Black Metal History Month - Rotting Christ : "ΠΡΟ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ"

 

The Greek Black Metal icons are celebrating their 35th year as a band with their 14th album. The album's title translates to "Before Christ" and is a tribute to the pagan religions that preceded Christianity. There is a mid-tempo triumphant pulse that resonates in these songs and feels closer to "pagan metal" than Black Metal. This is not a surprise as their sound has been heading in this direction for some time. The vocals are proclaimed with more of a dramatic command, that just growled or screamed. The sung vocals layered in places around this continue to be an effective tool for building the epic nature of these songs. Epic is a word that is overused when it comes to metal, but these guys are one of the few bands these days where it is an accurate description of what they do rather than just being a figure of speech. 

The bass becomes the prominent backbone of  "The Sixth Day" which provides a dynamic shift. The guitars harmonize melodies around this driving rumble. Sakis' vocals take on a little more of a scowl on this one as well. The drums are also another high light as their accents switch things up as the song progresses. The first song that feels black metal is " La Lettera Del Diavolo". The blast beat that runs under it is juxtaposed by more staccato orchestration. It ebbs down in its dynamics and allows for more melodic elements to work their way into its layers.  "the Farewell" chugs along a more traditional heavy metal ground, with the guitar riffs compensating for the vocals. The song has all the punches in all the right places to serve as a testament to their songwriting talents. The song pulses off the same groove for the duration but it's the way the orchestrated sounds are worked in that makes it something more. 

"Pix Lax Dax" finds them chugging down a similar road as the previous song. The double bass perhaps laid on thicker here. The choral vocals accent things with a more flowing purpose. In some ways  "Pretty World, Pretty Dies" breaks from the formula that has been dominant more often than not with this album. It does still ride the feeling of riding triumphantly off from another victory. "Yggdrasil" works off a greater tension. The chorus emulates that of Viking-drinking songs with less of the frolicking feel that most folk metal defaults to. Most of the song's dynamic flow lies in the hands of their drummer. 'Saorise" is another exploration of a building storm of tension, being conveyed before battle explodes. There is a little more of an Iron Maiden-like feel to how it gallops. It is however a little brighter and hopeful in tone than what black metal should do. I will give this album a 9. These guys continue to perfect what they do that grows more massive in scope with each album. 

pst52

Black Metal History Month - Looking Back in Anger at Rotting Christ's "the Mighty Contract"

 In 1993 the vision of the Greek Godless Fathers brought to life of black metal is not much different than what it is thought of today. They are already bringing the blast beats in moderation on 'Transform All Suffering Into Plagues". In fact, I think the album might warrant more admiration than you hear it getting in black metal circles today. But we will delve deeper into it. Early 90s metal still had a solid dose of the classic 80sa sound as can be heard in some of the more galloping thrash touches that give an almost "Seek and Destroy" sound to some of the riffs. However, it is catchy and holds up over the years. 

"His Sleeping Majesty" has more of a death metal feel to its more deliberate use of power chords. Granted when they pour the speed on for "Exiled Archangels" the results are no different than when other bands. The key here is that bands had the songwriting smarts to follow the path laid out by bands like Juda Preist, which took you back to a catchier riff. The epic gallop "Dive the Deepest Abyss" is more effective than when they try this earlier form of blast beats. The vocals are way more central to the song than the black metal of today.  "Coronation of the Serpent" works off a throbbing tension more like what they do today, but mixed with thrash sensibility. 

Compared to their new stuff this is more blackened, but you can hear how the evolution makes sense. There is a tangible Mercyful Fate influence in the last song. There are fewer Satanic dramatics, but if you replaced the vocals with King Diamond it could have come from "Don't Break the Oath". Granted the same could be said of many of Emperor's songs as well.  But it's a good thing. I will give this album a 9 as the maturation and more layered cinematic sound they have today is more effective, but this was a proper starting point and a damn good album that holds up over time.  

PST48

Insomnium : "Anno 1696"

This Finnish band normally writers pretty hooky death metal. This album is somewhat conceptual as it focuses on witches and their persecution in northern Europe.  The opening track is pretty much what you expect with a few more folk elements, The second song has Sakis from Rotting Christ on the track. The album is well produced, and the guitars have plenty of room. The write with a great deal of melody haunting the songs.  Johanna Kurkela provides vocals on "Godforsaken" which is more deliberate than many of the harmonized guitar thrashings I have heard from this band in the past. There feels like there is more dynamic ebb and flow with this album. 

The drums could carry more thunder in the mix, which makes things not sound as heavy or as dense as they could. "Lilian" feels almost more like a Nightwish song going into it. It is not until the vocal roar to life that the distinction is made. The attack with more of an At the Gates like aggression going into it. The growling has power behind it, but is limited in terms of the range they covered. They do not create a hook, but come close. The guitars continue to get more melodic with each song. The pace picks up but it does not sound more intense in so doing. "Starless Paths" feels longer than it needs to be. It does find the band wandering off in melodic side quests .  This album is surprisingly not cluttered with guitar solos and those that do appear are rather tasteful.

Aside from the strum of clean guitar "the Witch Hunter' could be any melodic death metal band following the formula originally birthed from their neighbors in Sweden. Not the album's most inspired moment, but well executed. "the Unrest" feels like a cross between Opeth and Tiamat, which works even though it is more of a ballad. "the Rapids" lingers on the mood established on the previous song before the double bass kicks in. What I said about "the Witch Hunter" applies here, though this song is more dynamic, the originality factors weighs in the same. I will however give this album an 8.5 as it excels at working off this formula and does so in a richly melodic manner. 

7.3

Black Metal History Month - Rotting Christ "The Heretics"

This band is deserving to be the first review of Black Metal History month since They have been churning out black metal before it was black metal as we now know it. So  for the past 19 years they have expanded their sound into something beyond black metal. Bigger and sometimes more symphonic like Dimmu Borgir. This also explains why they have a larger audience. They continue to weave in various elements of world music into their sound. It pays off and proves they care about their songs. "Heaven and Hell and Fire"  is more of a straight forward metal epic that has more of a pagan metal feel.  " Hallowed Be Thy Name" is not a cover of the Iron Maiden song, I am not sure why bands would ever name a song after a metal classic is would be like naming a song "War Pigs" or "Angel of Death". This song is a slow churning number of beastly proportions. There is a sung refrain that does get its hooks in you.  They slave over the powerful riff and let it drone on.

"Dies Irae" holds a similar tension that is becoming their signature. I don't find this tension as gripping . There is almost a Nordic feel to the chant that drives "I Believe". I am not sure about this spoken vocal that feels like it goes on a little longer than it should. So it's at this point that it feels like the album begins to lose some of the momentum from it's strong opening. There is more of a black metal feel to the march of "Fire God and Fear". The vocals are commanding and it has a big borderline symphonic chorus.It pulls them out to the stagnant one riff drone the other songs were falling into. There  is even a cool atmospheric interlude where tension builds in a more effective manner, leading into a guitar solo. This is more than likely the best song on the album.

"the Time Has Come" has a thundering build up that reminds me of "Enter Sandman".  It's heavier and has a more pagan like chant in the background. There is a lower muttered spoken vocal that builds into more of their typical growl. While this is better than some of the songs that I didn't feel went much of anywhere, it is hard to follow up the previous song , so they set the bar higher for themselves. It almost reminds me of a more metallic less industrial version of Rammstein.  "The New Messiah" opens with a more interesting chant. It goes into a more tense chug, the vocals are really well layered to provide a contrast.This song proves they can work off the more limited range of riffs and still make a good song. While the lyrics to "the Raven" are pulled right from the Edgar Allen Poe poem, the feel a little clunky like something My Dying Bride might do in their more overly ambitious moments when it goes into the spoken parts. I'll round this down to a 9, I like it better than the last album and it works much more often than not, if you are fan then you will love this . For it to get a 9 I;m clearly impressed, but not going to call it a classic.

Comes out Feb 15th on Season of Mist.

Black Metal History Month - Rotting Christ : " Rituals"

The kings of Greek black metal are back. I know they haven't actually been black metal for some time, but indulged in an amalgamation of goth, death metal and black metal, but did so in a much more experimental fashion than Behemoth. The opener is strong it has the big militant chant that has characterized their more recent material. The guitar tone in places sounds more industrial to me, but my first impression of this album is that I am much more impressed than I was with their 2013 album. There is a slower and more deliberate pound to "Ze Nigmar" . Lower baritone vocals are sung in more of a chant as the song throbs with a oppressive march. Things start getting weird on " Elthe Kyrie" as very staccato female vocals that remind me of Yoko Ono litter the verses. There is a brighter and almost Celtic tone to the song as well. There are other guest vocalists on the album such as Vorph from Samael  and Nick Holmes from Paradise Lost.

The chug over Vorph's reading is powerful on "Les Litanies De Satan",  but the song hangs on this just building on another marching beat that feels unresolved, though the chanted vocals that come in sound like they are from "Rosemary's Baby". "Apage Satana" has a tribal industrial feel and works off the same droning chant model the bulk of their songs now seem to flow from. They do deviate from this on the more viking metal sounding 'Tou Thanatou" that ebbs back and forth from a blast beat. The vocals have a  huge choral sound in  parts and a guitar solo also makes an appearance. The paradise Lost singer surfaces on " For a Voice Like Thunder". It starts with a very dramatic spoken word narrative and them transforms into something resembling more of a conventional metal song."Knox Om Pax" keeps things varied at a more ominous doom pacing. It slowly chugs into place. This album much like the two before it have a massive almost cinematic sound. They lock into a very steady chug with a blast beat running like a current beneath it.

While the esoteric nature of this album is clear in the bands intentions the first song that really captures this in the broadest sense is "Devadevam". Sure it follows a similar singular path that can be argued captures more of the ritualistic vibe the album is going for, but the counter to that is the trapping of magick this album surrounds itself with might come from an honest place, but at the end of the day this is a heavy metal album and songs is what it is all about. On both levels they succeeded with this song. The album closes with "Four Horsemen" which carries a dark pulse. It sounds like it could replace the theme song to the History Channels Vikings show. It builds fittingly up into an apocalyptic throb. I'll give this album a 9 it's a big improvement from their last one and finds the band back on better footing.

Rotting Christ: "Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy"

This greek band started off as what was considered black metal in the eighties and now are often just labelled as dark metal, which I can understand as the trapping of what sonically would be considered black metal is sparser with each album. They have continued on a similar diresction as that of " Aealo".the Drone the groove of a riff for the duration of the song with little by the way of changing sections of the song are normally just built upon rather than transitioned into a different section.

Lyrically and thematically it's like the it's a small world of the left hand path every song explores a different cultures expression of the dark side. Some of these are conceptually mashed up like the opener "In Yumen Xibalba" where Yumen is related to the great wall of china and Xibalba refers to the Mayan underworld ...so the great wall of china is the gateway to Mayan hell? Um...o.k, the song it's self is a good uptempo opener they build on the riff and the vocal chant runs an undercurrent against more forceful vocals.

P'chunchaw Kachun-Tutankhamen Kachun - is from an Inca hymn. To be Inca it has more of a european feel. The chanting monks in the back ground lend to this, the guitar harmonies work, the song is other wise pretty straight forward , working off varied build up and some throat singing ringing out amid the chants. It's uniquely Rotting Christ but it feels with their last album they came too far to default into something so similar to that.

Grandis Spiritus Diavolos is Latin for asking to have the spirit of the devil supersized, though spirit can also mean breathing , deep breathing devil could apply, the. Metal version of the Omen soundtrack is what's going down.the chants is now becoming not just a novelty but just what they do, the main verse riff is big though straightforward and pretty punching almost in a more rock n roll sense. It has the head banging drive some of the other chants lacked. In some ways it sounds like Rammstein, manly the baritone vocals. While its repetitive the epic nature of what they are doing makes that more easily overlooked. I like the way the vocals are layer on this one and it's a big production when ever the goth men's choir chimes in with their bellowing . they get credit here for the choral break down because it's not just them pounding away at the part until the guitar solo comes in.

Title track means every thing from "Do what thou wilt" to the enscription on Jim Morrioms grace that's a variations FYI slime of thought, the riff is very similar to the owner but with breakdowns and chanting accenting this riff, it's a rhythmically more variant change , though the fast palm muted guitar is where the repition lies until the harmony past kicks in , it's a different take on a theme already established on the album , and the feel changes half way through so I can live with it for the excellence is more in the execution here.

This is weird and given the nature of the county it's derived from so,what Negura Bunget as this is a song by a Romanian singer it's translates into ...who loves then leaves so this is their break up song . The femal vocals add needed varied this album was begging for at this point the chug of the guitar even switches it up. There's a weird break down in the last two minties and the chanting comes back. At this points it had begu. To feel a like
A more aggressive Therion album to me.

Iwa Voodoo, now we are jumping around Majick systems here, the vocals take on more of a scream, the chant more guttural as well. This one is short and sweet , very straight forward, almost to a fault. Two minutes in the first change takes place , the more mid tempo pace is smart on their part and the guitar solo blazes out of it fairly well.

Gilgames is one of the great floods from Sumerian mythology , where the whole Noah story is stolen from, and while we are talking about theft, they stole the riff to this song from their, I don't really feel it brings much new to the table though the guitar solo in it. Is pretty cool.

Pycanka comes from a Ukranian myth about the fate of the world resting on an Easter egg. It s a quicker tune with so e whispers vocals layer under the blast, feels a little like Samael to me. The half time part at the end is cool amd helps me as I was n the fence about this one. The guitar work at the md is pretty incredible .

Anura Mazada in this one is the Iranian Sky god. It has a slight build and their are so e almost dead can dance like trapping on the outskirts , the muted guitar trick befor we builds works pretty well to me in so,e ways it feels
Ike the Nine imch nails song wish to me, though the builds and break downs feel like so etching Soulfly would do, so it's safe to safe these guys aren't trying to be black metal anymore.

666... Well gosh I wonder , the chants are back but have they really left, this one starts off feeling more like folk metal and it wouldn't be an unfounded label to slap on this album. It takes a good two and a half minutes for this one to kick in and the Soulfly low end bounce returns. Blackened folk Nu metal perhaps? It's get real rock n roll by the end. With welcome to hell and no not a Venom cover they go out on a very epic, though when every thing is this epic it loses a little of its impact.

The Greeks aren't one trick ponds on this one but hopefully they will explore a broader range of dynamics as this is the last album I can except like this. To their credit the album sounds good and would be a decent entry point for newcomers to their sound who would not be any the wiser to this being a tad of a rehash, though with the epic chants dialed up a notch. I'll around it up to an 8 as they did a good job capturing a feel i already like though almost too close for comfort which might drop it down to a seven over time so we shall we how it grows on me.

Black Metal History Week

It's a grim mood to sit in silence typing up a blog about black metal with none to listen to thanks to Mercury in retrograde frying my iPod, I did get to listen to the new Rotting Christ this morning, but now silence until I take a trip to the frosty wasteland of best buy. So in honor of black history month I have been having black metal history the least black metal band I have listened was Sabbath, but if we are going into the history of it all goes back to Them, despite their now being apologetic toward their nefarious imagery.

When black metal came into my consciousness I was in the sixth grade and associated the term with bands like venom and Slayer, Bathory I only knew by the one promo shot I saw all the time and of course King Diamon. I thought Satan was the only thing that tied them together and knew Slayer was also thought of as thrash, though they sounded more evil than other thrash bands like Overkill and Testament. I think the sound of evil is a good defining point , the black metal which we think of now days by way of Norway , has the dirty chords which have a dissonant drone to them , more often than not tremelo picked has this sound of evil. I have covered Von on this blog and think they play an important role of pushing what we consider black metal today forward though their part was contributed at the time y underground tape trading.

Not unlike the occult black metal has both flourished and been diluted by the Internet. Occult ,exams hidden , it's the searching which plays the most important role in the path rather than the destination.the factso,Rome is striking out on a path for themselves, with out seeking the aide of others is what makes it the most misanthropic of the spiritual paths. The same principle can be applie to black metal. On metal forums and Facebook you hear people lament how black metal is now too mainstream. This was said years ago when "Until the light takes us" came out and before that when the "Lords of Chaos" book came out.

Granted it has become a fixture in pop culture imagery, the Rob Zombie movie " Lords of Salem " even features corpse paint clad Villians, but it's more about the look than the evil sound as how many black meta
Bands todayfuck with corpse paint? Even Behemoth has toned down that element. Sure there's few legit black metal bands who still carry that torch...Watain, Inquistion, and Merrimack, but beard and t shirt is more common spiked gauntlet and bulletbelt optional. But really there's no corpse paint on my iPod...not will there be any on the new one there will only be music and I will want it to sound evil.

Black metal has evolved beyond Satan, it always held a lord of the rings quality to it after all Bruzum comes from Orc tongue and Tolkien narrowed heavily from the Norse eddas , and I personally don't believe in evil or morality , but rather effective and ineffective , so evil could mean dark , so what I look for in black metal is a dark resonance. the new Von captures this well, the Darkthrone is a great album but not dark, more epic, which I reserve for power metal. Inquistion I think has a perfect black metal guitar sound, but isnt blinding fast, yet their are distinct differences in their sound than Burzum or Mayhem.

I remember at one time wasn't into the second wave bands because everything I had heard sounded like shit , and I said to my friend Brann , I like black metal in theory but have a hard time with it because the production sounds so shitty, he told me to check out Enslaved. I did and it clicked in place for me after them Dimmu, Darkthrone, Agalloch and Dissection. Now I listen to PlagueWeilder to go to sleep. If you asked last fm who were my top ten most listened to post-metal bands it would tell you.
1- Darkthrone
2- Nachtmystium
3- Watain
4- Dimmu Borgir
5- Burzum
6- Atriarch
7- Emperor
8- Dissection
9- Immortal
10-Ofermod

So maybe not the most kvlt list ever, there are bands bubbling under or around those that aren't black metal any more like Autumn for Crippled Children and Shining and even on that list how black metal are Darkthrone or Dimmu now? Dimmu being symphonic metal more than anything and even Atriarch almost equal parts death rock and doom with their black metal, but that what I like about black metal is aside from Funeral Doom the only sub genre where there's enoug room to experiment , where what it is allows it's self to be expansive enough for growth.

I read a post on fet-life asking if black metal is dead, and I think the hipness of it has worn off so it will now expand and contract , ebb and flow, solve and coagulate, like most good art forms should,the trends have come and gone , black gaze, pagan black metal, suicidal black metal, post- black metal all looked to be the next big thing and the bands which could have taken them to that level in turn modulated into something beyond that label, but taking your own is what the genre is about. What black metal release am I looking forward to this year ? Well in no particular order

1-Woe
2- Deafheaven
3-Agrypnie
4-Arckanum
5-Summoning
6- Twilight
7-Negura Bunget
8-Urfaust
9- Nattsol
10- Aeternus