Sargeist : "Flame Within Flame"

 I normally prefer Horna over these guys, but they are one of the bigger-name Finnish black metal bands, and their raw black metal sound has not been my thing.  Either I am developing callouses on my ears that make me more ok with this sort of thing, or these guys took more time in the studio to get things dialed in and sound more like something you can make heads or tails of when it comes to the songwriting. Spellgoth is now playing bass, and Shatraug is on vocals, which has not happened since their demo days. He has an agonized enough croak to sell the songs. 

The drummer from Decapitated Christ now plays with these guys and has a more nuanced style that grooves more on "The Chant of the Rotting Tongues". His cymbal work is really on point. There is enough of a reverb-heavy organic sound to this album to give fans of old school black metal what they want, but the songs have more clarity, which is indispensable. They begin to lock into a more typical sound for what they do, the difference being that you can make out the layering of guitars rather than it just being a buzz. 

"Ordained and Adorned" finds the tremolo-picked guitars having a melody that reminds me of  "Sweet Dreams". The vocals are a little more obligatory on this one, but an improvement given what they have done in the past. Even this accelerates into the wrathful storm you expect from them. There is almost more of a Dissection feel to how the chords of "To The Mistress of Blackest Magic".  "Juravit Sanguine" gallops in line with what they normally do in their more deliberate moments, the new drummer continuing to add worth.  "Behold Our Temples Arise" is almost a catchy song, but the croaking vocals do not help their cause in this regard. The guitars generally sound better on this album when they ring out when strummed like this; it creates a more clanging sound. 

"Rite of Ascension" finds them in a wall of ringing sound that is brighter than previous releases but compromises some of the fine-tuning that had made this album work. Dynamically, there is also not a great deal of variation, while not hyper blasting in your face, everything carries a similar attack. To their credit, I will give this album an 8.5, making it the highet this band has scored with me. 

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Bythos : " the Womb of Zero"

This is not what I think of when it comes to Finnish black metal. It tends to be raw and very blast beaten. Almost punk in it's attitude. This band consists of  members hailing from some of the genre's number one offenders in this regard. These guys have played in Behexen, Sargeist and Horna. The result bears very little resemblance to any of those bands and sounds more Swedish, wit ha tangible Dissection influence present. This is a good thing as the first two songs are very melodic though still very committed to being black metal. It is not until "Sorath the Oppressor" that some of the more feral elements begin to peak out with blast beats bridging sections that are very death metal influenced. No matter what sounds of black metal you are pulling from I think this album makes a very strong argument that it doesn't matter as much as how you put them together and how much you care about writing songs.

With a song like 'Omega Dragon" the Dissection influence becomes even apparent lyrically. The vocals are more rasped. They do include a chanted choir of more sung vocals to haunt the chorus of the songs which add more dark color to the dynamic range of the album.  The production value of the album lends it self to this more melodic sound. The riffing is more nuanced on "Call of the Burning Blood" . Perhaps there has always been this quality of  musicianship and the production was always so lo-fi and raw that you could not make out what was going on . The other option is now they have matured and grown out of that more punk approach of not caring how things sound it has allowed them to realize they can play when they want to. I think the fact they are not playing in a blaze of blast beats also lends itself to having more breathing room to grow.,

More singing shows up on "Hymn to Lucifer" but it sits pretty far back into the mix. It is not until after this song that things begin to default into some of the same old same old. This is not saying it reverts to blast beats, it just feels like things you have already heard on this album and others. This is still well done it just begins to lose some of the freshness it held earlier in the album. The melodies all begin to work off of similar themes . . There is more of a eerie cold ringing to the chords of the last song. I will give this one a 9. I think fans of Finnish black metal whose tastes are maturing will enjoy this. I certainly enjoyed the listens to this I've given this one even if it doesn't make the trek to my iPod as I already have both Dissection and Watain who occupy a similar sonic space. This is being released on Terratur Possessions.

TERRATVR POSSESSIONS · BYTHOS - When Gold Turns into Lead

Mortualia :"Wild Wild Misery"

As life shits on me I think all I have the taste for is  depressive black metal and funeral doom. So this album is a breath of fresh air. At least the first song. I might get annoyed by the rough production mid way into this. This is being brought to us by Shatraug the master-mind behind Horna and Sargiest. While this doesn't do anything to re-define depressive black metal it hits all the same sorrowful notes you expect. If An Autumn For Crippled Children is too refined for you then this might be your jam. His third album with this project the vocals are suitably agonized.

The drums are this project's weak link. The are buried under the guitar and you can only hear the cymbals. "Out" finds this album begin to wear thinner on me as the songs begin to sound the same. The accents change a little but it drones on the same pulse of feedback for most of the six and a half minutes. At almost ten minutes "Emptiness of All " better expand the dynamic range of this album or it's going to drag. At the five minute mark it's still holding my attention with a throb similar to the first few post prison Burzum albums. There is more attention to detail on this one even if it's more moody vibrational shifts with the shitty garage like mix. 'Stolid" is a more feral fare, but it really doesn't do a whole lot for me as a song. I prefer the emotion that is in the title track.

"To Which Ever End" catches my ear. I am not sure there is anything dramatically different with what is being done here aside from the guitars giving the drums a little more room. The guitar on this album has more feeling in it than what I have heard from the more recent output of his other projects. "Nothing is Given" finds the pace slowing down. I'll give this album an 8 for now despite the rough production it had more moments than I expected going into this.

Behexen : "the Poisonous Path"

These guys are the real deal when it comes to Finnish black metal or any black metal for that matter. The album hits you with a dark blast that blurred past me and it wasn't until the second song that I really began to tune into this. They have been around since 96 and have ties to most notably Sargeist, who almost all of the members have played in but also bands like Horna, Nightbringer and Kult ov Azazel. They seem to prefer playing at the more thrashing speed of "Cave of the Dark Dreams" which also finds them conforming more closely to the sound brandished by a hundred other black metal bands. They come across as being heavier on the more deliberate " A Sword of Promethean Fire". The vocals are a lower more death metal rasp. They tune lower than your average black metal band so this is fitting. Two minutes in they erupt into blasting and lose this groove. The gang like chant that chimes in add a cool snarl to the song. They keep up the pace for "Umbra Luciferi". Its dense and dark with the cavernous boom of death metal, but relies on sheer heaviness alone.

The album continues to race and ramble down the same left hand path it began on with monochrome shades of leather. There are some punches and accents that stand out more than others. The chorus on some songs are more defined than others. If you have ever complained about Watain being too melodic or not cvlt enough for you then this should not overwhelm you. That is not to say they do not develop any melodic tendencies as they do occur in an atmospheric context.They care more about speed, but are capable of chasing that dragon without resorting soley to blast beats. The beatings continue until morale is improved "Chalice of Abysmal Water" only flirting with the darker melodic black metal chord voicing. They continue to dig deeper into the more musical abyss on "Pentagram of the Black Earth".  They throw this to the hot winds of the underworld on "Gallows of Inversion" which is more of a blast fest. It is more along the blackened death metal side of black metal to me, but these guys came to be at a time when those lines were not fully drawn. By the time we get to the last song it's understood that these guys are good at what they do, but I'm lost as to who they are with their own original sound, however it's as good as color by numbers black metal gets so I'll give it a 6.5.

Catching Up with 2014: Night Bringer:"Ego Dominus Tuus"

This album came out in September and has been hyped ever since, so does it live up to the hype? This Colorado Springs band features member who have played with the whos of who of black metal. They are alumni of bands such as Demonacy, Kult ov Azazel, Sargeist, Enthroned, Lvcifyre, Corpus Christi and Necrosadist.The opening song hits you like a blur of fiends scowling and blast beats with a eerie melody way in the background. The vocals have a wide range of croaks and growl and the music does hold a sense of dramatics but black metal isn't being re-defined. These guys are very dark which is the first thing I respect about them.

They blast "Lantern of Eden's Night" by you at an ungodly speed, which I suppose is what a black metal band should do. They do have a big almost symphonic sound like old Dimmu, without all the strings, but it carries a similar bombast. I appreciate more as it slows into more of a triumphant procession. The vocals on more a scathing mid range scream. The lyrics are intelligible enough to understand when they say Lucifer . There is a jarring transition midway though , but the fact the maintain a similar velocity glosses this over. They continue on at the same pace, songs' like "Things That Are Naught" continues along a very "Stormblast"path. it might be darker and creepier, though less ambitious in some ways. "Things That Are Naught" is also the first song that really connected with me. By the time however it gets to the more deliberate pacing of "I am the Gateway" the blast beats are numbing me out.

Midway into the album it turns into the soundtrack to an exorcist movie. The sounds of the haunted ritual leak over into "Where Fire Never Dreamt of Man". An Emperor like carnival feel is draped over this song. the blast section is a wall of white noise with no real way to tell which i is up until it slows down. With a little more restraint I think these guys could write some pretty good songs. They continue to march on with the majestic murkiness of their blast beats. It pretty much smears "the Witchfires of Tubal Qayin" across your ears like a wet willie. Three and a half minutes in there is a redeeming melody.

After the long drawn out intro it will take more than a  clever title to make"Salvation is the Son of Leviathan" a good song. A synth drone and gurgle whispers, make this more of a filler interlude than an actual song. They close the album with the twelve plus minute opus " the Otherness of Being". It is a swathe of white noise with a guttural narrative rambling over it for the first three minutes before the real song kicks in. The feral demon screams rant and rave over the blasty mcnasty flowing like wine. The double bass drumming thundering over the guitar riff makes it a little more interesting than some of their attempts to do similar as it finds more sonic power in the way it is syncopated. The song does eventually race off and leave this behind. When it slows a hair the vocals have something better to howl over. This song ends up ending the album on a much higher note than expected.

This guys are really into what they are doing despite the hype there is not a hipster thing going on here. They do capture some good sounds and I like where they are coming from, the album just relies on much on blast beats and could use more focus in song writing. I'll round it up to a 7.5.
5

Sargeist: "Feeding the Crawling Shadows"

The raw black metal band out of Finland is comprised of members from Horna and Behexen. The production is lo-fi and cvlt enough for anyone, if it was many more under produced the guitars would sound like static. There are elements to this I like like as the dark vibes coming off of this. It adheres to the metal rule of the intensity of the first track smacking you makes it hard not to like the first track then the challenge is to keep my interest once that wears off. The approach here is what you would expect from raw black metal, blasting and a few gallops here and there.

"In Charnel Darkness" doesn't veer too much of course from where the first song went, though there is a slightly rowdier element to their charge forward. They are not re-inventing the wheel, just making it spin faster. No new tricks are being introduced to this style of black metal, though it does sounds to be a little more feral and triumphant than what I have heard of their previous work. The singer does go into a lower death metal type rasp at times that has some power to it and seems to vary the tone of the song.

Some of the tremolo picking is cool on "Unto the Undead" , but the guitar tone is so tinny, it doesn't bring out the qualities.The vocals are mixed back into the cacophony on this one. Its not until the pace slows in the breakdown of the songs final act that it is able to establish an identity.There is more of the same from "Snares of Impurity" though the approach to the vocals here reminds me more of Mayhem. By this point its all starting to sound the same to me so I find myself forcing my ears through the album.

I love black metal so I want to like this. The blistering fuzz of what is passing for guitar here makes that difficult and " Return of the Rats" is running down the same hill these guys tend to stumble down.Things are more blurred due to the rapid blasties of this one. The half time march these guys gallop into is the only real dynamic element in this one, otherwise it's one dimensional.

There is a little more of a sonic drone to the white noise of " the Unspoken Ones' the speed becomes a mute point , as when every thing is a blast it doesn't seem like it's as intense as it numbs you. The vocal accents are the only thing that lets you know you are where the chorus should be and then the stompy march begins. "Shunned Angel' picks up where the previous song left off , though the vocals are  little more frantic here. The death metal vocals appear sooner here than they do in previous songs, the alternation between the two is back in effect.The lyrics are almost decipherable on this one as well.

Its about time all the songs didn't star the same so "Inside the Demon's" maze does it's job.This is my favorite song on the album even when it accelerates back into the blast they have been at all along. The riff somewhat modulates around the gallop. At four minutes long all of these songs tend to drag despite being so fast.The vocals take a little more of as variance in their phrasing on " Kingdom Below" , but once the momentum blisters this one away you are lost in its storm. Midway into this one there is a somewhat Watain like riff , thats is pretty cool.

When I think "Funerary Descent" it's not as fast as this song. But I don't hear them slipping into doom anytime soon. This one is another blur of guitar, that over powers the drums here. The accents on the end of this one are pretty cool and the riff they chug out on works better than most of this album. I'll give this a 5.5 as most of it sounds the same if you are a fan feel free to round it up a point and take some time to contemplate why you like it when all the songs sound the same and is it a reflection on your lack of depth and layers as a person.  




  

Sargeist: The Rebirth of a Cursed Existence

This Finnish band named after a Rotting Christ song was originally started s a side project by one of the members of Horna, but took on a life of its own. It also features members of Behexe,n and like the sum of its parts, they don't stray too far from the raw black metal sound. This is a compilation of all the songs that had been available only on cassette or vinyl, which have been remastered for this release, though it makes me wonder how bad the sound of the original recordings was, as these are still pretty fuzzy.

 Like most heavy bands, the attack of the first song gets by on merit of its heaviness alone. These guys stick to a certain sound and vary little from it. The tempo shows variance on the second song, "The Rebirth of a Cursed Existence. The raspy vocals sound like they are foaming at the mouth with every word they spew. Normally I don't review compilations but the band felt like these songs should all be released together and had not been previously released  on cd  , so I see it less of a greatest hit and more of the first proper release they are getting, even though some were written ten years apart.

While many while dismiss certain elements as well that's what you are getting into with Finnish Black Metal, I  think all scenes should be held to consistent standards in regards to the quality of music they release. "Wrath Messiah" benefits from when they drop out of the the typical blasty mcnasties. Though they do tend to let fairly simplistic riffs drone on. Song to song this sort of thing does breed a certain redundancy. "Crimson Wine" takes on a darker tone to vary the feel slightly and almost sounds like a Slayer song in doing so.

Some of their more straightforward numbers take on a more punk feel like "Vorax Obscurum". These come across more as filler as even with straight up punk I don't like it to be this rudimentary, though fans of d-beat might appreciate. The old school blasting of "Unholy Black Happiness"  is not much more complex or dynamic than the punk influenced songs. The cvlt Darkthrone feel of "the Covenant Rite" has much needed ambiance to switch things up. The song writing is pretty basic two part progressions; they use the raw scornful nature of what they do carry most of the momentum. "Dead Raven's Memory" sounds like a continuation of the previous, which is funny considering this is a compilation. There is a guitar melody that picks up the slack midway through. The guitars show they are capable of creating interesting melodies on "Dark Embrace" but it's that they are just unwilling to compromise any measure of savagery to do so.

They do darken things down with "the Crown of Burning Stars," so when the build comes at the two-minute mark, there is more of a dynamic leap. The problem of many blast-dominant black metal bands is that they lose their effectiveness when they make you numb to the beating. "The Moon Growing Colder" is an example of this is action. There is an epic cascade to the assault, but without a dynamic to play against it's comes across as a monochrome painting. Closing with "Nightmare and Necromancy" follows this pattern, even though it does have a slight variation of a gallop to it. I'll give this album a 6.5 as it gives a little too much of the same, though they often capture a mean sweep to the feel, that is no doubt authentic, there are plenty of bands in my ipod that can do that and better.