Ruin Lust : "Dissimulant"

 We have reviewed this New York band several times. This time have are straying from black metal in favor of a blown sound that owes more to death metal, but played with the attitude of grind-core. When bands that this heavy get reviewed the heaviness normally impresses me so much that the first song blows by, then on the second song I have to ask if they can actually write songs? Since this is not our first stroll around the block , we know these guys are capable of more than just menacing your ears with sonic sadism, though the second song does not clue you in on this . "Clinamen" is marginally more nuanced, and offering a little more breathing room rather than just bashing your ears in the whole time. 

There is a more traditional death metal rumble to "Thrall".  The riffs ring out a little more. The drums are however unrelenting. Guitar solos dive bomb out from the feedback tinged corners. The title tracks blasts out at you with even more rage. This does begin to color the album with a rather uniform shade of angry. There is pounding and more pounding. The production is raw, yet every thing must have been recorded at maximum volume to capture this feel. I had to go back and give "Purge' another listen after the dust cleared to get a grip on what happened. They did not let up on the abrasive speed, the low growl of the vocals buried in the background is just another texture. Things collapse into a doomy more minimal passage they simmer their rage upon. The guitars could have taken this opportunity to explore creepier chord voicings, but what we get plays it safely into the black. 

"Infinite Regress" is aptly name as it  describes the sonic scope of the singular aggression infusing it. The buzz of "Chemical Wind" closes the album. There is a darker atmosphere haunting it which helps to set it apart from the rest of the album until they converge upon a blinding burst of razor cutting riffs. I will give this album a 7.5, it might be heavier than their previous work, but this sacrifices any nuance to the songwriting process. Almost to full of rage to head bang to. This is being released by 20 Buck Spin who is also releasing the new Gravesend, which is even more dense and angry, so I guess that is the direction the label wants to go cool grindcore with decreasing musical value.  

The Top 15 Black Metal Albums of 2014

At this point half the bands in metal today are trying to be blackened something, so here are the top fifteen black metal bands, that aren't death metal bands trying to grim it up or post- rock bands with some anguished screams mixed in...these are all bands that are so pure...so cold.The cream of the crop this years is coming from not only Norway, but also France, Canada, Sweden, German, Greece, Chicago and the Deep South. If you want to take a listen and stream is not up music can be found on the link to the full review.  So here we go...

15- Alraune  - the Process of Self Immolation

The first band from the deep south. This one is from Nashville. Despite glimmers of hardcore this is USBM with enough snarl to be convincing and a sense of adventure that balances out any of their hipster leanings.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/12/catching-up-with-2014-alraune-process.html

14- Ruin Lust- s/t

This gem is encrusted in as much grit and grime as any death metal band this side of Disma while blasting out some pretty grim tunes. Having a drummer who also sits on the throne for bands like Ash Borer, Fell Voices and Vorde. New York is known for great black metal and here's one reason why.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/11/catching-up-with-2014ruin-lust-st.html


13- Spectral Lore-iii

This album is weird and wonderful. It's progressive and experimental with our forsaking black metal, a unique guitar tone haunts the album and makes this band stand out from the pack. Score one for Greece.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/12/spectral-lore-iii.html

12-Dead Wood - "Picturing a Sense of Loss"

Like old Deafheaven these guys are metal first and the post- rock elements just come. This Frankfurt band has a great guitar sound and a sense of dynamics.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/12/deadwood-picturing-sense-of-loss.html

11-Schammasch- "Contradiction"

This band hits that perfect spot mid-period Enslaved use to . Progressive, dynamic and melodic enough to be engaging and emotive, but still firmly rooted in black metal. These guys aren't dependent on blast beat and can sound just as dire and dark even playing at slower tempos.      

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/12/schammaschcontradiction.html

10-Taake -"Stridens Hus"

Hoest descended from the first wave of Norwegian black metal and has been going strong since the 90's. "Stridens Hus" doesn't break that trend.On the first few listens it seemed like he was relying on blast beats, but this album grows on you.  There is less experimentation this go around it's in your face all the way through. For a one man show every element holds its own. There is no question here as to if Hoest has earned his corpse paint.


9-Nocturnal Depression-"Near to the Stars"

Quality Depressive Suicidal Black Metal wasn't exactly flourishing this year, but this French project featuring  one of the members of Make a Change Kill Yourself, brought a healthy dose of despair. Despite the lo-fi production this album carries the drone of Burzum while wallowing in the futility of it's existence.

8-Wormreich-"Wormcult Revelations" This is the band's first release on Moribund Records and you would never guess from the dark depraved tornado of chaos invoked on this album,that these guys are from the Deep South.Beautifully dissonant and chillingly dynamic, my only regret is that I haven't been able to give this one more spins. I suppose it's cool they threw a Death Spell Omega cover on here, I really want to hear more of what these guys are capable of conjuring on their own.

7- Thantifaxath-"Sacred White Noise"

Seeping with angular weirdness this Canadian band might be the most unique band on this list. This album is more of an exorcism that explodes into your ears rather than a barrage of blast beats. However the ugliness and anguish secures it's place in the genre and even broadens the scope of what black metal can be while staying true to itself. It's experimental but without getting lost in lazy hipster formlessness.

5-Sado Sathanas-"Nomos Harmartia"
  Plenty of epic excursions litter this of folk tinged album, but it doesn't distract these German black metallers from staying the course.They get how to be an atmospheric black metal band and not sacrificing the balls that makes this black metal to begin with. This album covers a wide range of sonic landscapes. This album goes to show you don't have to stoop to "necro" production in order to make quality black metal. 4-Ellorsith-1959

There was a smattering of death metal about this Scottish band's concept album about the Dyatlov Pass Incident, but it's so raw, cold and oppressive there is no question this is black metal. The death metal aggression is blended perfectly,so you are never wondering if the blast beats are just an after thought. This was released on a very limited cassette run, so you know it has to be cvlt as fuck.

3-Nachtmystium -"The World We Left Behind"

O.k, we get it Blake Judd has drama. He may or may not be a scumbag. This is about music, so I don't care, in fact I prefer my rock stars to be strung out on drugs, black metal needs more junkies pouring there souls out if this is what it brings.This album has all the elements that made Nachtmystium great, the creepy melodies slinking in dark alleys, the lyrics written during self-destructive binges.If this is Nachtmystium's final album then it was a good note to end on.

2- Mayhem-"Esoteric Warfare"

If Mayhem had tried to make another "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" it would have bored the bullet belt right off me. Instead they release an album with pristine production, that takes chances and takes no prisoners. Attila has never sounded better and Hellhammer makes his case for being the best drummer in black metal. As Spinal Tap once asked "How much blacker can you get ? the answer was none then and it is none now.

1- Nasheim - "Solens Vemod"

The Swedish act is another one man show. The master mind behind this is Erik Grahn. Grahn  came out  of the gate on his first full length and killed it. This album sweeps you away. Combining the lush romanticism of Emperor, atmosphere and incredible arrangements, my only regret it not finding this masterpiece when it came out under the radar back in February.

Vorde: s/t

Fallen Empire hasn't led me wrong yet ,so lets see if they can keep up the streak.Vorde features members of Fell Voices and Ruin Lust. The album opens with dark ambiance an element commonly found with projects on the label's roster. After three minutes of this they launch into some fairly straight forward black metal, until the vocals come in. They are a distant gurgled moan that hovers over the faster riff. It sometimes raises into something closer to singing, though the vocalist has the ability to accent it with a punchy rasp. The drumming spirals around this in a pretty impressive display. There is a slight chaotic element to how these elements are all set against one another but it adds to the overall sonic density.

This is followed up by the more metal delivery of "Transformations of the Vessel". They blast ahead while the moans bellow out in the icy backdrop. "Blood Moon" is a mix of ambiance and storming drums before it builds into a more blasting burst of black metal. The first lyric cuts through the din as "my final whisper". The more metal attack that this swells into gives some meat to the sonic explorations. This is clearly one of those albums that is going to take several listens to digest .

If it hadn't already the use of clean vocals set against the dissonance and airy bleakness of what is being called forth here reminds me of Urfaust. The vocals are more long the lines of something Attila would do or even Atriarch, where the singer from  Urfaust had slightly more command to his vocal tone. The dynamic and clean guitar tones are some of the band's strong points , they way the pursue some of the more hypnotic qualities of black metal to drone into is where you here the Fell Voices among them.This is really well executed in "Crown of Black Flame". The echoing cavern that Fell Voices records in must have been used for this album as well.

The album closes out with "Funereal Vortex" that starts off on a similar left hand path as Mayhem might and then winds up in a more atmospheric almost Cure like place in the final two minutes. So that is quiet a dynamic journey. I'm not done soaking all of this in, but think this should get a 9.It uphold Fallen Empires track record and is a bold stab at a different take on black metal that I can appreciate. A dramatic step out of the comfort zone of all the players involved, who captured some great sounds here, some of which will be familiar to fans of their respective bands ,but darker and more melodic.