LVTHN : "The Devil's Bridge"

 Have not checked out anything by this Belgian Black Metal band since their 2016 album. This one carries a more refined throb and finds them having grown as songwriters. Perhaps I just needed to give them time to grow into themselves. There is a bit of crazed howling on the second song that is not as focused as the opening song, but it makes sense why they do what they are doing. This does not mean I will excuse excessive blast beats if that is what we run into on this album, though they are showing some restraint in this regard on the first two songs. 

They are possessed by a more rabid frenzy going into "Cacodaemon". There are some atmospheric sonic swathes, but this song rages with reckless abandon until the creepy breakdowns. Things continue down a more feral path for "Sum Quod Eris." The drums are buried in the guitars as the vocals snarl and shriek. It is effective as an emotional outburst, as a song; there is nothing to hook into this frenzied attack. It almsot feels like it devolves into screaming for the sake of screaming.  "Grim Vengeance" finds the drums blasting off before the guitars find their footing. The vocals continue their animalistic rant. 

There is a more thrashing buzz to "Mother of Abominations". This is coupled with the rawer production values, which are only balanced out by the more intentional riffing that gets over-taken here and there by blasting. This also creates a more melodic drone. Yes, there is a creepy darkness to what they do. This is often eclipsed by the storm they churn up with their chaotic blizzard of tremolo picking. The last song is not an exception to this. I will round this down to an 8. The last album I reviewed by these guys earned a 6, so that is a great deal of growth. If you want some chaotic black metal, these guys have what you want. It drops on Amor Fati September 6th.

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Nightwalker : "The Eternal Flame of Death'

 This German black metal project returns to the abyss from which it first emerged by dropping this ep that proves black metal does not have to be a flurry of blast beats to be black, you just need to be dark and dissonant enough to capture the evil. The pace picks up four and a half minutes into the song, to include some blast beats that bubble up from things, but they have already laid the creepy groundwork to give a contrast. I am not against blast beats, they are just a tool to use as needed not to build your entire sound from.

They fall into this trap a little on the second song which is also the title track as they rage before slowing down to become more depressive and introspective as they let the chords ring out as the vocals croak with desperation. There is an organic feel to the production though the mix gives it the 90s feel, as the guitar sometimes echoes out from the shadows. The drums at times fall behind the guitar and there could always stand to be more bass in the mix for these kinds of albums. 

The last song works off more of an early second wave of black metal vibe, reminding me most of Mayhem musically, though the vocals tend to occupy the kind of bleak place the vocals of Inquisition croak from. The song works more off the throb than not, while I appreciate this kind of atmosphere the dynamics do not feel as urgent as they could. I will give this album an 8, it is not the most inspired but I like the creepy path they take things down. This is being released by Amor Fati, so it seems like we are touching on all the go-to Black Metal record labels this month.

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Black Metal History Month - Acathexis : "Immerse"

 

This black metal collective features members of Mare Cognitum, Los Males De Mundo, and Sliver Knife. Meaning there are vibes from each of their lands of origin, America, Belgium, and Argentina. The guitars buzz furiously, but with a very cleanly produced tone that has more in common with Deafheaven than Darkthrone. The screams of the vocals are pretty scathing. Somewhat articulate, but more of a layer of agony than a clear-cut narrative. For eleven and a half minutes it buzzes on in a cascading drone. The vocals sometimes shift down into lower death metal tones. 

I begin to get worried as the second song sounds like a continuation of the first. Not that it is even continuing to take the first song somewhere else it pretty much stays on the same blasting buzz. It does change into more of an atmospheric breakdown in the song's final minutes, but this far from compensates for almost twelve minutes that sounds like the album's first eleven and a half minutes being recycled. If you are going to work off a monochrome sonic formula then there is no need to drag it past the six-minute mark.

Things change enough for "the Other". The vocals at times sound like someone is torturing a bird. But in the most metal way possible. The last song is almost at sixteen minutes, aside from taking the vocals into a more guttural death metal direction, I am not sure much is changing except for the tempo, which is slowed dramatically compared to the first three songs. At the two-minute mark, I had already begun to wonder how this was going to go on for another thirteen minutes. It does add blast beats, and get more intentional, but when I left this album on and let it play, what I heard was a wall of sound that ran together. I will give this album a 7. They are skilled at this sound, and the vocals are convincing and more varied than expected. This drops March 20th on Amor Fati

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Akolyth : "s/t"

The painted corpse of black metal has been beaten into submission in such a way that those clinging to yesterdays blast beats are urgently hoping any band will be the one to breath new hate into it. Such were the words I was reading in regards to this project. I clicked around hoping some one would be doing something different and pushing the genre forward.  The debut effort from this band that is other wise shrouded in the cvltic anonimity. The novelty of the murky dark whose blast beats sound to be recorded uses a drum machine begins to get stale by the second song which is more of the same. You know how I complain about bands having a sound but no songs. Here it is again.

The vocals are a strangled gargle. Which sounds good, but what do they do to contribute to the song ? Not much. Especially since they are growling the same way as they did on the first.  I guess some might be pleased they recaputring the 90s sound. But has that not already been done to death?  The second song does find the rift shift toward the end of the song rather than just beat the drone .The vocals do improve going into the more stomping "What Dwells Betwen Fractured Worlds". The good thing they had going gets spoiled by blast beats that sound like hive of murder hornets high on meth.  Mayhem has already done this sort of thing and with better drums.

I like the title "To Become His Doorway" .  It would be a good horror movie. They drill into this one almost more like death metal. It is single minded in it's aggression and lacks mood or atmosphere which are key to black metal. There is plenty of torment going around so not saying this is not legit black metal, just not bring the things I want from black metal. I will give it a 7.5, not the worst thing I have heard , but not the future of black metal. Being released by Amor Fati.