Black metal – Page 203 – Wonderbox Metal

Rorcal – κρέων (Creon)(Review)

Rorcal are a Blackened Doom band from Switzerland. This is their fourth album.

Rorcal are an intriguing band. Having produced a lot of Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal music over the years, their last couple of releases have shown an increasing Black Metal side to their sound, which they now seem to have fully incorporated into their repertoire, (see their split with Process of Guilt, for example). In fact, they’re pretty much at the point now where you could describe them as a Black Metal band and not raise too many eyebrows.

This latest album sees the band offer forth four new tracks spread across 53 minutes, each one a monster. κρέων (Creon) once more demonstrates the band’s mastery of Extreme Metal in all its guises.

The Black Metal elements are present and correct, as are the Sludge, Post-Metal and Doom ones. Rorcal have always had a surprisingly clean and sophisticated sound, despite their predilections for darkness, and κρέων (Creon) is no different. The music may be grim and charged with an energetic negativity, but the band always seem to manage to sound cutting edge no matter what they’re doing, even in their sludgiest or most blackened moments.

These songs mix blackened fury with progressive intent and atmospheric Sludge. As always, whatever aspect of whatever style that Rorcal are currently focusing their attentions on seems to work for them, and the aura of malevolent aggression and downbeat nastiness that these songs exude is palpable.

So, Rorcal return, triumphant, bold and victorious. They are fast becoming one of my favourite purveyors of darkened delights.

Bushwhacker – The False Dilemma (Review)

This is the second album from Canadian Progressive Death Metal band Bushwhacker.

Bushwhacker are an interesting proposition, combining, as they do, both Black and Death Metal as well as elements of Thrash, Sludge and psychedelia into their Extreme Metal sound.

The production is strong and the playing tight. The band have a sound that’s heavy, aggressive and dark, although not without its moments of subtlety and nuance. Harshness and melody combine, with textured riffs and thoughtful aggression leading the way. There’s plenty of leads and solos to get your teeth into and at 48 minutes in length it provides a lot of content and ideas.

The songs are well-written, with good pacing and dynamics. The band have a clear talent for this kind of thing and their confidence and ambition comes out in the strong music.

These are nicely varied songs, working as a whole to provide an album that’s a full listening experience. It’s obvious that a lot of work has gone into making this music what it is, and the end result is a really enjoyable Progressive Death Metal journey, complete with more than enough influences from other camps to make Bushwhacker an interesting and enticing proposition.

The vocals are largely screamed, with an old-school Thrash influence to them in places. They seem to skid, slide and slice over the surface of the lively guitars.

In a sea of samey-sounding bands, Bushwhacker stick out like a sore thumb with their fresh-sounding take on Extreme Metal.

I heartily recommend this album.

Råttkung – Dark Is the Beginning (Review)

Råttkung are a Black Metal band from Denmark. This is their début EP.

This short EP showcases Råttkung’s brand of raw, underground Black Metal across 17 minutes of hate-filled music. It’s ugly, dark and as cold as the frozen wastes.

An ultra-primitive production finds the band recalling the early days of the second wave of Black Metal, both aurally and stylistically. It’s a primitive and lo-fi recording that sounds authentic and honest, although does tend to leech a little power from the band’s songs.

The vocals seem to have been captured on the edge of a blackened abyss, with the singer screaming and growling his way into the raging winds. He sounds possessed and not 100% human.

Furious riffs and blasting drums certainly have their place on this release, but the band also know how to slow it down and use the guitars to foster a creepy, sinister atmosphere, as they notably do on the song Here Again, or to opt for a Doom-ier approach as on Abyss of Terror.

Dark Is the Beginning is aptly named and here’s hoping we hear more of this band in the future, as this is a promising start.

Fimbulvinter – Начертаны Резы Древних Заклятий (Review)

Fimbulvinter are a Russian Black Metal band. This is their début album.

Fimbulvinter’s Black Metal is thoroughly of the old-school, so much so that it even contains a relatively high proportion of proto-Black Metal in the form of more classic-era Metal riffs and licks, including leads and solos.

There’s a pagan feel to some of the guitars and the band successfully capture the original Scandinavian style while also infusing the music with other elements. Infectious riffs from even earlier times are frequent additions and there’s enough of a melodic edge through the leads to grab the attention.

The songwriting is really strong and the band’s grasp of dynamics and pacing is good. These songs are exactly that; songs. Coupled with the highly enjoyable leads and the well-considered rhythm guitars, Начертаны Резы Древних Заклятий aptly demonstrates the band’s considerable talent in writing tracks that are actually quite catchy and memorable.

Screamed vocals make up the bulk of the release, but growls also appear on occasion adding that little bit extra variety and interest.

At only 36 minutes in length Начертаны Резы Древних Заклятий doesn’t outstay its welcome; in fact it leaves you hungry for more. The Metal leads, blackened guitars, solid riffs and rasping hatred that flow easily from the band make this album an extremely enjoyable listen.

Definitely one not to overlook. Very highly recommended.

Old Pagan – Ogdrun Jarhar (Review)

Old Pagan are from Germany and play Black Metal. This is their fourth album.

Here we have 43 minutes of raw, underground Black Metal spread across 8 tracks, including a Secrets of the Moon cover.

Featuring a sharp recording that screams lo-fi darkness, Old Pagan play orthodox Black Metal that’s enhanced by keyboards and cuts straight to the bone like a serrated, rusty blade.

Frozen melodies and dark incantations power these songs, which complete their running time like Satan himself is chasing after them. The music is fast and furious, blasting icy beats and chilling riffs across the airwaves.

Screamed vocals accompany the blackened melodies and pounding drums with ease, keeping pace with the high-energy music and attacking the listener with frenzied abandon.

If you like your Black Metal fast, relentless and raw, you can do a lot worse than Old Pagan; these veterans know what they’re doing.

Mithridatic – Miserable Miracle (Review)

This is the début album from French Blackened Death Metallers Mithridatic.

Boasting a heavy and dirty sound that immediately puts me in mind of Arkhon Infaustus’ Blackened Death Metal classic Filth Catalyst, Mithridatic reveal themselves to be a similar proposition, albeit one with its own blackened charms, of course.

The songs are extremely satisfying and have that fine ratio balanced just about right between Black Metal and Death Metal influences. As such, these songs are both brutal and grim, providing the listener with some of the strongest Blackened Death Metal currently out there, in my humble opinion.

Mithridatic have obviously taken their time with these songs. They’re well-composed, well-structured and have just enough variation to keep things interesting without losing their sense of direction. Blackened riffs, fluid guitar solos, darkened melodies, moody malevolence, brutal assaults and blasting mayhem are all used effectively during these tracks.

High screams and growling shouts form the bedrock of the vocals. The singer has a certain quality to his voice that allows him to have instant charisma, putting me in mind of Morbid Angel on occasion, (whose influence also extends to aspects of the music).

A very impressive achievement. For me, Blackened Death Metal is a style that is all too easy to do poorly, but when it’s done right it really gets the hairs standing on end. This is one such release; not only due to the atmosphere the band create, but also due to the quality and personality of the songs themselves.

A mix of Arkhon Infaustus, Morbid Angel and a touch of Akercocke? Sign me up.

Go check this one out immediately.

Ashen Horde – Nine Plagues (Review)

Ashen Horde is a one man Black Metal band from the US. This is his second album.

The production on this release is quite satisfying; the guitars have a really nice darkened tone to them and the drums are solid and firm.

The songs themselves have a Black Metal base with added Thrash and Death Metal elements fused in. Thrashy Blackened Death Metal, although a bit of a mouthful, would do justice as a description I feel. Unlike a lot of Blackened Death Metal though, the emphasis is more on the Black Metal side, although this is up for debate of course.

The Death Metal aspect of the band lends the songs a forceful muscularity that a purely Black Metal band would probably lack, and in some ways the album sounds like a Death Metal band covering Black Metal songs, musically at least. The brain behind the band can clearly play though, and there’s some quite technical messing about, (itself a technical term…), here and there.

Vocally we get curious snarls that seem half-spoken and half-spewed. I can’t help but wonder how much better they would be if they had more of a traditionally screamed delivery though, but this is a minor quibble; they do the job.

Featuring decent blasting, enough complexity to satisfy and songs that grow over time, this is one to settle into and take your time with.

Interview with Oranssi Pazuzu

Having just released their latest dark creation Värähtelijä, enigmatic Progressive/Post-Black Metal band Oranssi Pazuzu’s bassist Ontto takes the time out from exploring the underworld to answer a few queries about this textured and atmospheric mysterious entity…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We are Oranssi Pazuzu from Finland. Five guys who have been exploring the outer regions of mind’s cosmos since 2007.

Give us a bit of background to Oranssi Pazuzu

We dive into unknown sonic landscapes. Our method for this is collective improvisation and fusion of different musical elements from psychedelic rock to second wave black metal. Our songs are noisy and sung in Finnish. We’ve recorded four albums, of which the newest, ‘Värähtelijä’, just came out.

What are your influences?

Circle, Darkthrone, Swans, Can, Scott Walker, Sleep, to name a few current favourites. We are into many different kinds of music.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Right now I get the biggest kicks out of Fleetwood Mac’s mid-seventies soft rock era. Currently my favourite FM albums are the ‘75 Fleetwood Mac and Future Games. Great songs and that rhythm section is just incredibly groovy!

How do you feel that you fir into the wider Metal scene?

Sometimes it feels a bit restricting to define ourselves as a metal band. I think we fit in any place where people respect our musical ideas and get strong feelings out of it, regardless of what colour t-shirts they are wearing. Having said that, we’ve also had great time playing at some amazing metal festivals, like Heavy Days Doomtown or Roadburn Festival, so I wouldn’t say we are outside the scene either.

Give us a bit of background to Värähtelijä – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?

Värähtelijä is like a long trip that flips your mind inside out. Each song is like a vision on that trip, and together they form a unified experience that is greater than it’s individual fragments. There are concepts like sacrificing the ego, power of the society, and finally the extinction of the mind.

Tell us about the album artwork

On the front cover there is a photo by Andrea Petrovicova. It is an ominous dark tunnel, that has organic growth inside it. The tunnel leads to catharsis. When you open the vinyl gatefold, you will discover what’s at the other end of the tunnel, and inside you.

How do you go about writing your songs?

We get together and start jamming and playing with different ideas. We go for a strong atmosphere, not technical precision. We recorded many ideas while making this album, and many of those slowly evolved into songs as we played with them. Some songs were written more traditionally as riffs, but they too had a lot of collective band input in the end.

How did the recording process go?

It was exhausting and fun two weeks. We started with Julius Mauranen with the live takes and then added more instrumental parts and vocals with Tom Brooke. After that we recorded some additional guests by ourselves and the stuff was ready for mixing.

What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

I think the album is stronger than individual songs. But if I have to choose one, I’ll go for Vasemman käden hierarkia. It’s got the most ambitious arc we’ve done and many different levels to it, and I think it holds together nicely the whole 17 minutes.

What does the future hold for Oranssi Pazuzu?

We’re touring Europe this month and then we’re going to do some festivals, like Desert Fest in London and Roadburn in Tilburg. After those the future is unclear.

Demonstealer – This Burden Is Mine (Review)

This is the second album from Indian Extreme Metal band Demonstealer.

This is a very ambitious album. Across 9 tracks the band deliver 57 minutes of music that straddles Death, Black, Thrash, Progressive and Atmospheric Metal to deliver an epic journey.

Recognisably Death Metal at their core, Demonstealer skilfully incorporate the above-mentioned aspects into their sound so that we have something that the likes of Nile, Behemoth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Septic Flesh, Opeth and other such envelope-pushing bands should be proud of.

This Burden Is Mine hops between genres with ease. One moment it might be all blasting and mayhem, while the next it may be soft, reflective and shamelessly progressive. And then you have the atmospheric, symphonic elements, where the keyboards get to shine and the emotive side of the band is ramped up to full capacity. The band also have a melodic flair that adds a lot to the tracks, with plenty of tasty leads and solos thrown into the mix.

Pure Death Metal growls are accentuated with a more varied delivery of screams, shouts, clean and semi-clean vocals, professionally done and perfectly judged. You’d easily think this album had more than one singer, rather than just one very talented vocalist.

Although this album is extremely diverse and varied, it carries a holistic cohesiveness with it that speaks of the quality songwriting and talent that the band are capable of. This Burden Is Mine is extremely impressive and a rich, evocative listen.

Well well. Albums like this don’t come along that often. This should be embraced and celebrated by all Metal fans as the tour de force that it is.

Essential.

Convulsif – IV (Review)

Convulsive are an experimental band from Switzerland. This is their fourth album.

After the blackened mindfuck, (in a good way), that was CD3, Convulsif return with something a bit different that’s actually superior. It’s mostly instrumental, dark and surprisingly addictive.

Featuring bass, clarinet, violin and drums, this is an experimental foray into noise and unusual Rock. These instruments come together in a variety of ways to produce music that is always trying to push the envelope and always manages to be emotive, in one fashion or another.

Largely gone is the experimental Black Metal of their previous release, although stylistically and atmospherically we’re not a million miles away from it with some of he crawling Doom/Drone here; IV can still be dark and foreboding when it wants to, as well as displaying any number of other moods.

Instead, this release has an even more diverse approach than its predecessor. Doom, Post-Rock, Black Metal and Grind are all merely ingredients to be liberally sprinkled around during these 37 minutes, and Convulsif leave few stones left unturned in their quest for sonic excess.

Disturbing noises and unsettling vibes are frequently the order of business for IV, mixed in with Grindcore-level extremity and exploratory bludgeoning. Add in some Jazz and some sexy bass workouts and you end up with a compelling collection of twisted soundscapes that really succeed where such an eclectic, esoteric assortment of tracks could so easily fail.

If you’re in mind for something a bit different that has a lot to offer, check out IV; you won’t regret it.