Post-Black Metal – Page 32

Krigsgrav – Waves of Degradation (Review)

Krigsgrav are a Black Metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

This is long and expansive Black Metal with a melodic edge. It’s vibrant and exploratory without losing focus and across these lengthy tracks the band take the time to unfold their vision of what Black Metal should look, feel and sound like in 2016.

If you take the depressive core of a band like Forgotten Tomb and add some Post-Black Metal influences, then you’ll be in the right area of where Krigsgrav lurk. Elements of depressive and melodic Black Metal round this out, as well as some aspects of funeral Doom.

With a decent recording the band’s compositions take on a dark life of their own. All of the instruments sound clear and precise, and I always like an album that you can hear the bass on, especially when it makes a valid and noticeable contribution to the music.

Additional instrumentation appears here and there, adding extra tools to the band’s repertoire and deepening the depths of sound that they create.

The vocals are notably impressive; ragged screams that sound like the singer is ripping his throat out are enhanced by the occasional deeper growl and some powerful cleans.

The songs describe harrowing tales of misery and hopelessness, set against a backdrop of just enough light and possibility so as to make the dark atmospheres all the worse. The mixture of lighter sections and heavier, blackened distortion work well and the build/release Post-Metal mechanic is used effectively in a Post-Black Metal environment.

Waves of Degradation is an impressive listen and has more than enough content to compel you to visit it again and again.

Recommended.

Pogavranjen – Jedva Čekam Da Nikad Ne Umrem (Review)

Pogavranjen are a Croatian avant-garde Post-Black Metal band and this is their third album.

Pogavranjen are one of many Post-Black Metal bands who are not content with the base genre and are intent on pushing boundaries and experimenting with the genre to help them get to the sound they want. In this case, this means twisting the core style in avant-garde, progressive, jazz and psychedelic ways, mutating it into the end result on Jedva Čekam Da Nikad Ne Umrem.

In addition to the standard instruments, the band use keyboards, synths, trumpets and trombones to achieve their vision. All of these are well-played and the musicians clearly know what they’re doing, whether it’s playing more straightforward parts, more involved, jazz-inspired free-form chaos, or building atmosphere with grim intent.

Coming across as a curious mix of Ephel Duath, Arcturus, Manes and Solefald, the band spend 45 minutes building up intricate and textured soundscapes, taking the listener on a compelling journey into the abyss.

The vocals mainly consist of well-performed cleans that are full of presence and an authoritarian charisma. They immediately catch the attention and provide a focal point while the music travels down multiple paths of darkened delights.

Jedva Čekam Da Nikad Ne Umrem is a real slow-burner of an album, requiring multiple listens to truly give up its secrets, and even then it keeps some back, jealous of its esoteric knowledge. It’s worth the effort though, as Pogavranjen’s avant-garde stylings are definitely on the right-side of quirky and this album is full of impressive sounds and moods.

Recommended.

Entropia – Ufonaut (Review)

This is the second album from Polish Post-Black Metal band Entropia.

As a firm fan of their stellar début album Vesper, Ufonaut is long-awaited and well-received.

In Entropia, Progressive Metal and Post-Metal meet a fiery Black Metal heart; combined together they take the airwaves by storm and Ufonaut’s blackened blend of atmosphere, shoegaze, Post-Rock and psychedelia is a hit.

Heavier and darker than its predecessor, Ufonaut is a more mature beast to an already forward-thinking début. On the whole the songs are also shorter and more focused, resulting in an album that knows precisely what it wants to do and goes about doing it with shadowy panache.

High-energy blackened delivery meets more depressive, introspective moments. As the songs progress there’s more and more to get lost in as the band build momentum and atmosphere. Tsunamis of pounding drums and otherworldly synths add to the textures of the songs in places, creating the atmosphere in firm, energetic layers.

With involving and engaging tracks, this is an album that makes the most of its time in the abyss and furnishes the listener with all manner of listening pleasures, so much so that Ufonaut is a real embarrassment of riches in some ways.

After waiting three years for their second album I have not been disappointed. All hail Entropia!

Stellarvore – Tehom (Review)

This is the first release from Stellarvore, a Black Metal band from Germany.

This is slithering, dark Black Metal that epitomises the style and uses the tools at its disposal to great effect.

Shards of melody are used as weapons and Stellarvore have a good melodic grasp of what makes an enjoyable Black Metal song.

These tracks are both melodic and atmospheric without being overly so; you wouldn’t describe this as Melodic Black Metal or Atmospheric Black Metal, for example, even though both aspects are used effectively throughout.

These songs are paeans to darkness and evil, manifesting in dark worship and malevolent moods. The singer’s cold rasp is like liquid, carrying with it a fluid quality that speaks of melted ice.

Discounting the intro and outro tracks, we get 4 longish songs that demonstrate a band who understand how to make music worth listening to. This is Black Metal that has its roots firmly in the second wave of Black Metal, but that also incorporates melody, atmosphere and even a bit of Post-Black Metal reflection into its delivery.

Tehom is an involving and engaging 35 minutes. It’s an impressive début for a new band and I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

Go check them out.

Mephorash – 1557 – Rites of Nullification (Review)

This is the third album by Swedish Black Metallers Mephorash.

Throughout the four extended tracks on this release Mephorash demonstrate their approach to elite, sophisticated Black Metal art. Theirs is Black Metal that conjures effective atmospheres without neglecting the rest of the music; the band have both heaviness and bite to them when they need it.

Managing to create music that’s both resplendent and uplifting as well as drenched in the occult and mysterious is no mean feat, but this album manages to juxtapose those two aspects of Black Metal quite nicely.

The band fuse the style’s core delivery with influences from Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal to create a contemporary spin on the genre that nonetheless has all of the essential elements in place to produce something both recognisable and special.

Featuring all kinds of additional enhancements, (keyboards, choral singing, guest vocalists), that work well within the music to add layers of depth to it, these songs are strong exemplars of the style of Black Metal that bands like Watain/Deathspell Omega pioneered so well.

There’s a vibrant unlife pulsing through these songs and they bristle with dark energy. It’s a joy to hear and the strong production allows them the space to do what they do unfettered.

Mephorash have created something really impressive with this album and I know I’ll be listening to it and trying to unravel its dark secrets for some time to come.

Terzij de Horde – Self (Review)

This is the début album from Black Metal band Terzij de Horde, who are from the Netherlands.

This is modern Black Metal that combines sophisticated music with high-concept ideas.

Black Metal’s intrinsic rage and fury is combined with elements of Progressive/Post-Black Metal to create an engaging release that is varied, intelligent and full of Blackened mood and feeling.

The riffs are interesting and varied, screaming out of the passionate music like rabid animals. Sharp and emotive, these are combined with more introspective moments to create something that is worth exploring over the near-50 minute playing time.

The singer’s voice is full of snarling anger and ugly malice. It fits the music perfectly and has a maniacal quality to it that wouldn’t be out of place on a savage Grindcore release.

Self is not your average Black Metal release, and if you’re only looking for more of the usual then simply move along to something else. If, however, you’re after Black Metal fit for 2015, full of spite and Black emotions, then this is the release for you.

Splendid.

Terra Deep – Part of This World, Part of Another (Review)

This is the third album from US Progressive Black Metal one-man group Terra Deep.

The music on this release is a complicated and sophisticated Progressive Metal feast that’s born out of the corrupted undergrowth of Black Metal’s fertile roots. Progressive and Post-Black Metal elements take control of proceedings quite early on, reinforced by a dark core of frozen steel.

Deep, unsettling growls, evil shrieks and powerful cleans all add a multitude of texture and feeling to music that successfully combines the cold malignance of Black Metal with the expansive, exploratory nature of Progressive music. This is further enhanced by elements of Doom/Depressive Black Metal that add a forlorn, lonesome sheen to some of the tracks. It all adds up to a multifaceted release full of quality music and songs that engage.

Richly textured tracks seem to bleed shades of pain and grim tidings, while still fostering a highly emotive side that connects with the listener in a visceral way. The songs are advanced exemplars of what can be done with a Black Metal base and a will to explore.

The production is solid and allows the music to hit the right balance between heaviness and nuance. It’s a good sound that satisfies and does justice to the differing parts and influences that make up Part of This World, Part of Another.

These five songs are impressively-realised affairs that speak of the experience and talent of the brains behind the outfit. He obviously has a coherent and well-rounded vision for Terra Deep and has the ability and skill to achieve it.

If you combine Opeth, Enslaved, Forgotten Tomb and Ihsahn then you’ll have a good idea of Terra Deep’s style.

There really is a lot here to offer the discerning Extreme Metal fan and I can’t really recommend this highly enough.

Eyelessight – Mantra Per Sopravvivere Inutilmente (Review)

This is the début album from Italian Depressive Post-Black Metal band Eyelessight.

Eyelessight give us 72 minutes of music across 7 tracks. This is Depressive Black Metal mixed with Post-Black Metal intricacies that bring out the subtle side of misery and melancholy.

The album starts with a lonesome piano to set the scene. Once the first song proper starts, we begin with a bit of Post-Metal before slowly building with mournful Blackened melodies and Post-Black Metal riffs.

Depressive Post-Black Metal is a new one to me, but it makes sense, with the emotional fragility of both sub-genres working well together and feeding off each other to produce these long songs.

Intense, screamed vocals stop just short of tumbling completely into insanity and spend their time shrieking and howling into the aether. They work almost as an addendum to the instrumentality of the music. Additional female cleans add real power and presence to the track Consumami, making me wish they appeared on more of the songs. Male cleans appear on occasion too, also adding to the atmospheres.

This is the kind of album that works best when listened to holistically, letting the moods and atmospheres wash over you and getting carried away by the despair.

Have a listen and see if they scratch your Depressive itch.

Chiral – Night Sky (Review)

Chiral is an Italian one-man band. This is his second album.

I have enjoyed watching Chiral’s development over the course of his releases that he’s put out so far. From the primitive Proto-Death/Black Metal of Winter Eternal, to the frozen Blackened landscape of Abisso, to the more ambitious Atmospheric Black Metal of his splits with Haate and Nebel Über Den Urnenfeldern/Eternal Sleep…the brain behind Chiral as consistently impressed with both the quality of his music and his progression within it.

So what of this latest release then? Showing that he doesn’t sit still, Night Sky continues the previously developed themes of Atmospheric Black Metal, only this time adding a Post-Black Metal element to the music, resulting in an album that favours mood and texture over all else.

For a surface comparison to to other bands, I’d say Night Sky combines elements of Wolves in the Throne Room, Falls of Rauros, Falloch, Vinterriket, and Opeth.

The songs are long and ambitious tracks that show a love of both Black Metal and a more naturalistic sound that is quite atavistic in its realisation. Folk melodies and influences would be an appropriate description, although it feels somehow older than this.

Acoustic passages, Folk instrumentation and Progressive Metal tendencies work together with the icy, Blackened core to create Atmospheric Post-Black Metal that takes in many influences over the 58 minutes of material and ably demonstrates the talent and skill of Chiral.

These songs are slow-builders; ramping up the atmosphere and emotional content over the span of the playing time and layering just enough keyboards and extra instrumentation on top to really provide a consistent sense of space, flavour and feeling.

So there you have it. Another quality Chiral release, his best work yet I’d say.

Fans of Atmospheric Black Metal take note.

Show Me Wolves – Between Man, God and False Idols (Review)

This is the début album of Icelandic one-man Black Metal project Show Me Wolves.

So, this is a little different. Here we have Progressive Black Metal that takes elements of both Old-School Black Metal and cutting-edge Post-Black Metal as well as, believe it or not, bits of modern Metal here and there. Okay, so on paper it sounds a mish-mash of genres that normally never meet, but when you listen to it it does all make sense. For the most part, anyway.

Black Metal with a modern, Progressive flavour is the main order of business, but there’s a good deal of other stuff going on here. The modern Metal influence is not as jarring as it first might seem, as in reality this mainly means the Progressive Black Metal is added to by some stirring, upliftingly bright melodic guitars that serve as an icing on top of a Blackened cake. Think the types of melodies used by bands like Killswitch Engage and the like, only Blacken it up some.

It’s an unusual route to take but it works well due to the coherent delivery. Ultimately, this is Post/Progressive Black Metal that’s modern and forward-thinking, yet retains an atavistic violence at its core.

The vocals are harsh screams, unyielding in their extremity and a definite counterpoint to the largely shiny, resplendent music. He sounds angry, and I like that. Clean vocals also appear occasionally, lending a despondent, lonesome edge to things.

Before listening to this, the low-rent album cover led me to believe I was in for some Old-School Darkthrone clone, but I was quite wrong. Between Man, God and False Idols has impressed. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than a lot and shows massive promise.

One to check out, for sure.