Black Metal History Month- Nasheim : "Jord och Aska"

I loved the 2014 album "Solens Vemod" . So I was looking forward to this one. To my chagrin the 41 minutes worth of music is being crammed into 3 songs. The first song  whose title translates to Hover Over the Expanses is 20 minutes. I appreciate how darkly melodic it is bordering on doom, but the first 5 minutes kinda just drones off the same theme. Closing in on the six minute mark things pick up. So the first four minutes of this song could have been edited down. The bass is impressive and how many times does that get said about a black metal album? At the 8 minute mark there is a fucking head banger of a riff that really drives. It takes about 12 minutes for the vocals which are a mid ranged rasp to come in. By the end of the song there are sung vocals though they sit back in the mix.

The title of the album translates to soil and ash, so there seems to be a nature theme here. The second song is titled in English from Swedish " Gray the Bitterly Sown Forests" . It is more deliberate. The atmosphere is thick funeral doom. Just over the half way mark sung vocals come in , which provide a nice dynamic contrast from the more commanding snarls. There is a droning guitar riff that does repeat in the this song. The last song which translates to "Lower Me in Silence" starts off hammering at you then the layers of melody and atmosphere begin to sink in. The blasting is pretty balanced against this and it sounds even better when they drop down into a groove. I think this might be the album's best song. The vocals eventually get almost power metal. Not even four minutes things have built up so epic that you can't imagine where they are going from this point . The answer is they kind of keep the intensity and coast over a more half time section. This is just in the first 9 minutes. Like their previous releases the violin plays a large role in establishing many of the melodies.

I'll give this album a 9 so it falls short of  "Solens Vemod" , but is still pretty impressive. I like the sense of melancholy and the big sounds some of the heavier sections invoke. If you are a fan of this project there is nothing you are not going to like in terms of what they are bringing to the table sonically. I think the longer song format, doesn't lend itself to being as fine tuned when it comes to the song writing as things are allowed to sprawl out.

Top 15 Albums of 2014

In looking at the list 2014 was an odd year. Some of the greats didn't release what I would consider their best work, but even when the likes of Morrissey dials it in, the result is still better than what most do. Some younger bands stepped up their game and grew in ways that shifted them from one genre to the next. All of these albums either scored a ten or grew on me and proved their perfection down the road.

15- Kall -s/t

Lifelover is back, but not as black.This has a more droning black n roll feel. It just falls shy of being black metal, but an excellent melancholy affair .

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/12/kall-st.html



14-Emptiness -"Nothing But the Whole"

A stunningly desperate soundtrack. This album oozes both atmosphere and emotion defying sub genres.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/11/catching-up-with-2014-emptiness-nothing.html

13- Mayhem-"Esoteric Warfare"

If Mayhem had tried to make another "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" it would have bored the bullet belt right off me. Instead they release an album with pristine production, that takes chances and takes no prisoners. Attila has never sounded better and Hellhammer makes his case for being the best drummer in black metal. As Spinal Tap once asked "How much blacker can you get ? the answer was none then and it is none now.

12-Youth Code- A Place to Stand

One of the best industrial bands I have heard in some time. This duo is dark, mean and confrontational, even if their singer is a little blond girl.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/10/youth-code-place-to-stand.html

11- Atriarch- " An Unending Pathway"

They graduated from the metal chart to goth, as the death rock vibe is stronger. The metal elements are now more of a sonic Neurosis thing and they have left doom and black metal at home.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/10/atriarch-unending-pathway.html

10-Swans - To Be Kind

My favorite band this side of the Smiths takes the number ten, because "To Be Kind" is more like a  series of live jams they translated to the studio, but even when Gira is just playing around he is still better than most.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/05/swans-to-be-kind.html

9- Ice Age -"Plowing into the Field of Love"

These guys have grown in leaps and bounds, so much so the rock swagger injected on this album now makes them much more qualified for this list than being called post-punk.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/09/iceage-plowing-fields-of-love.html

8- Nasheim - "Solens Vemod"

The Swedish act is another one man show. The master mind behind this is Erik Grahn. Grahn  came out  of the gate on his first full length and killed it. This album sweeps you away. Combining the lush romanticism of Emperor, atmosphere and incredible arrangements, my only regret it not finding this masterpiece when it came out under the radar back in February.

9-Nocturnal Depression-"Near to the Stars"

Quality Depressive Suicidal Black Metal wasn't exactly flourishing this year, but this French project featuring  one of the members of Make a Change Kill Yourself, brought a healthy dose of despair. Despite the lo-fi production this album carries the drone of Burzum while wallowing in the futility of it's existence.

8-Wormreich-"Wormcult Revelations" This is the band's first release on Moribund Records and you would never guess from the dark depraved tornado of chaos invoked on this album,that these guys are from the Deep South.Beautifully dissonant and chillingly dynamic, my only regret is that I haven't been able to give this one more spins. I suppose it's cool they threw a Death Spell Omega cover on here, I really want to hear more of what these guys are capable of conjuring on their own.

7- Thantifaxath-"Sacred White Noise"

Seeping with angular weirdness this Canadian band might be the most unique band on this list. This album is more of an exorcism that explodes into your ears rather than a barrage of blast beats. However the ugliness and anguish secures it's place in the genre and even broadens the scope of what black metal can be while staying true to itself. It's experimental but without getting lost in lazy hipster formlessness.

5-Sado Sathanas-"Nomos Harmartia"
  Plenty of epic excursions litter this of folk tinged album, but it doesn't distract these German black metallers from staying the course.They get how to be an atmospheric black metal band and not sacrificing the balls that makes this black metal to begin with. This album covers a wide range of sonic landscapes. This album goes to show you don't have to stoop to "necro" production in order to make quality black metal. 4-Ellorsith-1959

There was a smattering of death metal about this Scottish band's concept album about the Dyatlov Pass Incident, but it's so raw, cold and oppressive there is no question this is black metal. The death metal aggression is blended perfectly,so you are never wondering if the blast beats are just an after thought. This was released on a very limited cassette run, so you know it has to be cvlt as fuck.

3-Nachtmystium -"The World We Left Behind"

O.k, we get it Blake Judd has drama. He may or may not be a scumbag. This is about music, so I don't care, in fact I prefer my rock stars to be strung out on drugs, black metal needs more junkies pouring there souls out if this is what it brings.This album has all the elements that made Nachtmystium great, the creepy melodies slinking in dark alleys, the lyrics written during self-destructive binges.If this is Nachtmystium's final album then it was a good note to end on.

2- Mayhem-"Esoteric Warfare"

If Mayhem had tried to make another "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" it would have bored the bullet belt right off me. Instead they release an album with pristine production, that takes chances and takes no prisoners. Attila has never sounded better and Hellhammer makes his case for being the best drummer in black metal. As Spinal Tap once asked "How much blacker can you get ? the answer was none then and it is none now.

1- Nasheim - "Solens Vemod"

The Swedish act is another one man show. The master mind behind this is Erik Grahn. Grahn  came out  of the gate on his first full length and killed it. This album sweeps you away. Combining the lush romanticism of Emperor, atmosphere and incredible arrangements, my only regret it not finding this masterpiece when it came out under the radar back in February.