Black Metal History Month - Aoratos :"Gods Without Name"

Naas Alcameth from Nightbringer and Akhlys bring to us this piece of darkness. The first track is more of an intro an less of a song than "Holy Mother of  Terror" . The emphasis is on double bass rather than blast beats. You might think this gives them a more death metal sound , but that is not the case. The vocals have more of a scowl to them. They have a icy atmosphere draped over the album. At times it reminds me of a less straight forward Immortal. The vocals have less of a croak and the epic thrash riff are not there. By the 3rd song they are pouring on almost too much speed for their own good, though things have a disturbing dissonance that makes up for this. The vocal go into almost a more Cradle of Filth like rasp.

They continue to pour on the double bass before things get creepy for the title track. Between the guitars and the synths they are throwing a lot at you quick. While this is very dark, I think it's angrier than melancholy. The vocals get nastier in their intent on this one. They do use blast beats, but not in the same droning manner of bands who want to be Darkthrone do. By the time we get to "Thresher" the novelty is beginning to wane and the way the came out you full speed ahead, makes everything a blur. Sure if you listen closely there are some nuances. But are they enough to make this stand out from all the other extreme metal bands that throw the kitchen sink at you at 200 mph. Then the more fury ridden blasting comes going into "the Watcher on the Threshold".  The signature double bass comes in and give more breathing room, though it's more in your face than a dynamic ebb. It done better than the riffs rained down upon your ears in the previous song. I can see where this might be what your average fan of black metal might want.

Things get darker and more melodic for "Dead Spirit of the Place". This gives them a more original sound of their own, though it does depart from the more traditional trappings of black metal aside from the rasp of the vocals . I'll round this album up to an 8. It is not likely to get many more listens from me , but I can appreciate it for what it is and it's really dark black metal which is the way it should be, I just feel it relies on speed to much for my personal tastes, though it's well done.

Nightbringer : "Terra Damnata"

The Colorado black metal horde has returned with their 5th album and continue to slay by summoning some of the most legit black metal to come out of the States. The snarl takes you back to the golden years of the 90's for some classic hateful screaming. There is a cool angular section in the latter half of "Misrule". These guys have all the grandiose venom, but taper it with some eerie and unhinged moments. "Midnight's Crow " reminds me a little of older Dimmu Borgir. The production on the album is the shit it sounds pretty massive.The effect on the vocals on "Of key and crossed bones" further pushes it in the Dimmu direction. Which I am fine with as it's not really ripping them off but using a blueprint they perfected and working off of that.

A piano starts of "Let the Silence be..." before throwing them into a rapid fire blast beat. The drums sound like a wall that is rolling over you. They have a very dramatic and orchestrated sound without being symphonic. The songs is just well layered and arranged though it doesn't snake through the same dark maazes as Dimmu. /The use of synths is a card well played on this album as they push the dynamic intensity forward with adding an element of cheese. They do not rely on them as much as Dimmu and fall on the side of earlier Emperor when it comes to this. The vocals on "Inheritor of a Dying World" remind me a little of the more dramatic exclamations of Watain. This song slows things down a little and allows the double bass to speed up around it rather than trying to keep up.

The dark dissonance to "the Lamp of Inverse Light" sets a pretty powerful tone. They layer samples over the extended chords as the song creeps to life. While it sounds cool enough I am not sure it deserves to stand along as an instrumental.  They end things on a more brisk note  It is a more typical take on black metal but these guys do it so well that it doesn't bore me like a thousand other bands who might attempt this with a more rough hewn production value and less precise playing.  I'll give this album an 8.5, it's really good, I don't have any complaints about it some of the songs just grab me more than others and the ones that run off pure aggression don't speak to me as strongly , other than that this is a must for fans of black metal. This is being released April 14th on Season of Mist.

Behexen : "the Poisonous Path"

These guys are the real deal when it comes to Finnish black metal or any black metal for that matter. The album hits you with a dark blast that blurred past me and it wasn't until the second song that I really began to tune into this. They have been around since 96 and have ties to most notably Sargeist, who almost all of the members have played in but also bands like Horna, Nightbringer and Kult ov Azazel. They seem to prefer playing at the more thrashing speed of "Cave of the Dark Dreams" which also finds them conforming more closely to the sound brandished by a hundred other black metal bands. They come across as being heavier on the more deliberate " A Sword of Promethean Fire". The vocals are a lower more death metal rasp. They tune lower than your average black metal band so this is fitting. Two minutes in they erupt into blasting and lose this groove. The gang like chant that chimes in add a cool snarl to the song. They keep up the pace for "Umbra Luciferi". Its dense and dark with the cavernous boom of death metal, but relies on sheer heaviness alone.

The album continues to race and ramble down the same left hand path it began on with monochrome shades of leather. There are some punches and accents that stand out more than others. The chorus on some songs are more defined than others. If you have ever complained about Watain being too melodic or not cvlt enough for you then this should not overwhelm you. That is not to say they do not develop any melodic tendencies as they do occur in an atmospheric context.They care more about speed, but are capable of chasing that dragon without resorting soley to blast beats. The beatings continue until morale is improved "Chalice of Abysmal Water" only flirting with the darker melodic black metal chord voicing. They continue to dig deeper into the more musical abyss on "Pentagram of the Black Earth".  They throw this to the hot winds of the underworld on "Gallows of Inversion" which is more of a blast fest. It is more along the blackened death metal side of black metal to me, but these guys came to be at a time when those lines were not fully drawn. By the time we get to the last song it's understood that these guys are good at what they do, but I'm lost as to who they are with their own original sound, however it's as good as color by numbers black metal gets so I'll give it a 6.5.