Time Signature The evil within...

Genre: old school black metal

The masters of minimalistic black metal strike back with their ninth album - scheduled for release in May. Not much has changed musically since "Blood of the Pentagram" and last year's "Netherfiend", and we are still dealing with music that has a lot in common with first wave black metal and very little in common with Norway-inspired second wave black metal.

The music is dark and simplistic, on the verge of being primitive, and - although there seem to be more riffs per song on this album than on earlier releases - Geavewürm basically stick to the less-is-more doctrine. Riffwise, there is some pretty good stuff on the album, much of which has more of a midtempo thrash feel to it, and parallels may be drawn to the grimmest work by Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Bathory.

The production is far from polished, and the screechy vocals are rich in reverb, which creates a strange contrast between the darkly atmospheric vocals and the crunchy and earthy instrumentation. I do not know if this is on purpose, but there are a couple of places where it sounds like the drums and the rest of the instrumentation are out of sync (as in 'The Beast of the Abyss'), which kinda throws my listening experience for a loop. Given the band's, long career and massive experience, I think this effect is intended though, and I am sure that fans of Gravewürm will appreciate it.

Minimalistic, dark, and 100% Gravewürm, "Infernal Minions" is an acquired taste. fans of the band are bound to totally love it, but the uninitiated probably won't even be able to understand, let alone appreciate, it.

Time Signature Blood of the pentagram...

Genre: heavy metal / black metal

Gravewürm have been around since 1990 and, as such, it might be tempting to assume that they are a second wave black metal band, embracing chaotic blastbeats, tremolo picking and lo-fi production. But that is not what you get. Not on this album.

On "Blood of the Pentagram", Gravewürm offers minimalistic music which is much more in the vein of first wave black metal, featuring elements from classic metal, mid-tempo thrash and even some doom-like features. Sticking to a minimalist formula, Gravewürm operates only with a couple of riffs per song, which are then repeated to the point of it being scarily entrancing (this is just about the only thing that this album has in common with modern black metal).

The guitars have a razor sharp crunching sound, which suits the chucking guitar riffs considerably well. The harsh, almost, whispered vocals have a certain sense of creepiness to them, but this is at the cost of power, and against the backdrop of the chucking guitar riffs and the dirty sounding guitars, the vocals seem very week.

Gravewürm's branch of black metal is an acquired taste, and their minimalist approach may not appeal to everybody. But, if you are into primitive first wave black metal, then you definitely should check out "Blood of the Pentagram".