Panzerfaust : '" Suns of Perdition IV : To Shadow Zion"

 This is a new album by the Canadian black metallers that gained a great deal of buzz when it came up in talks for the best Black Metal albums of the year. Since I enjoyed their previous work, it made sense to catch up and give this one a shot. The vocals once again vary from a more sludge-like below to the more traditional black metal rasp. The album opens with a great deal of drive and power the drums seem like they are laying on more double bass than blast beats but popping things off in that rapid-fire manner. 

The second song is more unrelenting in its blast forward, though not just keeping things at a buzz but allowing layers of sound to carry eerie nuance. The vocals bellow in a manner very similar to what they did on the first song so the vocals are not as thoughtful. "the Damascene Conversions moves with a darker creep to its throb, which works better for me than the pounding of the previous song. The chord progression is color and not color by numbers black metal. The vocals are largely roared, though some slight changes in the cadence which is more effective in this context. 

"Occam's Fucking Razor" creates a really cool mood using samples and atmosphere, but is still heavy. It makes me think of what Behemoth might sound like if they were not trying so hard to play stadium metal. This album does live up to the hype. It does build into the more intense in-your-face blasting feel of black metal, but it works because you have already been given dynamics to put it all in context. They close the album with the 11-minute title track There is about a minute build-up before the song unfolds. When it does take off there is a more brooding throb to it. Though in all fairness I was three minutes into the song and wondering where else they could take it. The answer seems to be to get gradually more aggressive. It could be more dynamic as there is certainly enough time to ebb and flow, but to their credit, it's like being hit by a storm cloud of sound. It lives up to the hype so I will give this one a 9.5. If you want black metal that hits you with a tempest of apocalyptic darkness this album is for you. Out on Eisenwald. 

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