Black Metal History Month -Haxanu : "Totenpass"

The master mind behind Chaos Moon and the vocalist from Lichmagick have come together to release their second album. Alex Poole once again handles all the instrumentation. impressive that he can handle all of that himself? Sure. The bigger question however once you stop being impressed by how they have captured as a sound, is what are these guys doing that 1349 does not already do better? What are they bringing to the table to set themselves apart. It's pretty much blasting as usual. Things race forward with a great deal of momentum. The vocals sound hateful enough, yet void of their own identity. They are capable of changing tempos to create dynamics, but the blur of thrashing speed could be any black metal band that plays it this straight forward. 

This is typically what I seek to avoid when it comes to black metal, because it all sounds the same. It will impress me less with each passing song. Though toward the end of the second song there is a soaring atmosphere that sweeps in a lifts the mood from the mundane to give this guys more of a signature. The balances out the single minded aggression. It is also a 14 minute song so it had to go somewhere. "Sparagmos" that follows this is also a ten minute song, but aside from that they kept things from sprawling out of control. The buzz of guitars are less nuanced , the synths falling more as a passing texture and speed the prime intent as the vocalist exclaims that they are rage and agony. Which seem pretty run of the mill lyrically. More focused on inner torment than being allied with darkness.

There are moments when the falls back into full on blasting your face off, and do not grab my attention. The melodic interludes in this album could have been put to better use in actual songs. The title track has more sonic depth but is so driven it hits you  and washes over like a crash, requiring multiple listens to absorb any of it. I will give this album a 7.5. I was able to leave it playing and while they are skilled at what they do song-wise chilling moments do no make up a song itself that can hold an album together and make me want multiple listens , but if your are into hyper aggressive black metal that is about being in pain this album is for you.