Black Metal History Month- Nadra : " Allir vegir til glötunar"

Here is a another argument against the more politically correct notion that geographically all black metal is created equally, as this is another band out of the Northern European region that kills it due to the ice running through their veins. The coldness resonates differently than most black metal , but it is there.  This Icelandic black metal bands comes out of the gate blasting with a feral snarl. There is a punk like  sneer to some of the undertones. Sure they are spastic, but the flailing is pretty heart felt and convincing. There is a more majestic metal feel to "Sal". The guitar are raw, but well layered. This album has an interesting production quality that should please the grimmest among us, but is still easy to listen to and doesn't impede the melodic qualities. This album is not fucking around. They do hit the brakes on the third song which is a sprawling fourteen minutes and wallow in a slower more miserable existent that owes more to depressive black metal than the rawer savagery they hit you with at first. The vocals wretchedly spew forth, sometimes dipping into a lower growl. They vary the intensity of their blast beats not always throwing themselves into them with such reckless abandon.

They go into an even faster pace on "Sar" that will have your head spinning. They do hit some punches against a sonically heavy wall the sharply blinding guitars construct. They have you at the rapid tempo they seem to like lashing out with until they break things down to an acoustic guitar and chanting for a minute then the whirlwind stirs things back up again. If it wasn't for the attention to detail with little things like they breakdown, they might have lost me in some of this chaos. The guitar solo at the five minute mark is pretty impressive and was just what the song needed to give another layer. The riff that follows it sings with more melody almost a folk metal quality.I'll round this one up to an 8.5. At times the speed gives their sound a uniform feel, it's the flourishes sprinkled in that make this stand out more than the feral spirit that attacks your ears.

Black Metal History Month- Cirith Gorgor :"Visions of Exalted Lucifer"

Named after the "Haunted Pass" these guys are reppin' the north side of Mordor. Out of the Netherlands, these guys came from the late 90s black metal scene, so it should not be a surprise that their 6th full length is very polished . On the opener they blast ahead with a very spacious sound that throws a lot at you at once. There is an ambiance to the chaos that hits like a storm. When it comes to a band like this I want to hear what sets them apart from the hundreds of others bands doing this sort of thing. It's not until "Of Black Dimensions" that this emerges. They slow down and the chants recite more of an incantation rather than scream. Sure they don't hold onto this kind of restraint for long when they return to full throttle mode on "...And Demonic Wisdom". Though this song is not as cluttered and the vocal take on a croaked tone.

By the time we get to "Wille Zur Macht" it is not a question of if these guys are any good or cvlt enough, it's what else can you give me ? The blasting blitz of this song tells me while they have shown me earlier in the album they are capable of summoning other tones and moods, they would rather just play it safe and blast beat off. They are good at this style of black metal. But is this style of black metal any good? They respond with "Rite of Purification" which takes a more melodic turn, which is just what this album needed. I am not saying every black metal band needs to be Watain, I do think it's more of a challenge to be insanely heavy and still hold melody and dynamics high on your to do list when it comes to song writing these days. For black metal to thrive as a genre this is what needs to happen or it will be blast beaten to death and people will look back on it like hair metal is seen now. Does this band sometimes tread closely to the Watain/ Dissection sound when they do get more melodic...yes. This could go all the way back to Bathory, but it's  not reaching very far to think a band notices someone like Watain is selling tons more albums and tweak things a little. Though it's a small touch the sample that ends "Rite..." is enough attention to detail to push there sound a few degrees apart from the herd.

They go for a big fast ending when they close the album with " Into the Nameless Void". Some times the vocals find a cadence over the riffs that gives more of a hook. As a rule however the song tends to fall in line with the other obligatory expectations of the genre. For a genre based in non-conformity this band and many others play it too safe. Things do slow down at the three minute mark and go deeper into a more melodic darkness.  This works for me, but when you think of all the time invested into doing what has been done, when they could have tried making something more musical, it leaves me a little flat. Granted it touches back into Watain land, but at least that is different than re-hashing a church that has already been burned down. I'll round this down to a 7.5, I think I've already touched on what makes this album work and what is not as effective, but if you are hungry for new black metal this is well done for what it is.
5.6

Prong : " X No Absolutes"

Yep, Prong was playing this kind of groove metal at the same time  Pantera...came riding out as the Cowboys from hell, which served as a turning point for metal .  On the opener of the band's new album they are just playing along with their own bandwagon that is much further down a road whose time has come. Tommy Victor is the only member from the  "Beg to Differ" line-up. "Sense of Ease" doesn't really find the band playing to the strengths of their signature sound and instead racing off into the kind of thrash they turned the tables on in 1990. "Without Words" holds a tighter groove that comes closer to making you snap your fingers and your neck with a very Killing Joke influenced chorus. "Cut and Dry" lives up to its name in providing a description of the brand of groove metal they engage in on this one. Some of the difference between this album and what happened 26 years ago is the production. Mark Dodson who produced "State of Euphoria" and " How Will I Laugh Tomorrow", was a forward thinking producer at the time. Here the band has more of you typical mall metal production which is the equivalent of if "Beg to Differ" was produced by Alex Perialas instead.

The more tighter staccato chug of "No Absolutes" finds the band playing closer to their strengths despite the more obvious hook of the chorus. The rest of the band get the job done with former Winds of Plague drummer behind the kick and ex- Stone Sour bassist holding down the bottom end. They dip into almost pop punk on the more melodic "Do Nothing". Victor's voice has grown stronger over the years and he is not just limited to the bark. His singing voice gets the job done, his range is not jaw dropping as he carries a modest tune. They beef things back up for "Belief System" that finds the band back in more classic territory. The guitar solo in this one shows Victor's playing has also improved after serving as Danzig's side man. They get into more of a proto-Nu Metal on "Soul Sickness", but Victor gets the job done where bands like Fear Factory got bogged down in redundancy. Then in turn they fall prey to similar glue sniffing doldrums on " In Spite of Hinderances' which thrashes about with no clear sense of target for it's de-manufactured aggression.

The bass line that opens "Ice Runs Through My Veins" could have taken the song in more of a post-punk direction, instead in stomps around typical post- Head Banger's Ball rock music. The Killing Joke influence is still there , but run through a filter of Linkin Park. The pop punk undertones are still haunting the song as well to make this more obvious. Then it's back to the late 80's for the thrash riff of "Worth Pursuing" as Victor's vocals coast over it much like Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke. They close out the album with the almost poppy "With Dignity" that brings Linkin Park to mind again. The hip-hop undertone are not there, but the guitar feels a little dialed back to bring the vocals up to a more radio friendly mix. Not sure this is the wisest direction to move in making the lyrics a little ironic. Listening to this album did make me go back and listen to "Beg to Differ" again and I'm sure I'll also give "Prove You Wrong" another spin, maybe even try out "Cleansing " which is where I parted ways with the band as I was well into death metal at that point and they just did not seem heavy anymore. This album starts off strong, the Linkin Park moments are far and few between, but the fact they exist made me round this one down to an 8, which is still better than just decent and if you are a fan of 90's groove metal then you will want to round this up.

 

Black Metal History Month - Pensees Nocturnes : "A Boire et A Manger"

How experimental do you like your metal is the first question you have to ask when going into this one. French metal bands have never played it safe. This takes that to a new extreme Starting off like something you might hear in the Big Easy they pulls from a style of jazz that later influenced the creole jazz of New Orleans influenced Jazz it flips into metal that is noisy and dissonant. This is dark enough to make me happy, but after hearing it called depressive black metal my expectations were something more like Lifelover or Totalselfhatred . Instead of anguish and emoting we get something more like death metal even though there are croon clean vocals that come like something from a Mike Patton project.This is totally original despite the comparisons to John Zorn that could be drawn. The guitar playing might sound disjointed at times, but I think this is all done very purposefully. The blast beats come in spasm like burst lingering when the New Orleans street jazz returns. "La Marche de Travers" sounds like something from a funereal on Bourbon Street. The drummer's chops are more evident here and really every one,  but the vocalist has proved themselves by the point in the album. The clean vocals chime in with a drunken chorus as the music dances around it. The rock against rock feel of the arrangements being some of the most confrontational elements comes front and center. The song sounds like it is falling apart on it'self as it implodes with an angular grace. The trumpets play a larger role than I imagined the might after the first song

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Even though it's entitled a interlude the fourth song clocks at five minutes. Sure it's an instrumental , but it is also a song , whether it really has direction or not. When some of the phrases end in a neatly tied bow, you realize these guys know the rules that they are throwing out the window and this album sounds just like they intended. The bass player would be this album's unsung hero if he had gotten a better shake in the mix. Sure they are metal, but black? the jury is still out on that going into the fifth song. The vocals are low and death metal before they swing into the circus like Biguine jazz. There is a very progressive element to it here as despite the vocals that almost bellow their way out of key, this circus keeps the trapeze flying.The first black metal vocals can be heard on "L' aphone et la Flore" this in turn sets the stage from the band to converge behind them to cross over into black metal. This is done without resorting to blast beats and is the first song that really sinks it's teeth into to make me a believer. The more death metal like vocals bellow over the jazz as the drums catches up with a flow of double bass until the go into the more staccato big band sound. Operatic female vocals come in at the tail of this song to add to the dramatic chaos.

The big top elements are showcased right from the sampled circus sounds that open "L' Helicon" . The bass fights it way to a more prominent place in the mix and things darken. I can hear this album appealing to fans of A Forest of Stars and even Sigh. This song has a cleaner sound as the chaos has become more organized in the studio for this one, despite some of the drums sounding like they are being kicked down a stairwell in places. There darker mood does bring this a little closer to being black metal even though there is more double bass than blast beats. The outro"Morceau en Moins"seems like a more disjointed ending for the previous and might prove the drummer is a bad ass if you didn't recognize that by this point in the album, doesn't really feel like a free standing song. I'll round this up to a 9.5 just based off sheer originality and though it might be more blackened Experimental death metal than something that burns churches on it's own accord, it gets into splitting straws and trying to define this band gives you more of a head ache than trying to keep up with some of the twists and turns this album takes.

Atrament : "Eternal Downfall"

My friends at Cvlt Nation and I agree to differ on a few things one of them is the debut of this Oakland band. Once we get into the nuts and bolts of this album, long time readers will understand why. It opens with a strong snarl and a stiff chug that might remind you of old Entombed. The second song is more straight forward, maybe this comes with the d-beat genre, sure I can hear elements of crust and Entombed in this, the more hard core surfaces midway and things begin to groove more like Slayer.  Discharge and Motorhead  are two names commonly thrown around when tracing the origins of d-beat back, "Aberration" provides more of a argument for Motorhead, though it's thrown against a wall of grime ridden death metal."Consumed" is quick to re-tread the straight ahead style of hybrid death metal the band is invested in. "Hericide" leans into the more punk roots of the genre with the growled vocals serving as the most defining trait of the band at this juncture. The songs are all under the three minute mark so they are a fast jack hammering in and out. It's not until things slow down to a more doomed stomp that any dynamics are displayed.

it's back to business as usual when they rip into what is beginning to mark them as a one trick pony in the full frontal blitz that is "Rotting Twilight" they do accelerate into blast beats, but it doesn't cause that much of a dynamic shift. "Aeon of Suffering" doesn't do anything to change this trend and I might as well be listening to the song before this, until the doomy stomp returns with blast beat accents. It's an effective trick, but doesn't do anything to add more color. Some chords are allowed to ring out slightly more to offer a few grains of melody to "World of Ash" it's the same sonically monochrome assault that at this point had numbed you out until they chug into more of a groove. 'Circle of Wolves" returns to the more punk drive that surfaced earlier. The drumming is pretty similar to what we have already encountered and from punk to metal with these guys is pretty much a variation of a few degrees.

At three and a half minutes "Dusk Abuse' is one of the longer songs on this album. They rip into with the same fury, but it's all a blur by this point in time , as once I pass the minute mark then I begin to wonder if I am getting more of the same for the next two and a half minutes, the truth is they take it and shove it through a more blasty metal filter. I can appreciate the animalistic emotion that is vented into the song. I'' round this down to a 5.5 as it might have a ton of fury behind it but most of these songs sound the same to me with only minor variations to an all to frequent theme. Being released on Broken Limbs in March.

The Body : "No One Deserves Happiness"

I think the reasons I have not been into this band in the past have been put to rest on their new album "No One Deserves Happiness". The tortured bird screams are still squawked in the background, but this is balanced out by layers of melody that are dark enough to appease me. Sometimes the drums have an organic sound at others they are more electronic. The overall result is something that finds the band at the apocalyptic cross roads where sludge and industrial meet. The second song finds the female vocals taking a more dominate role giving more guidance to the song with it's melody. The heavier pound that this band's fans will be waiting for arrives on "Hallow/ Hollow" . There is a little breathing room as the song drones on with the buzz of noise and distortion with the chorus of female vocals dancing around it to save the day. The experimentation begins to break new ground on "Two Snakes" as the beat sounds like it's from a 808 on steroids, the vocals are woven around it with a blend of effects and an additional harsh vocals that is not the normal squawked one emerges.

There is more of an industrial groove to the beat that opens "Adamah". When the vocals come in they create more of a post-punk sound, despite having a more soulful sound than your average Siouxsie enthusiast. "Starving Deserter" finds the varied elements they are forcing into a brutal coupling playing well with one another. What sounds like trumpets create a melody in the background while the female vocals offer a more chanted choral refrain and everyone tries to ignore the squawking in the back ground which brays in the same cadence for every song.One of the stronger vocal lines comes at the beginning of "the Fall and the Guilt".The music behind it is dark droning noise, so the vocals do all the heavy lifting. They dip into an almost doom like dirge on " Prescience". They come to a much more organic place than where they bulk of this album pulses from. The vocals on the closing dirge "the Myth Arc" remind me of Aimee Mann.

I'll round this up to an 8.5, as this is the best thing I have heard from this band so far. Granted I'm not what  they might call a fan, but it has prompted me to take more note of where they go in the future from here. I suppose I be their target audience for this sort of thing as it combines metal with dark electronic elements. Not as close to industrial as say Health they have created a compelling blend of the two. If I was still smoking pot I might be a little more blown away by what is going on here, but as it is, I think they accomplished what they were going for and took a big step in the right direction. Thrill Jockey will be releasing this on March 18th

 

Black History Month- Ragnarok : " Psychopathology"

Their 8th full length finds Jontho stepping out from behind, the drums to front the band. If you want the job done right then you gotta do it your self. The album has a fuller sound than some of their previous efforts. Hailing from the first wave of 90s Norwegian black metal, Jontho has also played in Tsjuder and the band has even seen Hoest from Taake pass through the ranks. It opens with a speedy powerhouse of a song that has not shortage of blast beats , but shows you the band is no limited to them.The punches they pack into their songs have more in common with thrash."I Hate" finds the blast beats being indulged in almost to access, but they play off many of the black metal conventions bands like Mayhem use like the creepy chord slow down with a side of double bass. By the time they get to the title track which is the third song, some of their speed obsessed attack begins to become a blur, even though the chorus stands out more than the first two. You can't say all the songs sound the same even though most share the same tempo as the guitar is varied and well played the is more attention to detail in this regard on "My Creator". The vocals which are a mid range rasp follow similar patterns, sometimes giving the illusion of  uniformity.

The guitar joins in a creating a more monochrome sonic painting on "Infernal Majesty" as the riffs are very similar until you get to the chorus. Midway in there is a slowed section, but even when they shift into this dynamic they do much like they already have. "Heretic" switches up enough with the slower riff coming out of the chorus  at one point and the almost Emperor like moments that have more elegance to them.The chorus where he croaks heretic is not as interesting as some of the previous choruses on this album, but the put more thought else where in the song so it balances out. There is more of a tangible difference in the riffs of "Into the Abyss". The approach to the chorus reminds me of something Morbid Angel might do back in the "Altars of Madness" days though it's screamed higher than a David Vincent growl. The speed thing while it's partially obligatory for the genre I think when they chug with more authority on "the Eight of the Seven Plagues" it's a more powerful statement, however don't think about that song title for too long or you'll get a brain freeze.

There is enough melody in the bridge riff of "Lies" to make it more than a blast fest, though that is the direction the song leans in, and once again when they chug becomes more focused and steps out of the hail storm of blast beats it's more effective. While slower at this point their overall sound, which at some point goes back to the blast begins wearing on me. It is well executed and this album is well produced, I need a little more variation than filler like "Blood". To their credit the lyrics are intelligible throughout the album and the closing song "Where Dreams Go to Die" bear a more Dissection like melody. Overall I'll give this one a 7.5, well done but could stand to be more varied.