise. It’s an ode to nature filtered through the Blackened tar-stained lens of Black Metal.

Percussion is used sparingly on these songs, with the main propulsion being the guitar work and low key sounds of cymbals and other noises.

Vocals are low in the mix and are entwined with the music; a sort of agonised braying that tugs at the hidden places in the mind.

The journey through these tracks is fraught with distorted longing and a deep sense of loneliness. It’s not an expedition that most people will want to take, and those that do would do well to remember not to leave home unequipped and unprepared.

So, if you’re made of stern stuff and prepared to open your heart to what Twilight Fauna have to offer, then Hymns to a Forgotten Homeland will accompany you on a journey into the raw, lonely beauty of nature.

Anaal Nathrakh – Desideratum (Review)

Anaal Nathrakh are from the UK and this is their 8th album. They play Black Metal.

Even since they first crawled out of Hell well over a decade ago Anaal Nathrakh have been a fixture of UK Metal for me. Their début album The Codex Necro was, and is, a case study in malevolent, grim Black Metal writ large and hateful.

Since their raw but powerful Black Metal origins their style has changed over the years; still scathing Black Metal but with elements of Extreme Metal and with added heroic and very catchy cleans thrown in.

And this is how we find them on Desideratum. The cleans are still buried under fields of filth and the screamed vocals are still sharp enough to slice fingers off. The intensity is real and the rage is palpable. The singer’s voice continues to be one of Extreme Metal’s best and his performance on Desideratum is stunning.

The songs are always catchier than you would expect for a band like this and even the most extreme blasting sections remain memorable. It’s always been a gift of the band that they are able to unleash such acerbic, raging songs that nonetheless remain full of hooks and enough Blackened melodies to give you whiplash.

Anaal Nathrakh have always had a vaguely Industrial feel to some of their work, sometimes coming across as an aural portrait of urban decay. On Desideratum this is more apparent than ever and adds a further layer of darkened potentiality to their sound.

When they’re not going full out hyperblast there’s even, (whisper it), a slight Djent slant to the odd riff here and there this time. It shouldn’t work but it does.

Eight albums in and Anaal Nathrakh continue to impress. The songs are strong and their apocalypse is coming ever closer. And do you know one of the best things about this band? They don’t particularly sound like anyone else. In 2014 this is a major achievement.

Another triumph from this Blackened jewel in the crown of UK Metal. Desideratum is desideratum indeed.

Natanas – Treachery (Review)

Natanas is a one-man Black Metal project from the US. This is his third album.

This is a very prolific project and this is the third album from Natanas this year. I reviewed the second album All Is Permitted not that long ago, and already I find there is this new release.

All Is Permitted was in the style of bands such as Xasthur, Portal, Mitochondrion, Enbilulugugal, Ævangelist and the like, and Treachery continues the theme.

Treachery feels like a good progression, (in a short period of time), from the previous album in that it, as a whole, feels more coherent and better constructed. The tracks are still raw, lo-fi expressions of hatred and malevolence, but this time they seem to gel and work better than previously.

The vocals have improved also, and this time they seem to have more bite to them, as well as being generally higher pitched and sharper.

Although the tracks here still have a pulsating organic looseness to them there’s also much more of a pseudo-Industrial and an almost hypnotic, tribal influence to them as well. Discordant, murky drum ‘n’ bass for the Black Metal generation? Maybe, but this album definitely has a more percussive edge to it regardless.

I said last time that this kind of Black Metal is not for everyone, and that still stands. It is, however, an enjoyable sidestep from the bog-standard and has a lot to offer those with the time, patience and stomach for it.

Give it a listen.

At Dusk – Anhedonia (Review)

At Dusk is a one-man Black Metal project from the US. This is his début album.

The album starts with an extended section of winds and Classical piano. After this it’s onto the roiling Blackness of Depressive Black Metal in full, morbid flow.

This album features 4 epic-length tracks that are full of lo-fi Black Metal with enhanced keyboard backdrops and expressive downbeat riffing. The melodies are miserably grim and the general aura is one of misanthropic darkness.

Anhedonia’s recording is distinctly underground and this fits the uncompromisingly negative nature of the music well. Fuzziness, distortion and raw Black Metal are layered with Depressive zeal to create works of near-suicidal art.

These songs are like waves of gloom on a twilight sea, ebbing and flowing with capricious vigour. They wear their bleak emotions on their sleeves and listening to At Dusk is like a constant barrage of negativity and woe. But in a good way.

Screams are buried under the blanketing cover of shadows and slash through into the light like serpentine predators.

At 1 hour in length this is a Blackened journey that leaves the listener raw, bruised and emotionally drained.

Listen to this at loud volume and with the lights turned off.

Ius Talionis – Eleutheromania (Review)

Ius Talionis are from Germany and this is their first release. They play Black Metal.

Although this is actually a demo release the quality of both sound and content belies this.

This is underground Black Metal with a raw-in-a-good-way sound that has a warmth and approachability to it despite the icy aura that the riffs themselves exude. The bass deserves special mention as not only is it audible but also adds tangible atmosphere and depth to the proceedings.

The songs lack ostentation and are atavistic beasts drawn from the dawn of Black Metal and harken back to the days when the likes of Burzum and Darkthrone were just dark amalgamations of potentiality and burgeoning threat.

This is Old-School Black Metal viewed and produced through the prism of history and hindsight. As such it perfectly captures the raw essence of Black Metal without ever falling into the trap of complacency, pointless hero-worship or any number of pitfalls that might befall the common Black Metal band.

These songs have a good deal of honesty about them and each one is truly enjoyable as an exemplar of the Blackened art of mood, pace and malevolent tribute.

Eleutheromania is a very impressive début release. With 4 songs in 36 minutes it could have easily passed as a début album. The fact that they haven’t done this and we still have this future début to come is a very exciting prospect indeed.

Ius Talionis are a band to watch that’s for sure. If they can keep the quality levels up then I predict a great album from them at some point.

Promethean Horde – Ashes of the Empyrean (Review)

Promethean Horde are from the US and play Black Metal. This is their début album.

This is epic Black Metal that blasts out of the speakers with vitality and passion. Immediately a few things are clear – they have a good sound, the bass has a good presence and it’s fast and furious.

The band have a healthy melodic streak to their sound with a good amount of leads and solos rearing their heads amidst the Blackened landscape.

Mainly screamed vocals are used, although deeper growls and cleans also appear. All are performed well.

Ashes of the Empyrean boasts fast and aggressive Melodic Black Metal that’s dark and sharp. These are Blackened melodies in use here not the joyous, pseudo-Pop of their more commercial cousins. This is hateful, spiteful and lives to cut lives short.

Some of the compositions also feature a bit more of a Progressive influence to them, as if the band are just beginning to tentatively experiment with Post-Black Metal/Folk elements. It’s not a large part of their sound for sure, but it’s an additional touch that keeps things interesting.

All throughout the album the band treat us to thick guitars and scathing vocals that lay the foundation for this enjoyable release. Reminding of old Dimmu Borgir without the keyboard ostentation, this is a pleasing album that is easy to like. The Blackened riffs wash over you like a welcome flagellation and the subtle Death Metal touches give their attack an added edge.

Solid, quality Black Metal. Enjoy.

Orbseven – .ismos. (Review)

Orbseven is a solo project from the US and this is the third album of Experimental Black Metal that the project has unleashed.

This is a combination of electric Black Metal, sleek Post-Black Metal and ambient/avant-garde darkness. It’s an interesting combination and the resulting album is an exploration of state-of-the-art Blackness and atmospheric expression.

Darkened sounds and interesting effects enhance the tracks in a way that’s subtle enough to not steal any thunder from the main driving force of the guitars but has enough impact to be noticeable.

The songs are propelled by Blackened melodies and experimental sound structures, but there’s also enough Post-Black Metal wanderings to allow the room for shades of both light and dark. They’re well written, have great dynamics and are potent affairs.

.ismos. fosters an atmosphere that’s vaguely mechanistic but overtly malevolent and mysterious. Everything about this album from the music itself to the album cover deals in these mysteries and although there are no answers forthcoming the search for them is what’s important.

The vocals are a curious and varied affair. Multiple styles collide as spoken/distorted words, barely audible pseudo-ethereal sounds and subtle cleans all appear at various times during the tracks.

If you think along the lines of Dødheimsgard, Aborym, Red Harvest and Arcturus then you’ll have a good idea of the basic building blocks of the Orbseven sound. There’s even a couple of riffs here and there that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Mastodon album.

Orbseven is a creative and novel approach to what Black Metal should sound like in 2014. Taking the basic Black Metal template and building/distorting it is common enough, but the always interesting thing is where the band ends up once they have done this. In the case of Orbseven we end up with Experimental/Post-Black Metal that rolls smoothly out of the speakers.

A great effort – show your support.