Black Metal History Month - Mystic Circle : "s/t"

The German bands is like Cradle of Filth if you took all the elements that normally annoy me about Cradle of Filth out of them and replaced them with more thrashing traditional metal sensibilities. The first thing that would happen is the vocal would not be shrieking but carrying a snarl that makes more sense. It would be dark but without the Hot Topic frilly shirt feel. Yes there are still blast beats so sometimes it might be faster than the song calls for but have the sense to slow down and let you get into the song. With seven albums under their belt it is clear these guys know what they are doing, I think this one might just dial all the elements that have worked for them in the past into this package I am reviewing now. 

Not sure how serious they are about the Satanism here. The lyrics are the normal metal poppycock with little that lets me know they are actual occultists. If they, were I suspect they might tone down the make up and allow the sonics to do most of the magic for them. Watain are pretty serious and sometimes they get fast like this, but the intention is felt in their music and not so much here. "Hell Demons Rising" is the catchiest song thus far and in comparison, it makes " Letters from the Devil" feel like run of the mil black metal. Some of this is due to the songs less than relenting speed. The guitar playing is much better than expected. The vocals work, but are the weak link, though I cannot really hear the bass to confirm this most of the time. 

Dramatic orchestral trappings decorate "Darkness in Flames" . The drummer's need for speed that propels this certainly has a niche, but from what I heard earlier in the album I do not think this kind of blitz plays to their strength as a song writer, yet this seems to be the path they insist upon dragging this album down. This brings to to feeling like I am pushing through this album as an act of endurance. This is a shame as two songs previous this was something I was enjoying. I am fine with the melodrama, at least the extent of it they indulge in. The snarl of the vocals begins to take on a more uniform feel by the time we get to " the Arrival of Baphomet". A minute and a half in we come to a cool riff, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make.    

"Curse of the Wolf Demon" finds them slowing down a little to create a much darker sound. This drummer is good, and I understand the pressure to conform to some of the genre tropes, but less is more.  Even at their best here they are far from reinventing the wheel. The chanted refrain formula begins to get stale by the end of the album. The blur of blasting speed sours any chances that "Satanic Mistress" has finding the balance they started this album with. Whoever the character is he is snarling about they can open a portal of hell.  The cover of Possessed song "Death Metal" is a safe bet since really really only fans of the band are familiar with and has enough legit metal credit to it.  These guys are good at what they do, it's a fun listen and reminds you of black metal's traditional metal roots as they pay plenty of respect to them. I will give this album an 8.5.  This album is being released on Atomic Fire Records./

Black Metal History Month - Stangarigel : " Na Severe Srdca

The first band that finds me at back to basics Black Metal is from this band from Slovakia. I appreciate they are not full blast beat ahead right out of the gate. The folk elements are present, but they are not totally LARPing out and pretending to be Vikings since there are no Vikings from this region. The fugal horn might seem like a lot, but it works here. Not as dark I a normally want my black metal but willing to accept it. Things are about to get a lot darker for Slovokia since they are at Ukraine's back door. Another one of their neighbors is Romania, the home of vampires so they could tap into the darkness of their undead immigrants, yet I do not hear that happening. 

In some ways they remind me a little of Inquisition. The vocals are not quite as croaked but fill the same space. Another thing that plays into their favor is how the songs each have their own feel. This is no small feat as many black metal bands just let things drone into one another and it feels like there is just one long song blasting out your ear drums. We ger three and a half minutes into the second song before one shows up and then they do not rely on it. There are more nods to classic metal, most notedly Iron Maiden in some of the guitar melodies, and how they gallop. There is a happier more power metal like tone to the guitar of the third song that I am not as much a fan of. 

"Smaragdova" finds me back paying more attention as it had more menace juggled between some of the riffs that feel more like Blue Oyster Cult. There more deliberate chugs being the more impressive of these. They sum everything up on the last song which fuses the wide range of sounds already offered while having the feral nature of black metal at it's core. Though the mix and overall production of this album are weird enough to take the edge off what this could be if the drum had more bass and were higher in the mix it might sound heavier, but instead we got what we got here.  Sound issues aside, I enjoyed this album enough to give it an 8.5, it could have been darker, but some of that might also lie in the production, though it bears saying it proves my point of the egregore of where band comes from effecting the vibe of the sound.  

Korn : "Requiem"

Korn has been all over the place over the course of their career. While the chorus to the opener is fairly mainstream in it's from 90s radio hooks, I can at least give them props for keeping up the down tuned bounce that is their signature though my main complaint which can be said of most radio friendly rock music is that is is not dark enough. I would say the first three Korn albums are dark enough for me even when they became freaks on leashes. "Let the Dark Do the Rest" feels like a continuation of the previous song. Meaning things are being under a formula that makes the songs sound the same. The strong groove that drives the bulk of "Start the Healing" makes it a more compelling listen than the first two songs. A wise move to make it the album's lead single. 

While the band claims the pandemic gave them more time than they had in the past to work on this album and how recording to tape again helped the sound, the only real difference I hear is the layers of backing vocals that are more textured. The overall sound is not as bass heavy, and the guitars are not as heavy. "Lost in the Grandeur" is the first song where his voice drops into a growl. It is just a passing refrain and not a major element. "Disconnect" feels more like Davis whining over a Deftones track. Iti s pretty middle of the road with nothing really standing out. The bright chorus of "Hopeless and Beaten" seems bent on trying to undermine the potential for heaviness the song teases. Though it does grow on me and it one of the album's better moments.  

There is a familiar pulse to "Penance to Sorrow". I like the mood, though it sounds like Metallica trying to be nu metal in places, not the most groundbreaking and really doesn't touch on any elements we have not already heard here. "My Confession" makes an attempt to get heavier and work off more of a groove. Davis finds a better cadence to allow his vocals to dance over the beat. The chorus even works better. The undercurrent of the last song works better than the previous one.  They are skilled at what they do and now 14 albums under their belt this band is a fine oiled machine, but they do not have the anger of the past infusing the music, but they are still great musicians so I will give this one an 8.5. My main complaint is it is not dark enough.      

Black Metal History Month - Mur : "Cut the Rivers Vein"

 This one-man Minnesota based black metal projects reaches into both death metal and doom, The moody atmosphere and darkness is what keeps it roots in black metal. Though by the time we get into the second song and lower gurgling gutturals bubble up from the slowly syncopated riff the death metal wrestles for dominance. The undercurrent of blast beats dragging back from left of center. Very unsettling and heavy, while having abundant yet un=romantic melodies is one of the signatures to this album's sound. 

Most of the the time you hear the term folk metal it is used to describe bands trying to make drinking music for dwarves or pull off some kind of LARPing soundtrack. Here it is referring to Iron and Wine. "Lowered Cloud" drones off this vibe. Sung vocals still carry a despondent bleak feel even in the vulnerable plea. It locks in on a heavier riff with well layered guitars. The title track works off a somewhat similar formula with clean acoustic guitar paving the way. Where it differs is how it goes from being something more traditionally black metal in the sonic intent of its means spirited attack and then takes a turn in more of a doomy direction. The most impressive part of this is how fluidly it works and sound pretty organic like it's a band jamming it out in their practice space. A    t almost eleven and a half minutes some of the fat on the front end could have been trimmed.   

After four minutes of downtrodden folk "A Powerful Uneasy Feeling" explodes into something more powerfully blackened. If this was a horror movie there might be issues with pacing, the same could how efficiently he makes us of dynamics in his arrangements. Though not a dealbreaker as up to this point it has still been interesting. Can the same be said for the twelve-minute closing song?  For the first five minutes it lingers at the infernal crossroads where depressive black metal and funeral doom meet. Then it blasts off into a black metal for a bit with a few breathers interspaced. There is even a more triumphant classic metal gallop with a guitar solo over it. I will give this album a 9 as black metal can be a hard genre at times to breathe new life into which compensates for the sometimes-ponderous arrangements. 

Black Metal History Month - Silhouette : "Les Retranchement"

 

Black metal is a careful balance. Perhaps even more so if you are trying to win over my fickle ears. You cannot just sell me on relentless blast beats with not other dynamics as it becomes noise. At the same time if you linger on melody and atmosphere to much then you are not convincing me you are evil enough. For the purpose of this review the first track which is basically an intro that is just Nightwish like singing. The metal elements are not introduced until the 2nd track which is the first song, and we are going to refer to it as the first song from here on out.  It reminds me of Mykur's first album. The second song gets better as darkness is the most important quality of black metal and it gets darker. In some way being French allows me to cut them a little slack as Alcest also has to warm up into things and find a balance. 

In some ways this album is actually more of an ep than a full-length album as there is an interlude after the second song breaking the two halves of the album up along with an outro, that I will skip altogether. The interlude has some cool music to it, and I think it should have been worked into one of the actual songs. The female vocals also sound more like the Gathering here which I am a fan of. At almost two and half minutes the dreaminess summoned here is more like song So I will count it for the purpose of this review, though if you are not a fan of atmospheric music like the Cocteau Twins and came here just for black metal you might want to skip it. When they back in with the title track the male vocals are sun not screamed at first. The clang of the guitar is still dissonant enough to work as black metal. It all begins to click into place for me by this point. 

The last full-length song is heavier and more black metal with the female vocals floating in here and there, but not being the main focal point of the song until midway into things. I think they have played a better balance act in the previous songs. Though some of the atmospheric passages here are creepier.   I will give this a 9.5 and see how it sits with me, it is going to take many listens to fully unpack what is going on here and what this is , there is however enough black metal for it to belong here, and if you want something that is atmospheric with folk inspirations along with a side of black metal check this out. Out on Antiq Records

Crowbar : Zero and Below"

 Kirk Windstein is back. One of the 90s most enduring metal bands churns with the swampy grooves that put them on the map. These guys have grown on me over the years and the more time I take with this band the more I appreciate them.  Windstein is the only original member with Soylent Green drummer Tommy Buckley as the next in line as the closest thing to an original member. The song writing on the opener is very taunt to the point it seems like they are taking the torch from Pantera. The doomier "Her Evil is Sacred" is heavier, but more bulldozing than melody. "Confess to Nothings" is darker and more desperate in its depressive throb to capture the sound of their earlier work. Windstein's voice is such a crucial part of the sound here, it's when he is in a raspy croon that they are at their most effective.  

He puts more anger into his snarl for "Chemical Godz". It is the most intense of the first four songs. It is also very effective when the tempo drops down to a doomier more sinister pace. As far as songwriting goes across the board "Denial of the Truth" is a more interesting song despite dropping the dynamic down to a shadowy power ballad of sorts.  Things pick up pace wise on "Bleeding From Every Hole".  I like the more rock n roll feel of "It's Always Worth the Gain". You can hear the Led Zeppelin influence which you know was there considering they have already covered 'No Quarter". I would not say there is much in the way of filler on this album some songs just connect more than others, "Crush Negativity" pretty much checks off most of the metal boxes. 

The more lumbering groove of "Reanimating a Lie" is what fans of the band are going to want. It picks up the pace to an almost thrashing pace and will induce most pits for sure. Some of the weighty chugs are impressive.  But even more impressed is the dark melodies infused into the despondent wail of the title track. I will give this a 9.5, it might not be their best album, but it is impressive and won me over, in the first listen. Longtime fans will find plenty to embrace and head bang over. 

Black Metal History Month-KRVVLA : "X"

 This band from Belarus meets at the crossroads of screamo and black metal. It's dark chaos so I am not opposed to it. There are some more punk minded riffs showing up on the first song that are Marduk like.  The second song is even heavier with lower death metal vocals rather than the scathing screaming it opened with. This song proves to be more interesting from a song writing perspective as the it drops down into a more palm muted riff that creates a shift in tension. Normally at this point with any band that hits you as being heavy as fuck, you are left wondering after the assault if they can actually write a song and this band was quick to clear up any confusion in that regard. However, it does run together with the third song, so the intensity of the blasting chaos creates a rather uniform din.   

"XV" finds the vocals serving more of a purpose, well at least the higher ones as the lower growls just are a static reverberation.     I could not tell you if they are being growled in their native tongue or not.  The more chilling dissonance of the guitar that rings out going into "XVI" is sonically heavier in its darkness that the rapid-fire feral attacks they have already launched. It reminds me more of Portrayal of Guilts flirtations with the line where screamo and black metal meet. Though this band is not quite on that same level, in terms of dynamics or the scope of colors they terrorize you with.

The songs do begin to bleed together more as I did not notice I was already on "XVII" until I went back to the tab I was streaming it on. It is more chaotic and a din of dark sharp-edged guitar and screaming. There is more sound than song there. The last song is more of an outro than an actual song, just screams running through effects.  I will give this album an 8.5, they are more savage than just being another Deafheaven clone. There is a great deal of potential and if you want your black metal heavier than most of the other new black metal coming out these days give this album a shot. It is being released on Brucia Records.