Black Metal History Month -Wrath of Logarius : "Crown of Mortis"

 

This band from California kicks in with aggressive guttural vocals that feel almost more like death metal before they sweep in with the kind of grandiose atmosphere that feels like black metal. This does give them an edge as they are more vert in their aggression than most black metal bands, their attack placing them somewhere between the epicness of Immortal and Behemoth sonically. They do not lay into a stream of blasting until "Erosion". The vocals stick to more of a scowled snarl. Though at times the lower more gurgled death metal vocals offer an almost call-and-response dynamic.  

The album sounds great from a production standpoint, though some black metal purists might not be accepting of this. They carry a great deal of authority into how they attack things in an almost Dimmu Borgir-like manner on "Of the Void". I appreciate the melodic breakdown on this one that establishes a wider range of moods.  They are not a symphonic band, but their sound is so big it creates something similar to Dimmu that can be felt in "Long Dead the King". They give you room to breathe by allowing for a more melodic intro to "interludes, though I would prefer to hear these sounds incorporated more into the actual songs, then we would be getting somewhere in terms of dynamics. As things are the blitz of sound that is 'the Ethereal Mist" begins to give everything a uniform snarl. The more shrieked vocals give things a more Cradle of Filth feel. 

"Lurker's Tomb" allows things to bask in the darkness a little more and the switch over into death metal vocals helps break things away from the shrieking. There is no question the drummer is a beat, but how can you not be to play in a black metal band. There is also a more technical aspect to his playing that brings this out and separates them from many of your standard black metal bands. The guitar solo on this song also proves this point.  "Dread" closes the album. There is a darker atmosphere to this song that I wish would have played in more to the overall sound of the album,. These guys are however great at what they do so I will give this one a 9. It comes out on Season of Mist on April 4th. 

Black Metal History Month - NACHASH : "Eschaton Magicks"

 

It only makes sense to start off things with a band from Norway. They are checking off all the common tropes of the genre, though there is more of a punkish rock energy to how they are banging things out here that owes more to Venom than Darkthrone. Not that at times Darkthrone themselves have not displayed plenty of Venom influence in their more black-roll eras. This is more than likely the only band like this I am going to review this month as the raw lo-fi production brings a charm that is not normally my thing. If the entire album is as straightforward as the first song I will grow bored with it. 

There is more of a "Show No Mercy" feel to the second song. I grew up with this period of Slayer as a teenager, if I want to hear 'Captor of Sin" well I already own that album. By the time I get to "Scythewielder," it's all starting to sound the same to me. To this band's credit they are attempting to write songs and not just hitting your ears with a blur of blast beats so that is worth something in my book, at least worth enough for me to keep listening. If a more polished recording the nuance of the drums might stand out but this is what we are working with. The title track opens in a darker more dramatic fashion, but it feels like the vocals hold more purpose on "Death's Mordant Blaze". This might be the album's best song so far.

To be fair this album is a lot better than I thought it was going to be after the first song. I like how the chords ring out in "Empyrean Graves" They balance things out here with an atmosphere that creates a convincing darkness. The album closes with the more thrashing "Wherein the Devil Dwells", the scowl of the vocals, becomes more of an accent than the purpose they held in some of the previous songs. I'll give this one an 8.5, it was a pleasant surprise, not something that is likely to work its way into my regular rotation, for someone who normally is not as into this kind of black metal, these guys won me over.This is dropping on Signal Rex.  

The Hellacopters : "Overdriver"

Not the first time I have reviewed these guys. I always forget that despite their Entombed connection they are just a rock n roll band. This album feels more like lost classics from 70s rock radio. The singer places his voice in all the right places to compensate for his limitations which is a skill in and of itself, as the melodies work really well, and everyone in this band is serving the song with zero overplaying. Granted if you mainly listen to punk all of this might seem like overplaying to your ears, but it works for what is going on here regardless. I can hear less dramatic traces of Meatloaf, but aside from perhaps a little ELO, I do not hear them heavily tipping their hat to their influences. 

"Wrong Face On" is more straightforward than my rock n roll tastes lean, but for what it is they do a good job of it, it's just not my thing. However, I like the darker vibe that creeps into the verses of "Solider On" which is more to my liking even if the chorus touches on southern rock, weird coming from Sweden. They reach a more middle-of-the-road place on the rather upbeat "Doomsday Dreams" which has some great guitar playing, and if you are into guitar solos it's the song to check out. It is a song that grows on me with each listen. You can also tell they are into Thin Lizzy on "Faraway Looks", not the album's best song, but once again they are effective at what they are going for here. 

"Coming Down" is the first song that comes closer to being a ballad, though it's still upbeat enough to stay rooted in rock, the mood is just more introspective, almost like Bad Company in this regard. "Do You Feel Normal" finds the chorus a little too hopeful for what my mood normally is , but these guys are masters of their craft so it's hard to argue against that. "The Stench" starts off in a darker vein not unlike "She's So Heavy". The thicker bass line to the last song brings more rock grit than the bulk of this album works off of. I'll give this a 9.5, sounds like this is going to be the rock record to beat this year. 

Beware of Black Metal History Month 2025

 I know last year I speculated it might be the last  Black Metal History Month we had, but here we are again. Instead what we are finding is the great assimilation into the One World Government. This will instead for the genre back into the underground, since "Satanism" in all its forms will likely find itself subject to something similar to the "Satanic Panic" of the 90s, though there is the chance that this will align with Deep State Theories and get written off as a "conspiracy". Either way, those of us truly sworn to darkness shall not care.   

Black Metal should be the herald of nihilism., What is more hateful than a nuke? I understand that the genre itself is no longer trendy and thought of as problematic. The only problem is most people are too ego-centered to accept the fact they and everything they love will be wiped out. Black Metal is a celebratory song for that fact. No Life Matters. Why do you think it's called corpse paint you stupid fuck? To celebrate this fact we are we are going to venture back into the crypts to take another listen to some classics as well as see where black metal is heading so far this year. Before you get your little glue-sniffing hopes up this doesn't mean I'm settling back for the next 28 days and just accepting every blast beat that comes my way. Nope, it's the end of the world why settle for tremolo picking and the same old same ole?  I want a black metal that stands out from the pack. I want darkness, but I also want it to sound beautiful, sonic, and hypnotic.

If a band is typically described as raw black metal, then chances are I will be bored quick by anything with production quality less than Horna. If I want to hear something that sounds like old Burzum or Darkthrone, well I own those albums. What I will look for is new depressive suicidal black metal, which is one of the only sub-genres that I am willing to compromise on recording quality for, sometimes as older Cold World has proven a little rough around the edges works to create the atmosphere. Since history is a key component here, we are going to going to take another listen to some of the albums that influenced the genre even though they might not be what kids growing up these days consider black metal, they don't know shit anyway. 

Grab your lighters and spark up the lawns outside of the church in your neighborhood, let's hope for snow after all listening to black metal with the crunch of snow under your boots is the perfect setting. The world is going to hell and certainly deserves the worst coming to it. Some of the best black metal bands preach of a black dragon of chaos that will consume the world and right now that is the gospel we need. We are going to celebrate true misanthropy and slap on some corpse paint to praise the coming darkness for Black Metal History Month