Winterfylleth : "The Imperious Horizon"

 Catching up buzzed about albums that slipped under my radar. I have reviewed most of their previous album, the earlier work is better. This album opens with the intensity you want from black metal It storms along like Immortal, though the vocals are shouted out in a very staccato manner. The song after this just kind of blasts along a similar current that does not do as much for me, as I am not a big fan of when all of a band's songs sound the same. Is their drummer a machine, able to keep up with the guitars? Sure. The album has a massive sound so that might impress you. If you begin skipping a little on the song to see if it goes anywhere, it does not seem to be heading away from this buzz. There are many guitar parts piled on top of one another, so maybe you are in very subtle difference.

The same blasting buzz kicks in for "Upon this shore' and it bores me. There are some guitar melodies but it feels like a mute point if it is layered over the same tempos as the other songs. The first real change happens at about four and a half minutes in but it's woefully short-lived. The title track does find things dropping down midway into the song. But these songs are really long for them to just blast off one theme. Maybe things are going to take a turn at this point.  The 11-minute song  "the Silent Grace' opens with clean guitar offering a more melancholic turn. We are not midway into the album, so they took their time getting here., The singer from Primordial joins in on this one. Making it the album's best song, 

"To the Edge of Tyranny" is more straightforward and in your face which is an improvement, as it's not just blasting you into a coma. The last song "In Insurrection" snarls with conviction as they attack in a more deliberate yt blackened manner. I will give this album an 7.5, as it gets better midway through and the overall sound of the album compensates as a whole. 

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the Top 10 Mainstream Metal Albums of 2023

Mainstream Metal is defined here as the middle of the road that does not lean too far in the direction of other genres that have their own lists. Power Metal and Thrash are the two most common sub-genres and are considered just renaming this the top 10 Power Metal and Thrash albums, but who knows what the future will bring so left it as is. These are not the coolest albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say, After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Mainstream Metal albums of 2023.

10-Overkill -"Scorched" 

. Bobby Ellsworth's voice is still intact at 63, so that is half the equation for success. He and D.D Verni are the remaining founder members of the band, but D.D. is writing the bulk of the songs, their sound is pretty much intact. The new-ish guitarists provide enough fretboard pyrotechnics to satisfy the average thrash fan.I am pleased with this album, and the risks they do take pay off though they mainly deliver what you want from them with well-aged grace,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/overkill-scorched.html

9- Cirith Ungol  -"Dark Parade" 

 More of the band's lineup is intact than most bands whose careers reach back to the 70s. Greg Lindstrom and Robert Garven formed the band back in 1971. With vocalist Tim Baker joining them for their first album. Baker's snarl still works really well. Does he still have the Rob Halford-like wail that he carried for "Frost and Fire"? No, he is 66 years old. Rob Halford does not sound like Rob Halford did in 1981. I think the weathered pipes of Baker sound more metal now.  These guys have gotten a helluva a lot heavier if you compare this to their earlier work. More importantly to my ears, they also sound darker.  There is a less proto-doom sound and more of a crushing thrashed-out power metal feel. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/cirith-ungol-dark-parade.html

8-Prong -"State of Emergency" 

When I first heard "Beg to Differ" it was clear these guys were taking music in another direction as their staccato stomp was outside of where thrash was. Their new album does not take anything in a new direction, it does highlight what they did. The vocals find Tommy Victor's voice sounding as urgent as ever with little wear and tear over the years. it is way better than expected, they do not have to try very hard to blend into the current metal landscape

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/prong-state-of-emergency.html

6-Dead Never Sleep-"Origins of Evil"

There is something about this band's sound that hits a nostalgic place for the weird bridge certain bands made during the late 80s as music began to transition away from where metal was at the time. There was commonly more of a punk influence to these bands like Snake Nation, Angkor Wat, and Die Kreuzen . The odd blend of sonic colors they make use of compensates in a way that works for me. I look forward to what the future brings for these guys and hope it finds them moving in this darker direction the songs are pulled toward.  It's lots of fun and takes me back to a welcome place.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/dead-never-sleep-origins-of-evil.html

 5-Skamold -" Ýdalir " 

Even with the roar of their throaty vocals, these guys are more melodic than you might expect.  They bring in dynamic changes to offer everything you might want from the genre without devolving into drinking songs. I would say there is less theatrics than what Amon Amarth does. There is also a little less thrash to suggest they might be more influenced by both Manowar and Bathory depending on where you are at in the song what they do not do is wander off into folk atmosphere or throw themselves into black metal passages, instead sticking to a very deliberate manner of songwriting that still maintains a great deal of drive. This works for me as there are already many extremes in metal out today so to find a balance that lends itself to melody always works in my book.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/skalmold-ydalir.html

4-Heidevolk -"WederKeer" 

The Dutch metal band's 7th album finds some lineup changes in place, with Mat van Baest added as a lead guitarist and Awakening Sun Drummer Kevin van den Heiligenberg. Former Conorach vocalist Jacco de Wijs returns for his second album with the band. This makes the bass player the only original member. Their third album is my favorite, and it feels like this album is going to follow a similar path of applying traditional metal values and almost power metal-like hooks to the epic odes to Vikings. Being that they are south of the Baltic, I will not call them Viking metal as that is a term reserved for Scandinavian bands, no matter who liberal scholars might seek to revise history for their narrative. I appreciate where they are coming from and the Germanic myths seem to be sung with sincerity, so this is not total LARPing.They have taken what they do and perfected it while doing metal proud by sticking to the truest form.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/heidevolk-wederkeer.html

3-Kvelertak - "Endling" 

 Norway's most rocking punks are back. It's the same line-up that busted out "Splid'. At times things go off in a more jammy metallic direction, that spans sonically from an almost Blue Oyster Cult feel to very driven metal chugs. They do what they do without recycling ideas, and not selling out, and the band continues to evolve in all the best ways

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/kvelertak-endling.html

 

 

2-Metallica -"72 Seasons" 

As someone who bought "Master of Puppets" on cassette when it came out 38 years ago, you might think my expectations are high for their 11th album. This album grew on me despite some recycling and clock-punching, to keep it from being perfect, if you are a Metallica fan and wish the "Black Album' was more metal and free of power ballads then this album is for you. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/metallica-72-seasons.html

  1-Primordial - "How it Ends" 

It's been five years since the Irish pagan metallers released "Exile Amongst the Ruins". Their newest album finds them in the same saddle galloping toward an even grimmer horizon. In fact, the end of the world is the theme of their newest effort, which should be no surprise given the title. The album is in the mega epic vein you might associate with this band. With Nemtheanga's vocals soaring while still full of commanding grit. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/primordial-how-it-ends.html

Primordial : "How it Ends"

 It's been five years since the Irish pagan metallers released "Exile Amongst the Ruins". Their newest album finds them in the same saddle galloping toward an even grimmer horizon. In fact the end of the world is the theme of their newest effort, which should be no surprise given the title. The album starts off in the mega epic vein you might associate with this band. With Nemtheanga's vocals soaring while still full of commanding grit. I think of these guys as blackened power-metal, which the title track supports. Things get more mean spirited sneer to the aggressive undercurrent of "Ploughs to Rust, Swords to Dust". There is also a doomy melancholy that haunts some passages showing they are not tied down to the blackened power metal formula. 

The strum of guitar leading into "We Shall Not Serve" is one of the band's trademarks. His vocals touch on A.A 's lower register. The guitars race under with a cadence that reminds me of early Iron Maiden. The drummer it really breaking a sweat on this album, as he goes the extra mile. "Pilgrimage to the World's End " has a grungy doom throb to it. It builds off this singular theme to an almost hypnotic effect, which works well for this song, but when the same formula is applied to "Nothing New Under the Sun" that follows it , things feel like they went to the well one too many times with this formula. "Call to Cernunnos" has more of a folk metal swing to it, that helps break the mood up. It is done in a call and response manner, that feels more epic. 

Things take a darker turn on the more brooding "All Against All". Nemtheanga goes into more of a growl at times on this one. There are songs with a more aggressive tempo, but this feels like the most black metal song of the album so far. At almost nine minutes it is also the album's longest song. The songs end finds it droning off into throat singing, as the guitars give an ominous pulse. I like the groove it builds back up into making this one of the album's more impressive compositions. They lurch back into a more blues flavored doom shuffle for  "Death Holy Death". It is one of the most soulful vocal performances I have heard from him.

The return to the more old school Maiden like gallop to finish off the album. Granted it's rougher around the edges this time. It goes off into a more jammy section, which sounds like it would transition well live. I think this album holds up against their other work and is better than "Exile Amongst the Ruins " which earned a 9, so I will give this album a 9.5, and see how it grows on me . If you are looking for folk/ pagan metal that leans into the metal side with a classic bombast then give this album a listen. 

Black Metal For Fans of Power Metal

Told a friend of mine into power metal that I would make him a playlist of black metal for people into power metal. Not because I think everyone should listen to the same music as I do, but I think black metal gets a bad rap when it comes to preconceived notions of  the musicianship some of the bands posses. Even I don't like the bands that are raw and have more in common with punk. It might seem like the only thing the two genre's have in common. Truth be told I think it would be harder to make a  playlist of power metal for fans of black metal, since metal is like drugs you a tolerance for it then  one your threshold for heavy goes up it is hard to work your way back . For me power metal sounds too  happy. There is a genre that bridges the two...folk metal. Folk metal can have power metal qualities as well as black metal ones. Someof these bands might be more of a gateway drug to actual cvlt as fvck black metal, though regular readers here know that I am not a fan of solely using blast beats for the sake of using them. I already own Darkthrone's albums so I want bands that are their own entities. So most of these bands have some sort of epic quality that captures the Dungeons & Dragons like nature of power metal.

Dimmu Borgir- "the Serpentine Offering"


 



Vintersong - Universums Dunkala Alfabet

 

Primordial - "Coffin Ships"


 

 Emperor - "Curse You All Men"

 

Carach Angren- 'Charles Francis Coghlan" 


 

 Arcturus - "Alone"

 

Immortal - "Blashyrkh

 

 Rotting Christ - "AEALO"




 

Stormlord -"Mare Nostrum"


 

 Enslaved - "Ground"


 

Black Metal History Month - the Top 10 Black Metal Front Men

Scowling misanthropes are not known for there charisma. This makes someone who is a true front man in a black metal band  a rarity. They do exist and are what gives most of their bands an edge over the other more faceless black metal acts.Yes it says front men and you might want to ask why do they have to be men ? You ask. They did not have to be these are just how it went down and even if you were going to include someone like Myrkur on a list. These guys just have a darker and more in your face that sells them where she becomes more introspective.So here are the top 10 black metal front men, they are ranked by the passion they invest in the music more than their pipes.

10 - KK Warslut

 From Destroyer 666, he brings to the table and almost Blackie Lawless vibe , but much more confrontational, which is what black metal should be.


 

 9-Nattefrost 

 The lead growler for Carpathian Forest has a rock n roll sensibility to him. Not the most mobile, he comes across as meaning every word.


 

8--Shagrath

The vocalist for Dimmu Borgir, is no stranger to theatrics. He does work the stage well and shows up well dressed.

 


7-Ravn 

 The snarl of the 1349 frontman is conveyed with a tangible intensity. He commands the stage and seems to have a great deal of conviction .

 

6-Alan Averill 

 The driving force of Primordial. More of an actual singer than the previous entries. His presence also places him ahead of most.

 


5- Louis Falgoust

 Goatwhore's lead growler really throws himself into every performance and is one of the key components that makes the band better live than in the studio.




4- Erik Danielsson

 What gives Watain an edge is how serious they are about what they do and while p/r companies are quick to call shows rituals , in the case of Watain they actually are and Erik is committed to being as priest in this regard.
 

3-Attila

 Watain was obviously influenced by Mayhem on many levels. Attila is very serious about what he does and has made it an artform. Over the years the theatrical elements have gotten more elaborate.

 


2-Niklas Kvarforth

 While he is not as tortured as he once was , the Shining singer is almost the Iggy Pop of black metal. He is both introspective and confrontational onstage.

 


1-Ghaal 

 Words like intensity and conviction are important when it comes to black metal as it is as much an idealogy as it is music , so it's hard to be more of an iconoclast in this regard than Ghaal.

 

The Top 10 Mainstream Metal Albums of 2018

It is that time again. For the sake of this list mainstream Metal is anything that is not black, doom, death metal, or sludge. So that leaves some of the more widely ingested forms like symphonic metal, power metal, folk metal, thrash and nu-metal .  Mainstream doesn't mean they are going on tour with Slipknot or going to be played along side them on Sirrus, as chances are that going to be some bullshit band who i only got three songs into their album before getting bored. score from my reviews to help determine the ranking , but also how many times Last FM told me I listened to each album.An album can have all the critical acclaim in the world but if it does not inspire multiple listens then how good can it actually be ?

While the top ten lists for other genres leaned more heavily on the side of new blood , this lists leans in the direction of more well established acts. Rather than posting media of a track from each band I am leaving a link to the review, which will contain Bandcamp or Full Album Streams. Ok enough talking about it, the time has come to dig into the top 10 Mainstream Metal  albums of 2018.

10-Non Point -"x"


 They were always par for the course when it came to the tail end of nu-metal that was transitioning into the era of Myspace.There is a more thrash feel to the opener , but in a Slipknot manner and the vocal hooks have a Sevendust feel. They prove themselves to be good at what they do once again.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/08/nonpoint-x.html

9-Metal Church- "Damned if you Do" 


 Mike Howe and Kurdt Vanderhoof are the only members from the "Blessing In Disguise" era of the band, which is not the original line up, but a great incarnation of the band that I accept . Howe's voice sounds just as great as it did on "XI". There is a darker and more melodic tone to which is more original than the more straight forward by the numbers what you expect from these guys, straight head proto thrash. This makes the albums more somber and melodic moments help this one stand out.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/12/metal-church-damned-if-you-do.html

8-Code Orange- "the Hurt Goes On" 

 Their album "Forever" rules pretty hard as it showed them utilizing a bigger sound and blending a more industrial tinged influence into the mix. That industrial side of the band is given The first song is gritty and dense metal core that takes the concept of metal and hardcore thrown together and succeeds on every angle. This albums does rock pretty hard and I love how the left of center electronics are blended with their take on metallic hard core.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/06/code-orange-hurt-goes-on.html

7-Arkona-"Khram" 

 Clearing up any problems I had with folk metal, hey show up ready to do battle and don't get over indulgent into the more LARP like elements until the seventeen minute second song. I tend to not keep many sprawling seventeen minute songs in my iPod as they would take up the entire car ride to pretty much any where I go, they borders on being more progressive with the sprawling songs and refined chops.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/02/black-metal-history-month-arkona-khram.html

6-Destroyer 666 - "Call of the Wild"

 Warslut is back with something is almost more like W.A.S.P than black metal. Granted you could grandfather it in as it is as black metal as Venom...though closer to "Calm Before the Storm" than "At War With Satan".  They guitar sound is dialed in. The vocals are standing on the monitors and in your face. The vocal performance is executed in more of a 80s thrash shouted style of singing . There are some black metal tinged rasps thrown in. The drumming is very animated, but where it needs to be. I think the guitar benefits more from when things are not as busy.

  https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/02/black-metal-history-month-destroyer-666.html

5-Tribulation-"Down Below" 

 3 years after "Children of the Night" the boys from Sweden are back. This album seems like a logical progression with a more stream lined take on death metal. Their new drummer is more of a in the pocket rock guy and doesn't hit you with a ton of double bass so this factors in. There is still a great deal of atmosphere and keyboard parts, that help retain the darker mood. The guitar playing is more thoughtful and nuanced to make up for the fact it might not be as aggressive as their previous releases. The vocals haven't really changed and their mid range snarl is  the most biting part of their sound now

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/01/tribulation-down-below.html

4-Judas Priest- "Firepower" 

 The first concern going into any Priest album is how is Rob's voice going to hold up, We might be able to live with out KK, but as the Ripper Owens years proved, his voice is one of the defining traits of this band. Think closer to "Defenders of the Faith" which was the band trying to replicate the massive success of "Screaming For Vengeance" . It is truer to form for the band than "Redeemer of Souls". It has the up tempo aggression that influenced the thrash bands that would follow.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/03/judas-priest-fire-power.html

3-In the Woods - "Cease the Day"

 These guys are not the only black metal band from the early 90s that have changed their sound over the years.At the onset one might assume these guys have gone more of a Ulver route as baritone clean vocals have a mournful sound to them almost like a doomy gothy version of Pink Floyd. I do like the dark melodic tone this song has almost like something Katatonia might do. By the end of the song things have swelled back into metal. I also like how the effects drape the harsher vocals toward the end of the song, and while it is done in a more Enslaved like manner I do not feel the call and response between the clean and harsh vocals is predictable with a darker and moodier sound than most.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/10/in-woods-cease-day.html

2-Primordial -"Exile Amongst the Ruins"

 These guys used to be more black metal and have grown out of it, which you can't be mad at considering how dark they are and how they get pagan metal right. Right from the first song there is a passing return to harsh vocals for a few phrases. Their second best is better than most. If you are a fan of the band this is going to be what you are waiting for as it's more of the same.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/03/primordial-exile-amongst-ruins.html ,

1-Dimmu Borgir- "Eonian"

No longer black metal,they do what they do. This involves their ever evolving sound that retains the core of who they are. Shagrath croaks his way through the verses. There is a huge choral sound midway into the song. This confirms they are more of a symphonic metal band than a black metal band.These guys dialing it in is better than most bands can do on a good day.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/05/dimmu-borgir-eonian.html

Primordial : "Exile Amongst the Ruins"

So if you read the review of the compilation ep I did a few weeks ago then you know, I have been looking forward to this one. These guys used to be more black metal and have grown out of it, which you can't be mad at considering how dark they are and how they get pagan metal right. Right from the first song there is a passing return to harsh vocals for a few phrases. "To Hell or the Hangman" was the on the EP and in my review of it I said I hoped they moved more in this direction, so I guess they beat me to the punch on that one. There is more of a doomy feel to "Where Lie the Gods". The build up into the more dramatically sweeping sonics is pretty typical of their sound, so is no longer really going out on a limb, but it sounds good so hard to complain. Clean guitar opens the title track.It's a balanced blend of powerhouse punches with melodic metal that still carries grit thanks to the wonderful vocal phrashing of Alan, who is not a Ronnie James Dio, but knows how to use what he has and continues to push himself.

Epic is a word that gets over used when it comes to metal. These guys are one of the few bands deserving of it. They tap into some very grandiose. Here it is done in the context of the song with very little effort. It's not like they are setting out to be epic as their mission statement when it comes to song writing that is just the organic result of their sound. "Upon Our Spiritual Death Bed" is a good example of how this occurs. The guitar melodies are done in a very natural manner of layering the swell of dynamics. Harsh snarls also resurface on this song which has pretty much every side of the band you might want. "Stolen Years" lingers like hesitant folk and takes the first half of the song really getting to the point. This is probably the albums weakest moment, which could be worse.

"Sunken Lungs" finds the drummer keeping things afloat. It is really business as usual for the rest of the band, which is fine as them just dialing it in exceeds the best efforts of your average band. I think they extend themselves further on "Last Call". This feels like a more personal effort on their part. There is a greater range of dynamics and gives us something we have not already heard on this album if at all from them previous to this.  I'll round this one up to a 9. So it's not the band's best album, but as said before their second best is better than most. If you are a fan of the band this is going to be what you are waiting for as it's more of the same.

Black Metal History Month -the Top 50 Black Metal Albums of All Time-30 to 21

Here we go mid-way into Black Metal History month and midway into our top 50 black metal albums of all time. Now we get into the thick of things. Continuing to draw from every corner of the genre and globe. If you are just jumping in now I am only using one album by each artist. Most of the time they are ranked by what I have listened to the most , in some cases if an album would not exist if not for another album, the album that came first is ranked higher, since it is obviously of more importance. So here we go before entering into the top 20, which won't come til this weekend.

30-Samael- "Ceremony of Opposites"

Released in 94 this one crosses the first wave of black metal over into the second. There is a lot of groove to this album that influenced bands like Behemoth later on. The guitar sound on this album is mean as fuck. For when this came out it was one of the darkest and most sinister things going.

29- Deathspell Omega- Paracletus

An amazing album by a band that has made some amazing albums. This one is darker , dissonant and more angular than the other in a way that finds everything clicking in place perfectly. This is one of those class of 2010 albums. The took what Blut Aus Nord had done for French metal and added Emperor's ear for technicality and then raised the bar once again for French metal.

28- Sigh- "Scenes From Hell"


 2010 was also the year my daughter was born which might be an ill sign considering how this explosion of incredible black metal came about then. This album takes the progressive slant they had given their sound and turned it on it's head.Defying the idea that the best black metal has to come from Scandinavia, this Japanese band really slays it with the odd blend of gypsy tinged progressive black metal that shows no trace of their heritage.


 


27-Taake- "Noregs vaapen"

 It's mindblowing to think all this came from Hoest. The very fact this is a black metal album with banjo on it earns it's place here. Norweigan black metal that gives you all the frost ridden anger you expect , but not being content with blast beats alone. Even Hoest's raspy croak sets itself apart from the pack. At end of the day it's the song writing that makes this an album I can still put on seven years later and it sounds just as vital.



 




26- Negura Bunget-Vîrstele pămîntului

 And yet again 2010 proves to really be the number of the beast. This time from Romania as this folk tinged black metal band comes across as almost a Dead Can Dance of metal in the way they crafted this exotic masterpiece. Don't get me wrong "Om" is a great album as well, this one just finds every nuance touching the right place. They display an excellent use of clean vocals in a way that doesn't come across as a good cop / bad cop trick.



 

25- Carpathian Forest- "Defending the Throne of Evil" 


 This album blends death metal and black n roll into something ugly, perverse and powerfully catchy. The songs work smoothly as classic metal. The vocals are nasty and every thing is dark as hell. These guys were always consistent and I going back to listen to this album makes me wish they would put out a new one as this embodies all things black metal should be with blast beat far and few between.






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 24--Altar of Plagues- Teeth Glory & Injury"

 This 2013 album was sadly the Irish band's last. It blends pounding blackened math rock in the vein of Russian Circles with industrial. The dissonance and darkness to this album help to give it a black metal feel. There are a few blast beats sprinkled in but they typically keep you guessing in a way few other black metal bands were doing at the time. Oppressive in it's anguish, they crush on this one here their other albums droned.

 

23 Primordial- "the Gathering Wilderness" 


 This Irish band has always retained a strong sense of themselves on all of their albums, so this one weighs heavily on the fact that it has my favorite song by these guys "the Coffin Ships" on it. Nemtheanga's voice is particularly strong on this album, and proves actual singing can still work on a black metal album.

 

 22- Deafheaven - "Roads to Judah"

The Van Halen of black metal,  with "Sunbather" this band took the genre and made it easier for Americans to digest. Their 2011 album was actually black metal with whats sounds to be genuine anger and emotion to it. So much so that it is able to compensate for not having the kind of darkness black metal is known for. So for hipsters who wanted to get into black metal at this time it served as an easy entry point. Few stuck around as trends shifted, though if you go to a Deafheaven show it looks like you are at a Mumford and Sons concert.

21-Weakling- "Dead as Dreams"

 Here is a clear cut has of an album that needed to be here, because if it wasn't for this album Deafheaven would not exist. These guys are more depressive than shoe-gazing they came out with this back in 2000. So all American black metal bands pretty much have to bow down to this one.

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Interview : Allen Averill of Primordial

I had the honor of recently getting the chance to catch up with Primordial's lead singer Allen Averill and talk about the success of the new album, the pit falls of touring in American and the state of black metal. It went a little something like this.


Wil- So this is your 8th album. How has the songwriting process changed from the first album to the eighth.

Allen - In no way. The same thing. The only difference is there is not an old school tape machine in the middle of the room. We write in our rehearsal room. We do send files to each other over the internet and tell each other what to do. We do what we do. We do it when it feels right. Not when we need an advance from the record company.

Wil- You changed producers this go around and recorded out in the Grouse Lodge, how was that different from how you have done things in the past ?

Allen- It is more of fact that every two albums you need to change producers and change studios. You need to change the routine. Routine is death. it is very important to step out die of your comfort zone to create.

Wil- The new album hit three different sections of the Billboard charts, which is this day and age where conventional album sales have shifted. What do you think sets your fan base apart in this regard?

Allen- I don't know. The thing about Primordial and how it connects with our fans is that they take it very seriously. There is a certain feeling that you have to own the product, since we have been standing with them for over twenty years. We are up any where from ten to thirty percent, where with other bands it's the opposite.

Wil- War and religion are common themes for you guys. This time there is a darker and grittier take on those subjects, what brought that about and what are the lyrical themes running through the album this time?

Allen- We are living in a darker world. Last album dealt more with the structures we place around ourselves. this time there isn't a theme. Most defiantly more aggressive and some resignation as well.

Wil- Over the years your sound has become like the parable of the blind men and the elephant, where one part might be folk metal, one part power metal , the other black metal, yet melding in an organic manner, how has this translated the you fan base over the years? Did you retain the black metal audience? What type of crowd are you drawing?

Allen- I don't know how it happened, but We can play at the Bang Your Head Festival in between Y&T and W.A.S.P and then we can play with extreme bands at the Under the Black Sun festival. We can go every where and play to any one from the denim vest crowd to the goth and black metal crowds.We paid our dues.The underground people don't have an issue with us because they know we have been around and we still mean it.

Wil-I know you guys are playing the Maryland Deathfest and then doing the European Festival circuit over the summer, are there any plans to do a US tour afterwards and what challenges do you face playing the States?

Allen-Where do we begin to talk about the shit sandwich you have to eat to play in the States.You are treated like a criminal not only by the Government, but by Immigration.It's 1000 Euros just to get in the door of the U.S. Embassy. European bands trade horror stories, they are like"We played to 79 people in Portland.""Oh Man, we played to 81 in West Virginia." You really have to have at least 250 people at every show to not just earn minimum wage. I love playing in the States it's a fascinating place. In New York we had 250, in Chicago we had 350, but it's like a black hole other wise. Going out and playing two ore three weeks to 93 people in Orange County you are losing money. The Governments needs to change the way they treat bands, and the Venues need to stop taking advantage of bands taking up to 30 percent of merchandise.

Wil- Yeah even mid level bands like Neurosis no longer tour, but do a few dates here and there every four months. So the past ten years have seen another resurgence of black metal, how do you feel about the state of black metal today?

Allen-I think there are some really good bands . I like Deathspell Omega. Then old guys like Marduk, still doing it. Black Metal is only Black Metal. No, post hardcore vegan black metal, that's something just for magazines. I gave a lecture on black metal last year. If you weren't there in the early 90's then you don't know. This pseudo punk thing they place over it is to normalize it, to pull it's teeth out. It's a punch in the face, all levels of extremity and apologize for nothing. No feminism, or politics they want to push on it. That is not orthodox black metal. It's not something we agree to disagree on , it's one thing and one thing only.

Wil- Over the years your vocals have really stepped up. You are now up in the tiers of metal singers like Dickinson and Dio. How did that come about and what to you do to prepare your self to push like that in the studio?

Allen- I always wanted to sing even in the early days. I took inspiration from Candlemass, Christian Death, Fields of the Nephillim. I ceased to be hobbyist. Put it in application. Trying to embrace danger recklessly. Mean what you say, say what you mean. Putting that into the delivery.

Primordial: "Where Greater Men Have Fallen"

Primordial has come along way since their inception as a Bathory tribute band.Now on their 8th full length they have continued the journey away from being black metal into a dark folk tinged power metal band. The classic metal sound is evident from the title track that opens the album. The guitar sound is massive and Nemtheanga's voice is piercing and commanding. He has really come a long way as a singer and truth be told a lot weighs on his voice which is frequently the driving force of many of these songs, not unlike how Ronnie James Dio's voice took full control of the songs he sang.

It doesn't take the band long to drift into a moodier more melodic direction. The chords of "Babel's Tower" ring out with delicious melancholy. This lower tempo makes the band sound doomier, along the lines of say Trouble.Their familiar triumphant sway returns on "Come the Flood".The vocal melodies where the chorus/ post- chorus bridge would fall are particularly strong, the song flows along at almost a drone pounding out the riff until they break it down into a more restrained strummed section. the title "the Seed of the Tyrants" sounds like it belongs on a Celtic Frost album, and it's not far from it vocally as they lean back into a faster more black metal approach here. The blur of trembling guitar sounds almost like a step backward for the band and I find myself waiting for it to break into something more interesting.But it doesn't however "Ghosts of the Charnel House" proves to be worth sitting through that song for. They launch into a more rock n roll riff , which is the catchiest on the album thus far.This works much better. The song ebbs and flows with more melodic and almost blues based break downs.

 There is also a very interesting and almost progressive riff on "the Alchemist's Head". Nemtheanga brings back his harsher vocal approach, which is effective here since they are not blasting away at black metal speeds. It took "Born to Night" a couple of listens for it to grab me, the first time I heard it the sonic throb of the song numbed me out to the point that it faded into the background.It opens with very delicate , almost post- rock guitar which lingers n for three and a half minutes before the metal kicks in. The vocal melody wanders over the riff more here almost acting as more of a dramatic narrative. They churn out more a folk tinged frolic with the riff on this one. They do build it up pretty impressively and will make you rethink calling other bands epic.

They close the album with the more folkish 'Wield Lightening to Split the Sun". Going into this you have to know the whole folk thing is part of their deal and they pull it off well. They deliver a much darker brand, which works better for me than some of the other larping clowns that skip around dressed out like vikings. If you are going to give folk metal a chance this is the band to do it with. I'll give this one a 9 as the step backwards into their older sound was almost a cop out considering the greatness they achieve at other places in the album that puts them way ahead of their peers, if they have any.

Dread Sovereign: "All Hell's Martyrs"

This Irish band ignores the black or post trends of the past decades and goes back to a more meat and potatoes traditional sound in the vein of St. Vitus. Despite having a more experimental intro track the opener could have come out of the 80's with the more modern elements not coming into play until the second song, where Primordial influence comes into play.

The retro sound of the first song didn't really blow me away and I feel it's until "Cthulu Opiate Haze" that the band really warms into their songwriting. The vocals stray from the second string Ozzy-isms and gain a little more rasp to them , yet more tuneful than if they were just growled.

The album moves forward with the times as it progresses. Their is more of a sludge grunge to "Pray to the Devil in Man". The vocals border somewhere between Primordial and Solitude Aeturnus . When the growls do come they are right on time. Things build up into a more sludgecore sense making them appropriate. so I applaud the restrain and sparse use of harsh vocals here rather than just defaulting to them. The lyrics are pretty good on this album as well.

There is a little more in the way of sonics in the rumble of "Iron Scourge" . It has a pretty ripping guitar solo to and for the most part simmers around like some of the more recent Primordial. Some Sabbath like moment come later in the album and the St. Vitus comparison only stick around for the first few songs.

His lower mid-range clean voice is only where he sounds like Wino. By the time we get to "Cathars To Their Doom" the album begins to sound the same to me. It comes to a close with the title track that is the longest at a lumbering 13 minutes. They do hit a darker more sonic almost funeral doom type riff here that has some pretty cool accents. The lyrics talk about skinning Jesus's skin and wearing it in mockery, which pretty much outdoes Glen Benton.

While I doubt despite the uber satanic lyrics this will get much play in the ole iPod, but it's well crafted and goes to some places metal has since forgotten in terms of melody. It does reek of Primordial and I would rather have Primordial album taking up the disk space,  but never the less I will round it for to a 7 for excellence in execution.