Black Hole Generator : "A Requiem For Terra"

From the brain child behind Vulture Industries comes this apocalyptic metal album that hits you with the same black thunder a band like Dimmu once steam rolled you with. The difference here is some of the more dramatic orchestral trappings are cast aside for something more straight forward and powerful. Now if you read that as me saying this is better than Dimmu, then I am setting the record straight. It is in a similar vein but the riffs are not as catchy. The throb with a different heart beat behind them than their fellow country men.

By the second song things get a little more dramatic vocally. I can hear shades of Arcturus in this, though there is less of that carnival feel and a darker mood. The vocals sound more like something in the gothic flavor of Michael Crawford's Phantom of the Opera. Things do get more intense. This is more mainstream metal than it is black metal. There are more growled vocals on "Moloch". This feels like more run of the mill death metal, with a somewhat spookier underbelly. Not as well composed as the first two songs. They do wind up in a nastier blasting section, but I would not refer to it as black metal. The vocals to the verses of "Beneath a Chemical Sky' are at first sung in more of a crazed caterwaul . This is more of a mid-paced song. It reminds me a little of the Ian Gillan Black Sabbath years.

They gather a mean storm that should be taken more seriously on "Emerging Pantheon". The vocals here are more like something Attila might do. The guitars go into a more spastic shredding mode , so if that is something you are into , know these guys can go there. Though the guitarists from Enslaved and Taake help with this endeavor. Black metal circles are not known for their shredding so it's cool to know more of them can they you might think, though Fredheim from Enslaved is one of the best guitarists out there now, so that might not be as big of a surprise. There is a more deliberate tone to the stomp of "Earth Eater".

Things slow down for the more Urfaust like doom of "Spiritual Blight" that closes the album. The vocals are almost operatic, but at times seem wavering in regards to pitch. Overall this is pretty solid despite the fact industrial was thrown around a lot in regards to these guys and there was nothing industrial at all about these guys.  I'll give this an 8.5.