underground Black Metal – Page 10

Malhkebre – Revelation (Review)

This is the début album from French Black Metallers Malhkebre.

Underground Orthodox Black Metal played with spite and venom.

The vocals are traditional Black Metal croaks that mix in some occasional chants and more ritualistic utterances and hymns to create an overall impression of worship or summoning of some hideous deity.

Revelation is ugly and unhinged, sounding only one step removed from losing its identity in a feral nightmare of debauchery and twisted filth. There’s nothing pretty or romantic about this form of Black Metal. This is all about the dark side, the underbelly of the scene. The occult feeling is strong but in a base, sacrificial way; rather than being shrouded in mystery or fog it’s shrouded in blood and gore.

For all of this though the band don’t truly lose themselves in a frenzy as they’re more than capable of holding back when necessary and playing slower, no less warped riffs and passages; Hystérie Révélatrice (Part II) is a perfect example of this.

Utterly devoted releases like Revelation are surprisingly rare these days. If you like your Black Metal primal and unadorned then this is for you.

Narbeleth – A Hatred Manifesto (Review)

This is the second album from Cuban Black Metal band Narbeleth.

This is the real deal – proper underground Black Metal come to terrorize and destroy all you hold dear.

At just over 30 minutes in length it doesn’t mess around; 7 original hymns and a Urgehal cover.

A glance at the song titles and you know what you’re getting. There’s not much mistaking a band with a song called Posercorpse.

But what about the music? It’s Blacker than Black with a better recording than you might expect, which lends the songs an air of freedom to breathe in their skins. A satisfying snare sound and a cold but vital guitar tone seals the deal.

The band play plenty of blast beats but also slow down when necessary to foster an icy, unholy air with twisting melodics; Land of the Heathen being a good example, especially as it unexpectedly features clean vocals. But then Narbeleth likes to throw in the odd unexpected move here and there; such as the guitar solo in Nihilistic Propaganda.

This is exactly what you want from Black Metal.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Narbeleth/369227176434482

Shrike – Sieben (Review)

This is the third album from Germany’s Black Metallers Shrike.

Shrike impress with their unusual sound which is one of a band barely held together by their enthusiasm for their art, whilst concurrently holding it together long enough to breathe life into the 5 cold, dark tracks they offer us here.

There is a real authenticity and honesty to Shrike, and the lack of spit and polish on the songs is a plus as they live and pulse with an organic vitality that just wouldn’t necessarily be there if the band worked differently.

The songs are relatively varied and full of ideas for what is essentially primitive Black Metal. It’s a tribute to the band that they successfully inject a bit of personality into the genre and do their own thing with it.

At just over 30 minutes this is an enjoyable Black Metal album that has an elusive, intangible special ingredient that keeps you returning for more.

Favourite Track: Von den Farben der Sehnsucht. A very well constructed and nuanced song.

Neglektum – Blasphemer (Review)

Neglektum are from Sweden and play Satanic Black Metal. This is their début album.

This is dark and evil Black Metal with an icy sound and Devilish intentions. Their sound is distinctly raw and underground, but it’s a strong one nonetheless. For me the weakest link of a lot of bands who play this style of Black Metal is the drum sound as it usually comes across as really feeble. Pleasingly Neglektum have avoided this and the drums have a clear, forceful presence.

The vocals are mainly high and raspy, with the singer howling out litanies to dark powers and praises to evil in the way that Black Metal bands frequently do. It’s done well and no-one can doubt the obvious enthusiasm and passion that is emitted. He also tries his hand at some cleaner vocals occasionally and these aren’t half bad either.

The songs are quality songs that vary in speed and tempo depending on the mood. When playing faster they have an aggressive presence that is propelled by the drums and harsh screaming. The slower sections have lurking feelings of doom and dismay that seem to be bubbling just beneath the frozen layers of guitars attempting to break through.

The guitars are adept at radiating cold; they are suitably varied and hold attention throughout. The bass is even audible and makes a worthwhile contribution to the cause. Sinister melodies and infernal harmonies infect the guitar playing and really do a lot to add depth to the compositions.

Neglektum have successfully taken the standard Black Metal template and used it to create a monster of an album. Anyone who thinks that Black Metal has grown stale and needs frills, experimentation or dilution with other genres to be relevant or sound good needs to hear Neglektum.

Are you a Black Metal fan? Then get Blasphemer.

Teloch Vovin – I (Review)

US group Teloch Vovin play Black Metal with a mystical, esoteric feel and full of black magic.

Here we have 8 arcane hymns to who-knows-what, starting with the impenetrably titled 12/21/2012–1+2+2+1+2+0+1+2=11 (Including A Hymn to Apophis) which is as much 70’s Prog/Psychedelia as it is Black Metal.

The sound is atrocious, really bad, although presumably this was the intent. It sounds like it was recorded in a bucket in the early nineties.

Once you look past the dire sound you have some interesting Black Metal full of occult themes and references, sung with passion and played with intent.

The poor mixing and bad quality sound will put almost everyone off though, even those who are quite comfortable with a lo-fi Black Metal release will likely quail at this.

Good if you can take it.

Check it out here – https://soundcloud.com/earsplit/sets/teloch-vovin-i

Persekutor – Power Frost (Review)

This is a short EP by Romanian Black Metallers Persekutor.

And what a striking cover they’ve chosen! Not what you would necessarily equate with such underground Black Metal but kudos to them for avoiding the usual clichés.

The two tracks on offer here are short and straight into the action with some fuzzy Black Metal straight from the dark, dank underworld.

This is Old-School Black Metal and the first track Power Frost may be less than three minutes long but immediately grabs you with a strong guitar riff and the whisper-rasped vocals. It’s masterful display of rhythm and mood is over all too quickly though.

Second song The Twitching Hour has the same rawness of delivery as the first and seems just as quickly over, (although it’s a whopping 15 seconds longer!). A quality riff leads the way with the drums providing a simple backdrop. The vocals are raspier on this song but keep the same sense of rhythm and catchiness.

A solid EP that is far too short and mainly serves to whet the appetite for more. Hopefully the band will summon up a full length at some point in the near future and we can all bask in its glory. Hail!

Von – Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves (Review)

Veteran US Black Metal band Von return with their new full length album.

The darkness opens with a rumbling, brooding menace and sustains this feeling of malevolence and tension throughout the entire album.

Von ratchet up the pressure using their moody approach to atmosphere well; even when they put their foot on the accelerator the taut environment just keeps getting tighter.

These 9 tracks are Von’s attempt to create a bleak, disheartening experience for the listener; to take them on a Blackened trip to regions uncharted. The songs transport and transform, and once experienced no-one is the same again.

The vocals are Hellish emanations straight from the blackest abyss. Less singing and more arcane belchings of pure misanthropy.

Von have unleashed 54 minutes of darkened art, concentrating on twisted melodies and demonic auras to spread their uncompromising gospel. It won’t be to everyone’s taste of course but what art ever is?

Tjolgtjar – Kjal Tjormejn (Review)

The highly prolific Tjolgtjar come to us from the US with the latest full-length Kjal Tjormejn.

This album contains two tracks over the length of 47 minutes. The first song Kjal Tjormejn Part 1 is only 5 minutes long and just seems to be a cut off version of the main 42 minute song Kjal Tjormejn.

This is an epic composition of strange, angular Black Metal. Riffs and melodies stick out and criss cross each other like no-one’s business, and the entire wonderful track is something akin to a Black Metal 70’s Prog masterpiece; like Mütiilation covering and corrupting Pink Floyd or something. It may sound odd on paper but it definitely works. Add to that some, (blackened), Southern Rock riffs and others that sound like they could be, (blackened), action movie soundtrack riffs, you have a varied and interesting release that’s essentially a great listen from start to finish.

The vocals have an approach of Black Metal shrieks and various cleaner strains ranging from moaning to falsetto and most in between, although the main emphasis of the album is the diverse musicality on display.

The production is underground Black Metal, and quite brittle sounding, but that sense of fragility somehow manages to enhance the music. Everything is also clearly recorded giving the inventive music the space it needs to tentatively creep out of the speakers and infect your brain. In fact this sense of a spiky, angular Black Metal sound combined with a sense of brittle fragility is quite endearing and only serves to enhance the inspired, ambitious music.

A release like this won’t be to everyone’s tastes of course, but if you are open to it there is a lot to enjoy here.

Mania – Revel (Review)

Seeping out of the US; Mania play underground Black metal with added elements of, well, pretty much every other filthy, blood-caked underground Metal genre there is.

This is a very varied release, yet none of it sounds out of place and it all fits within the murky template of Black Metal. Combining everything from blackened Grind, to (grim) Post-Metal, to blasting Black, to blackened Doom, to mid-paced attack to…they manage to cover it all and do all of it well. The song Mirror is a great example of this. Within its 8 minutes we have softly-softly Post-Metal, whispered Doom, blasting screaming Black Metal and angelic high vocals. Perfect.

Variety for the sake of it can be a catastrophe but Mania are skilled enough to pull it off effectively. Combining the best of rough-and-ready underground Black with the souring epic melodic atmosphere of Cascadian Black, I find it hard to say enough good things about this album. The atmosphere conjured up on this release is just awe-inspiring. In fact, the only thing I can find to complain about is the length – next time I want more!

One of the best, most accomplished Black metal releases I have heard this year. There is nothing to not like here.

Favourite Track: Portals.

Wan – Enjoy the Filth (Review)

Dirty Black Metal from Sweden, brought to you with raw punk attitude. Halfway between crust and Darkthrone. If you enjoy bands such as Black Witchery and Watchmaker this is for you.

Short, sharp songs are the order of the day, but they are not the blast-fests you might expect. Mid-paced malevolence rules the roost here for the most part. This is almost like a hardcore band discovering some black metal riffs to go alongside their normal fare and then recording it in a distinctly Black Metal way. Not too far removed from Teen Cthulhu in that respect, only with more of a Darkthrone-esque influence here I suppose.

Obnoxious, Satanic underground evil seeps from the speakers as you play this. You can actually feel the grime. This is the perfect album to stick on when you’re in a foul mood and want everyone around you to just fuck off and die. What more can be said?

Facebook

Streaming track