Black Metal History Month - Mur : "Cut the Rivers Vein"

 This one-man Minnesota based black metal projects reaches into both death metal and doom, The moody atmosphere and darkness is what keeps it roots in black metal. Though by the time we get into the second song and lower gurgling gutturals bubble up from the slowly syncopated riff the death metal wrestles for dominance. The undercurrent of blast beats dragging back from left of center. Very unsettling and heavy, while having abundant yet un=romantic melodies is one of the signatures to this album's sound. 

Most of the the time you hear the term folk metal it is used to describe bands trying to make drinking music for dwarves or pull off some kind of LARPing soundtrack. Here it is referring to Iron and Wine. "Lowered Cloud" drones off this vibe. Sung vocals still carry a despondent bleak feel even in the vulnerable plea. It locks in on a heavier riff with well layered guitars. The title track works off a somewhat similar formula with clean acoustic guitar paving the way. Where it differs is how it goes from being something more traditionally black metal in the sonic intent of its means spirited attack and then takes a turn in more of a doomy direction. The most impressive part of this is how fluidly it works and sound pretty organic like it's a band jamming it out in their practice space. A    t almost eleven and a half minutes some of the fat on the front end could have been trimmed.   

After four minutes of downtrodden folk "A Powerful Uneasy Feeling" explodes into something more powerfully blackened. If this was a horror movie there might be issues with pacing, the same could how efficiently he makes us of dynamics in his arrangements. Though not a dealbreaker as up to this point it has still been interesting. Can the same be said for the twelve-minute closing song?  For the first five minutes it lingers at the infernal crossroads where depressive black metal and funeral doom meet. Then it blasts off into a black metal for a bit with a few breathers interspaced. There is even a more triumphant classic metal gallop with a guitar solo over it. I will give this album a 9 as black metal can be a hard genre at times to breathe new life into which compensates for the sometimes-ponderous arrangements.