Atmospheric Black Metal – Page 57

Valdrin – Beyond the Forest (Review)

This is the debut release from US Black Metallers Valdrin.

Valdrin play Melodic Black Metal; if you think of Dissection, Old Man’s Child, Dimmu Borgir and Emperor as your starting points you’ll get the right idea.

That’s not to say this is overly symphonic or orchestrated though; Valdrin may tip their toe in that genre of Black metal but they firmly live on the darker, harsher side of the Melodic Black Metal spectrum.

The orchestration and effects they employ are subtler than the more overt side of Dimmu Borgir and even Emperor, and are mere enhancements to the songs rather than the driving force.

The band know how to effortlessly mix aggression and melody, and have a good amount of variety in their compositions for this genre. They even employ a few solos; unusual for Black Metal but a very welcome addition.

The pure-blooded Black Metal vocals work well and complement the darkness of the music.

This is atmospheric Black Metal with none of the pomp and plenty of bite. It’s good to hear a few bands playing this style recently and bringing back the good old days of harsher Black Metal whilst still retaining some melodies and a sense of atmosphere.

Highly enjoyable.

Favourite Track: Beyond the Forest. Epic and empowering.

Despot – Satan in the Death Row (Review)

Despot come from Brazil and play Black Metal.

This is Old-School Black Metal with a distinct streak of personality and individuality about it. The core is of the 80’s/early 90’s Black Metal fused with an unusual album art/band logo and with added musical flourishes such as a few more modern moments and unexpected guitar solos/leads.

Subtle keyboard embellishments haunt the tracks like a ghost of forbidden memory just playing around the edges of perception. It’s almost like it’s not there, but you can definitely sense something on the outskirts of hearing.

The riffs are interesting and inventive and the general structure of the songs is an impressive homage to all things dark Metal. The band use melody well and manage to infuse the tracks with a sense of wonder and awe in addition to the usual Black Metal trappings.

Not content with this there are some Celtic Frost influences at play here as well as a bit of a Death/Morbid Angel-inspired Death Metal influence on occasion. They even flirt with some almost sci-fi touches now and then.

The songs are ambitious and as the above description shows they are not afraid to throw different influences into the blender. It all works.

The same is true of the vocals; although primarily an Old-School Black Metal croak there are also deeper grunts and cleaner utterances as well as shouting and chanting.

The sound is authentically Old-School and could in fact be some long-lost gem from decades ago.

This is a top-of-the-line Metal album with lots to draw the listener in and keep them enraptured. This is one Despot to be listened to attentively.

The Committee – Power Through Unity (Review)

This is the first album by international collective The Committee.

This is Black Metal which is bleakly atmospheric and retains this feeling throughout the album. The guitars are powered by a darkly melodic undercurrent, with the central riffs seemingly constructed of continuous rolling rhythms, a feeling further enhanced by the drums.

The tracks are all between 7:01 and 9:20 in length which means that they all take the time to have their mystique flow freely and allow the listener to become absorbed in the songs.

The vocals are typical Black Metal fare but that’s not to say anything bad about them; they are handled competently and the voice fits the music as it melds with the songs while they speed by. The lyrics deal with historical events; the band themselves have described each song and what it’s about here.

For an album that is comprised of disparate members spread across multiple countries this is coherent and well-made. The songs are enjoyable, Immortal-inspired, double-bass-powered gallops through bloodied history.

Listen to the band here.

Amiensus – Restoration (Review)

Amiensus are from the US and play Progressive Black Metal with plenty of melody and epic feelings.

Keyboards and other effects transform the already pronounced melodic talent of the band to another level, washing over the listener in waves of atmosphere.

Restoration skillfully blends aspects of bands such as Opeth, Agalloch and Dimmu Borgir into a talented melting pot and adds something of its own personality to the mix to avoid sounding derivative; the results of which have led to this pretty special release.

I usually find this genre of music a bit too sickly and derivative, essentially it’s easy to do but hard to do well. Whatever this magic, secret ingredient is that makes an album like this great without sounding like another clone of the aforementioned bands, Amiensus appear to have it in spades.

Meaty guitars cloaked in wistful mood and dripping with ear-candy dominate this release, while angelic vocals croon and soar alongside harsher cries and grunts. Female vocals are used to punctuate the atmosphere when needed and are a great asset to the band.

The album flows easily from one song to the next; the symphonic nature of the band working perfectly to accentuate every harmony and lamentation into a seamless whole until suddenly the 46 minutes playing time has elapsed and you’re left simply wanting more.

As début albums go this is high quality indeed and quite an achievement for such a young band. If album number one is this accomplished I can only imagine what album number two will be like.

Here’s to more in the future. You should get this.