Black Metal History Month -Ulthar : "Anthronomicon"

 The thing about blackened death metal is if it takes the riffing smarts of death metal and combines it with the darker mood of black metal is it a wonderful sonic force. Most of the time it results in the worst of both genres. This California band hits the mark on the opening track of their new album and rather than the more buzzing guitar I have already hear too much of this morning their are hooky riffs that grab my ears. This is not always the case. From death metal they also brought with them technical ability so by the second song, riffs are woven in an angular fashion all over the place. Then their black metal tendencies manage to turn this into a throb that owe more to Watain or Dissection depending on the angle with which they are coming from. I started writing this after my second listen to the album as the first listen found it grinding and blasting past my ears

"Flesh Propulsion" finds them digging into the grit of death metal. The vocals even take on a lower growl. There are a few cool riffs amid the maze of torment the song leads you into, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. "Astranumeral Octave Chants" lashes out with feral vengeances, when the they ride the chug rather than plunge into chaos it works best. They are out to make this uneasy listening so it's not common that happens . They find more of a groove to beat your ears with on "Coagulation of Forms".  A minute and a half in the get spastic as the drumming is unable to control himself. When they get more deliberate it is a more enjoyable listen. 

The last two songs roar out of the aggressive frenzy that has generally possessed this album. The momentum causes the songs to collide and they fall from one another making it hard to tell not as much which song is which due to the uniform sonic feel. The riffing of the last song has more to latch onto , but not as much as the opening track. I will give this album an 8. They are good at what they do , what they do can just begin to sound the same at times.

 

June is Death - Ulthar : " Providence"

It opens with a two minute burst of meaness. What is this doing different. These guys are not just stirring up the sense of nostalgia from 90s Tampa. There is a dash of black meta lto what they do , but it is not like the set out to be a blackened death metal band , things just sound how they sound. The blackness can be found in the following ways , first the vocals can take on a bit of a black metal snarl in places. The title track has the explosivness of black metal, but the technical prowess of death metal for sure. It is the clean guitar tones going into the second song that I find more impressive. This is the what do you do that is not what every death metal band does comes into play . I tried to review the new Centinex album, but it was too color by numbers death metal so I am glad this album is helping keep my interest.

They are more chaotic than your average death metal band. I know because I have already had to sort through a lot of average death metal in the first two weeks of the month. It is four song in when the album retains a sonic menace , but in terms of the story it should tell and how much it draws me into the shit storm, well the unhinged nature of what they are doing begins to play against it. "Cudgel" does find them slowing down into more powerful chugs that allow the double bass to get behind what they are doing. It is this delicate balance between using key elements of the genre, while not being slaves to them . Once again it is the spastic unhinged nature that makes it more of a sound and less of a song.

By the time we get to 'Furnace Hibernation" the ears are getting numbed out by the bulldozing riffs. If you just want sheer feral meaness, then this has it. If you want a song that has things like melodies worth repeating. Look elsewhere. Yes it is crushing, no it doesn't really take you anywhere outside of that. The pumelling does not relent on "Narcissus Drowning". Yep it is ripping fast with more of a blackened snarl, but that is about all there is to it . The last song doesn't improve on that thus the album descends into a blur of roaring blasts. This gets a 7.5 , heavy for the sake of heavy sometimes works better than others, a little too single minded for me , but if you are head banger of simple tastes it might appeal to you. Out on 20 Buck Spin.