UMUR "True Traitor, True Whore" is the 5th full-length studio album by US black metal act Leviathan. The album was released through Profound Lore Records in November 2011. Leviathan is a one-man act consisting of Wrest (Jef Whitehead) who handles all vocals and instruments. Wrest is a highly prolific artist on the US black metal scene (Lurker of Chalice and Twilight are a couple of his other projects) but also a rather mysterious character who rarely gives interviews and when he does, they are often rather cryptic and not too informative. I read one of his rare interviews a while back though and there he hinted at the possibility that "True Traitor, True Whore" was written based on his feelings after he was charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated domestic battery in January 2011. A very serious case involving Whitehead and his then girlfriend.

...and judged by songtitles (and the album title) like "Her Circle is the Noose", "Every Orifice Yawning Her Price" and "Harlots Rises (Mesmerized Again)" there might actually be something about it. The music is quite dark and filthy too with a hateful edge to it. Picture a combination of the chaotic/dissonant and semi-progressive black metal of Deathspell Omega/Blut aus Nord and the epic/ambient/industrial horror soundscapes of Gnaw Their Tongues and Leviathan is somewhere in the vicinity of how that combination would sound. Bearing that in mind it´s no surprise that "True Traitor, True Whore" is not an easily penetrable album and for most it´ll probably require a lot of spins to fully grasp. Some releases simply aren´t worth spending that much time on but that´s certainly not the case with "True Traitor, True Whore" which is quite the dark, filthy and intriguing ride. Upon repeated listens it´s also revealed that "True Traitor, True Whore" is quite a varied album, with both intense and chaotic blasting sections, ambient epic/cinematic atmospheres and filthy almost industrialized noisy sections too. The raw and raspy vocals are for the most part completely unintelligible, low in the mix and heavily distorted. While that works well most of the time, I would have appreciated a more varied vocal arsenal.

After my initial listen to "True Traitor, True Whore", I was left a bit confused but definitely wanting more. It´s an ambivalent feeling of frustration and sweet expectation that you´ve found something that´s actually worth exploring a bit further but have a hard time penetrating. Upon repeated listens tracks like "Every Orifice Yawning Her Price" with it´s goth rocking drum beats and the multi-layered and actually quite brilliant "Harlots Rises (Mesmerized Again)" begin to stand out and upon conclusion "True Traitor, True Whore" is quite the impressive release by Leviathan. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

Warthur The latest Burzum album seems to represent a clean break from the band’s past, heralding a change in musical style as radical as the one Bathory underwent between Under the Sign of the Black Mark and Blood Fire Death. It seems to be Varg Vikernes’ attempt at viking metal - appropriately enough, considering that the lyrics consist of a recitation of an ancient Icelandic poem - but bless him, the man just isn’t very good at it. The songs are somewhat too simplistic, over-long, and over-repetitive - and bear in mind this is from someone who really likes the 25 minute ambient track on Filosofem - and in general it’s not only not the sort of thing I expect from Burzum, but it also just isn’t very good judged on its own terms in isolation from everything else Varg has done in his career.

Conor Fynes 'Blood In Our Wells (Кров у Наших Криницях, Krov u Nashykh Krynytsyakh) - Drudkh (7/10) Often matched up against their second work 'Autumn Aurora' as Drudkh's crowning achievement, it has been a long time coming for me to get around to hearing 'Blood In Our Wells'. They are a band who require no introduction; since their decidedly Burzum-inspired 'Forgotten Legends', they have represented Ukraine's enigmatic black metal scene with a particular focus on atmosphere. 'Blood In Our Wells' sees the band incorporating a greater measure of melody into their arboreal style, and while I might still point towards 'Aumn Aurora' as the greatest of what these Ukrainians have to offer, their fourth album is an ambitious expansion on their already intriguing sound.

One thing that's often mentioned about these guys is that they refuse to post their lyrics, and paired with the fact that most of the band's listeners will not be familiar with the finer elements of the Ukrainian tongue, this leaves the band's subject matter up to the listener's imagination. Like its predecessor 'The Swan Road' however, 'Blood In Our Wells' uses the work of regarded Ukrainian poets, complimenting the romantic lyrical imagery with an introspective atmosphere. Although Drudkh's sound still lurks about the lo-fi depths, the instruments are well mixed and clear. The vocals (presumably done by Thurios) are surprisingly distinct for a genre that often defaults on rasping; his delivery is aggressive and intelligible. Although the lyrical content is not 'original' to the band, it is incorporated beautifully into their music. It is not a far stretch to hear Drudkh's dreamlike atmosphere being matched with Lina Kostenko's agrarian metaphor.

Melody is a more prominent aspect of 'Blood In Our Wells', although this to realize itself most in the music's handful of dramatic climaxes; moments within the typically longwinded compositions in which all emotion is let loose. 'Furrows of Gods' and 'When The Flame Turns To Ashes' are both highlights on the album, maintaining the band's penchant for repetition only long enough to make their point. The latter of those two concludes on a particularly stunning note, collapsing into a melodic dirge among the greatest Drudkh have ever done. The album's second half becomes more longwinded, but the slight dip in quality does not break the atmosphere, which 'makes' the album. With the band's trademark addition of arboreal folk instrumentation into the black metal soundscape, 'Blood In Our Wells' makes for another stirring experience. It does not give the same shock, nor envelop me as much as did 'Autumn Aurora', but for the critical acclaim I had read of it, I have not found myself disappointed.

Warthur Abigor's second album finds them taking an intriguing, almost operatic approach to black metal which stands in stark contrast to the symphonic synthesiser-supported style that was explored at around the same time by the likes of Dimmu Borgir. Rather than broadening the variety of instruments used, Abigor instead added complexity to their music by crafting intricate riffs which seem simple enough to a casual listener but when you direct your attention to them they prove to have plenty of hidden depths. Gloriously atmospheric, as the best black metal should be, the album shows a band who have that rare combination of qualities: a willingness to experiment on the one hand and a refusal to be show-offy about it on the other hand.

Wilytank Primordial are one of those common knowledge blackened folk metal acts that prove that you don't need cheesy keyboards or flutes and fiddles to make interesting folk metal; just a little acoustic guitar to go along with their epic sounding metal music. However, no one ever brings up their debut 'Imrama' in any discussions of the band. Granted, this is one one of their weaker albums, but there are a good amount of quality elements to keep me coming back to it.

This album actually leans more toward black metal than folk but the influences that hint at their later inversion of that order are definitely here. There's the opener "Fuil Arsa" which has folkish acoustic guitar played alongside the metal music and non-English lyrics. Beyond that song, the rest of this album is mostly black metal; but Primordial does have their trademark Primordial tone going already, i.e. lots of triplet riffs and lyrics dealing with paganism, society, and dark romanticism. Those three themes are enough to cycle back and forth from through the album's ten song cycle, and there's some very memorable licks like the aggressive sounding "Here I Am King" and "The Fires", the more somber "The Darkest Flame" and "Let the Sun Set on Life Forever", and the flat-out epic opener and closer pieces "Fuil Arsa" and "Awaiting the Dawn".

There are a few reasons why 'Imrama' is one of Primordial's weaker albums though. A lot of these pieces are good but not great, and the only two I'd put in a Primordial dream live set list are the opening and closing pieces. The musicianship feels sloppy in places' the example that comes first to my mind is in "Here I Am King" in the first blastbeating section where the riffs and drumming don't seem to match up right. Singer A.A. Nemtheanga combines all his styles like he usually does: harsh, spoken, and clean. However, 'Imrama' features some of his weakest clean vocals ever. The dude barely has any range here, which makes him sound pretty boring when compared to his work in Primordial's other albums. Fortunately, he'd improve in time for the sophomore album 'A Journey's End' three years later.

'Imrama' was their debut album and Primordial are one of those bands whose debut album is only a dry run of the excellent material to come. These pieces are weaker than Primordial's later work, but the majority of them are still good for what they are with the side effect of making their later albums seem even better in comparison. So, go ahead and give 'Imrama' a go if just to see what Primordial was like before 'Spirit the Earth Aflame' or 'To The Nameless Dead'.

Yog Sothoth With song titles like "The Choir of the Dead" and "Procession of the Dead Clowns", this is not an album to play as background music for bingo events or Sunday brunches. It's bleak, cold, unforgivable and downright mean sounding. The music is almost a miasma of buzzy guitars playing dissonant melodies propulsed by somewhat industrial sounding drum tracks that pinball between slow grooves and ripping blasts. Vocals are basically growls and screams that are completely indecipherable, along with some distant additional vocal tracks that sort of meander and weave in and out of the music along with some keyboards to add to the creepy aura. There are a few tracks that are essentially eerie interludes to keep the haunting vibe afloat before the next onslaught of hair- raising chord progressions kicks in.

The French black metal scene had some unique ideas and style going on the first decade of this century judging by this effort. The guitar playing in particular is played in an interesting fashion...such as two guitars deliberately tuned to be a bit 'off' from each other to create this sick sounding swarming insect sound...which reminds me of Deathspell Omega to some extent, although this Blut Aus Nord album just about predates DsO's incorporation of that dissonant aggression into their work. Normally the idea of programmed drums is a big turn off for me, but in this case they work. There's a surprising amount of creativity going on in the programming, as if the tracks were performed by some progbot software.

There are a few tracks that don't quite measure up to others here, but songs like "The Choir of the Damned" with its angry bizarre riffs and the impressive variations on display in "Our Blessed Frozen Cells" are just too damn good to deny. The last track ends things on an impressive note as well, sounding almost gorgeous in a weirdly majestic fashion. I'm no fan of stagnant by-the-numbers black metal, thus I found this to be a bit of a treat and it had a sound of its own when it was released. .

Warthur Borknagar's The Olden Domain sees them crafting an unusual variety of progressive black metal. The primary experiment here seems to be to inject more conventional metal sounds (both in terms of playing and singing) into a black metal do it, but the real trick is in managing to do that in a way which results in something which seems to be distinct from both metal traditions, rather than simply sounding like watered-down and weak black metal. With Garm's vocals in the picture the album sounds a lot like a foundational document along the way to Arcturus' glorious The Sham Mirrors. On the whole, a fascinating little album.

UMUR "Fallen" is the 8th full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Burzum. The album was released through Byelobog Productions in March 2011. As always all vocals and instruments are played by Varg Vikernes.

The music is atmospheric black metal with aggressive raspy harsh vocals as the dominant vocal style, but the album also features clean sung vocals and whispered talking type vocals. Varg Vikernes is a very convincing vocalist and the fact that the lyrics are in his native language also provides an extra dimension to the vocal delivery. I guess that´s mostly true to people who understand Norwegian (a group I belong to), but personally I find it irresistibly charming.

The album contains seven tracks. Five of those are relatively long atmospheric and repetitive black metal tracks, while one is an intro and one is an ambient/percussive track that closes the album ("Til Hel Og Tilbake Igjen"). The latter is a bit tedious, but the rest of the tracks are brilliant to my ears. A track like "Vanvidd" is outstanding IMO. It took me a while to appreciate the thin sounding production and spot the bass in the mix, but it´s like the longer I get into the album I get accustomed to the sound production and begin to spot details and appreciate the sound.

The musicianship is generally strong but I think it´s audible that Varg Vikernes is not a natural drummer and if he is it doesn´t show. The drums are very simple and repetitive in style and if there is a fill hidden somewhere on the album that I didn´t notice you´re welcome to enlighten me because I can´t find one. The simplicity of the drumming is at times almost to the point of being ridiculous, but for the most part Varg Vikernes makes this approach work.

"Fallen" is overall a very strong album that sounds unmistakably like Burzum and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

Phonebook Eater 8/10

"Two Hunters" provides an image of the dark corners of the world.

Along maybe with bands like Agalloch, Wolves In Throne Room is now one of America’s most recognized Black Metal bands: in 2007, they released “Two Hunters”, so far the absolute pinnacle of their career and one of the best albums of the scene.

“Diadem in 12 Stars” was their debut album which had a very unique take on Blackgaze; the sound was very ethereal and harsh at the same time. “Two Hunters” perfects that atmosphere by a whole lot, with much more brave, shoegazey and unearthly passages soaked in reverb, which gain a touch of beauty when female vocals, that seem to come from heaven, are added. Then we still have the grim, electric passages. But, despite the great amount of Black Metal in this release, everything sounds much more clean and less raw than in “Diadem”: the reverb is possibly the greatest reason why it doesn’t feel that heavy, but it’s also the fact that WITTR on this one decided to focus much more intensely on the atmosphere.

The lyrics are probably the most enigmatic and fascinating aspect of the album: “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks And Roots” is a sort of a dying wish of the persona: he wants to be left in the woods, so that he becomes one with nature, entering, this way, into a new life. Then “Vastness and Sorrow” is more complex: it involves a dark rider who rules the world, as he is the only living being there. The world moves to his horse’s steps, as he passes through ruins of a once great civilization, a symbol of failure of mankind. “Cleansing” seems to describe an encouragement to have a ritual act of purification through singing, in order to be saved from the dark rider, who is mentioned.

With only four tracks, “Two Hunters” provides the listener, in less than fifty minutes, a vivid image of dark, hidden corners of the world where man has not yet visited; A damp, black cave, in which there is a waterfall of the purest of waters. “Dia Artio” is the intro the starts off this unique journey, where the reverb-soaked clean guitars set the stage. The twelve minute “Vastness and Sorrow” is a gloomy Black Metal piece that finds no pause, no mercy, managing to be the darkest track on the album. “Cleansing” starts off with a vein similar to the intro, but then explodes into yet another Black Metal passage. The final, eighteen minute track is home of a bunch of solid, solemn and somber riffs, occasionally purified with the watery clean moments. As the music dissolves, at the end of the album, the sound of birds comes in , giving more coherency to the lyrical concept of the song, by this point of view one of the great closers of Black Metal history.

“Two Hunters” will be remembered as a Black Metal landmark album, an album that will be, over the years. a point of reference for many bands; even today, the Blackgaze movement is, although mostly underground, increasing exponentially, and will possibly domain most of future Black Metal. When that happens, Wolves In The Throne Room have a reserved place in the Olympus of legendary Metal bands.

Warthur Darkspace cram their third album with more ambient black metal compositions more or less in a similar vein to those on their second album, though they tend to be uniformly 10 minutes or so in length with the exception of a shorter track and a couple of longer pieces at the end. A lot of the time when bands put out CDs crammed to capacity like this the end result can be disappointing, with a lack of editing resulting in an album which is overlong and guilty of containing filler. Not so Dark Space III; the band maintain a tremendously consistent quality across the entire album, and whilst their schtick does at points threaten to get a little samey, on the whole this is another fascinating journey through the black metal void.

Warthur Wolves In the Throne Room's latest album expresses the band's mystical shamanic environmentalist message via a fusion of howling, furious, misanthropic black metal with spiritual, contemplative music. The Aaron Weaver's use of synthesisers in these compositions is distinct from Varg Vikernes' tinkerings in Burzum, a project whose metal side seems to have been an influence on the band (despite the Weaver brothers coming from precisely the opposite side of the political spectrum to Varg); whereas Burzum's synthesiser use drew inspiration from ambient music, here the synths are used to put the listener in mind of choirs and church organs and the like. Equally, occasional outbreaks of acoustic guitar and female vocals show a mild folk music influence on the album.

The general concept seems to be of natural wildernesses as being sacred spaces in their own right, and by and large the album is very successful at getting the idea across, with the slow closer Prayer of Transcendence somehow managing to transform black metal from a cold, angry, misanthropic hellstorm into something more contemplative and, well, transcendent. Purists may sneer, but there's little doubt in my mind that Wolves are presenting a profoundly different and novel take on the genre with this album, and it certainly inspires me to check out more of their work. Combining the musical approach of Burzum or Darkthrone with the aesthetic and spiritual stance of, say, the early Tyrannosaurus Rex albums or Devendra Banhart really shouldn't work as well as this.

Conor Fynes 'The Jilemnice Occultist' - Master's Hammer (10/10)

The black metal 'golden age' of the early 1990's seems to almost exclusively inspire fans to think of Norway, with particular regards to the whole 'murder, church-burning, suicide' game of musical chairs that made the genre a seasonal favourite for media sensationalists, and a mark of concert for conservative Christian mothers worldwide. Of course, the appeal and mystique of black metal was by no means limited to Northern Europe, and as some might argue, it wasn't even the place where the best music was being made. Cut to what is now known as the Czech Republic; a band called MASTER'S HAMMER recorded their debut 'Ritual' in 1991, creating some well-deserved praise for a band that was doing some fairly sophisticated things with the then-youthful genre. By the next year however, much attention in black metal had scopes on Norway. Although 'The Jilemnice Occultist' (or 'Jilemnicky Okultista' in the original Czech) did not receive the degree of recognition and awe that it deserved, MASTER'S HAMMER took the style of black metal into progressive depths then yet unexplored by any others. 'The Jilemnice Occultist' is arguably the most accomplished black metal of its period, and even today holds the title for one of the most effective uses of keyboards in the style.

The band find their sound rooted in a meeting between thick VENOM sounding riffs, theatrical vocal work, and symphonic flourishes that many have tried to emulate, but none have managed to execute as well. The edge of the keyboards never attempts to mimic a full orchestra- something often doomed to fail within the context of a limited budget- instead, the keyboards are either used to provide spooky piano rolls over the guitars, or back up the guitars themselves to flesh out the rhythm. In taking their moderated approach with the keyboards, MASTER'S HAMMER evade the greatest fault I find with much symphonic metal, in that the keyboards will too often weaken the intensity of the guitar. Vlasta Voral's keyboard work is among the most distinctive aspects of the album however, and while it is primarily aimed to support the guitars, it adds a wholly new melodic dimension to the music that actually compliments the spooky occult atmosphere of the album. MASTER'S HAMMER's sound is incredibly vast for a black metal album released in this era, with the recording's only blight being the fairly weak sound of Mirek Valenta's drum kit. The musicianship itself is without weakness across the board, and though the songs themselves may not be as distinguishable as they are on MAYHEM's 'De Mysteriis,,,' record (this period's go-to black metal masterpiece) the songwriting on 'The Jilemnice Occultist' is remarkably consistent, although the second track 'Among The Hills, A Winding Way' may be my favourite cut off the record.

MASTER'S HAMMER hold alot of 'firsts' in black metal with 'The Jilemnice Occultist'. Most notably, this is the first time a black metal record was ever tied together with a storyline. Similar to KING DIAMOND's penchant for horror storytelling, the album has a plot where dark magic takes the centerstage, creating a complex tale that would not look out of place in Gothic horror canon. For better and worse, the lyrics are all rasped in the native Czech tongue, meaning that many English-inclined won't get to experience the storyline firsthand. Although this leaves many listeners to explore the storyline through online summaries and booklets, the phonetics of the Czech language sound absolutely diabolical when sung by Franta Storm. Although he already took his place as one of my favourite and most distinctive black metal vocalists with his powerful rasp on 'Ritual', 'The Jilemnice Occultist' has his vocals go wild, running from his traditionally dramatic and high-energy performance to griefridden sprechsegang that sometimes sounds like it could be Gollum shrieking. His very distinctive style may have some questioning whether they love it or hate it, but I can mention few black metal frontmen with such an eerie sound to their vocals.

The fuzzy classic metal riffs, ingenious symphonic touch and undeniable vocal brilliance of the band's frontman make 'The Jilemnice Occultist' still one of the greatest black metal albums even today. The band's debut had much of this same charm and occult atmosphere to it, but MASTER'S HAMMER's experimental risk here pays off in full. While the folks in Norway may have outshadowed the rest of the world with their antics, MASTER'S HAMMER matured the sound of black metal here to such an extent, that it would take other bands nary half a decade to catch up to them. A virtually flawless record.

Warthur Refining the approach of their first album and spreading it out over epic tracks, Darkspace's second album finds them hooking up their spacey style of ambient black metal with the sprawling compositional structures of classic ambient artists such as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Brian Eno. At points verging on blackened doom metal with its crushingly slow riffs, the album also features more artful use of sound effects, with the final track Dark 2.10 tapering off into a long sequence of space noises. On the whole, the album is reminiscent of a shooting star - it begins in tranquility, then there's a chaotic, roaring, firey thing passing across view, and then you're left with the cold emptiness of space again. Another very good example of ambient black metal.

Warthur Alongside the early Darkthrone releases, Dissection's The Somberlain is one of the earliest albums to combine the misanthropic assault and atmosphere of the second wave of black metal with the technical pyrotechnics often associated with death metal. With brilliant performances and impeccable production, it was one of the albums which proved that, despite the sneering of critics, black metal wasn't just about people who could barely play their instruments recording their music with a gratingly lo-fi approach (not that there's anything wrong with that). And even better, it still sounds as fresh and transgressive today as it did then - perhaps more so, knowing the future antics some of the band members would get up to.

Warthur Deathspell Omega's second concept album surrounding their philosophical contemplation of Satanic metaphysics is a real treat for those who don't mind (or positively enjoy) a little Satan in their metal and are interested in experimental black metal formats which stretch the boundaries of the genre. As well as including some intriguing quiet moments between its eruptions of black metal fury, the album is also significantly more varied than many avant-black metal albums when it comes to the actual rocking out - at points they create a chaotic wall of noise, but there's moments where almost traditional metal riffing will break out unexpectedly here and there. A complex and fascinating album.

Warthur The first Darkspace album is an ambient metal piece which essentially operates on two levels - on one level, you have the conventional metal instrumentation churning out a rumbling wall of guitar noise, and on the other level (usually in parallel with the other one) you have curious ambient effects overlaid with bizarre, alien screams and atmospheric samples (often from 2001: A Space Odyssey). The overall effect is something like the sort of ambient black metal approached by Burzum - but without the sort of incoherent rage and barely-restrained hatred that characterises Burzum's work, replacing it with a sense of cool, spacey detachment and dissociation. I wouldn't call it a classic, but it's a very interesting experimental black metal piece which certainly makes me want to hear the rest of this band's work.

Time Signature Across the ocean...

Genre: black metal

Well well well, the first releases on the newly formed label Demonhood Productions certainly are interesting. Vetter's "Vetterkult" is the second release on the label ever.

"Vetterkult" features some truly weird and innovative black metal, which still draws on the very black heart at the core of all things black metal. The production is raw and fuzzy with the drums quite low in the mix, and the vocals full of reverb, so as to generate an atmospheric feel.

Musically, while anchored in black metal, "Vetterkult" is all over the place and should appeal to those who do not mind their black metal avant-garde and search for new frontiers within the genre.

After an almost cinematic intro in the form of 'Over Havet', the listener is taken on a baffling musical journey in 'Folk af Karrig Jord' which features both elements of black metal, noise rock and even some 70s doom rock, and this journey is continued in the heavy and sludgy 'Brennoffer', while 'Slåtten' is an atmospheric instrumental synth-based piece. Drawing on dissonant tremolo-picking and repetition, combined with sludgy riffs and 70s rock-like semi-funky beats the almost ten minutes long 'Brattefoss' may challenge even seasoned black metal listeners and is in an interesting contrast with the Nordic psych-folk rock opus that is 'Gamal Reinlender'/'Peters Vise'. 'Stenklang' is a soundscape piece which starts out drawing on guitar noise, but gradually morphs into a more pleasant light-toned affair, while 'Vetterkult' is another avant-garde black metal tune that combines black metal repetition with darkly psychedelic elements.

If you think that black metal is stagnant and lacks innovation, then one listen to "Vetterkult" should be enough to prove you wrong. Fans of experimental and avant-garde black metal should definitely check out this album.

Time Signature Pagan customs and beliefs...

Genre: black metal

This release by Norwegian black metallers Vithr is no less than historical. Yes, it is their debut-album (although a demo with the same title was released in 2010), and that is, of course a milestone in the history of the band, but it is also the first release on the newly formed Norwegian label Demonhood Productions.

Anyway, Vithr is an old school traditional black metal band, whose songs are about Scandinavian forests, pagan magic, anti-Christianity and topics from Norse mythology. In that sense, they are refreshingly old-fashioned, I think, but in terms of their musical direction, they are more innovative. While featuring many of the genre-defining features of black metal, the band have their own take on the genre. Perhaps inspired by Celtic Frost, they feature clean female vocals (to make things even more creepy) as well as more punky elements as well as some more folk-oriented ones. While there are some blastbeats, the band generally draw on heavy to midpaced tempos, and there are even a couple of melodic lead guitars every now and then.

Retrospective, yet forwardlooking, this is a pretty interesting black metal album, which - I think - will appeal both to fans of the genre (especially those who are into Scandinavian black metal) and occasional listeners.

Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Diadem In 12 Stars" has interesting traits and promises great things for Wolves In the Throne Room.

American Black Metal for some is just a joke. That is, for the Black Metal (pretentious) purists. But Wolves In The Throne Room prove how these people are wrong. Their debut album was “Diadem In 12 Stars”, an album that shows the uniqueness of the band and how, even though not having extremely solid roots in the Scandinavian scene, they are credible, and loyal to the genre.

Even from the start, WITTR have received attention because of their sound: this debut album of theirs distances itself from the more traditional side of BM, incorporating different styles and making them mesh one another: there are a great amount of shoegazey guitars, female clean vocals, audible melodies, atmospheric acoustic passages, and quite a bit of dynamicity. Their music is hypnotic but not repetitive, complex but easy to follow. The richness of the textures, the variety, and the carefully structured songs make Wolves a much more progressive influenced band in comparisons with other Atmospheric Black Metal bands like Burzum or early Ulver, also because of the unusually different rhythms, more syncopated and elaborate than the stale ones of the more traditional bands.

“Diadem in 12 Stars” is one of those albums whose cover perfectly reflects the music of the album: with a cascade surrounded by trees and by fog, it brings the listener right in front of that spectacle: in the more hypnotic moments, one finds himself directly underneath the cascade, bathed by ethereal, silvery water that falls either smoothly or harshly. There is in fact a strong feeling of ethereal, dreamy nature in the compositions and in the lyrics, that echoes throughout the entire album.

With only four tracks and an hour worth of length, “Diadem In 12 Stars” is an extremely consistent album in terms of structure: it’s biggest gripe is the fact that these songs are made out of the same ingredients, and the resulting cake tastes the same. Even though the variation is of course undeniable within the songs, there is no variation from track to track, and the formulas are just repeated again, becoming a little stale when reaching to an end to this LP. The songs, studied individually, are all good, pretty entertaining (even though some moments feel simply passive and not as engaging as they should), and well planned. It seems though that the album as a whole does not feel like that as much.

“Diadem In 12 Stars” is a decent start-off point for Wolves in The Throne Room. Already received a cult status among the lovers (non-purists) of the genre, this debut release is a promising one, and clearly the promises the band gave here came true later on in 2007 (one year later) with “Two Hunters”.

Wilytank If I ever wanted to listen to dissonant, nightmarish black metal, I'd turn to Blut aus Nord first. From 'The Mystical Beast of Rebellion' onward, it's what they've been pretty much known for. However, among all those albums, 'MoRT' has stood out as the most dark and disturbing to listen to. That hasn't made it actually better than the others though.

The first noticeable uniqueness in this album is how much slower it is compared to Blut aus Nord's previous material. Even 'The Work Which Transforms God' whose most well known pieces are the slower ones (particularly "Procession of Dead Clowns") doesn't match up with 'MoRT'. I suppose a good amount of that has to do with 'MoRT''s darker atmosphere. While 'The Work...' had faster songs that were really dissonant sounding, the slower ones had a more melancholic tinge. Every track on 'MoRT' is basically one bad trip or mental rape after another. This is music you listen to when your soul gets abducted and gets transported across some dark, ethereal void. The dissonant guitar work helps bring this about, but surprisingly so do the vocals. Vindisval uses a mixture of unintelligible screeches, growls, whispers, chants, and more to further conjure this frightening experience. The production is noticeably dryer as well, so the foggier sound will make you get even more lost in this black haze.

'MoRT' does have problems though, and the most notable problems were also present on 'The Mystical Beast of Rebellion'; but at the same time, these flaws were worked on to make them a little more bearable. The first problem is having the approximately 30 seconds of non-music between the songs. The good news though is that Blut aus Nord made these sections a lot more interesting. While all the sections between the songs on '...Mystical Beast...' were all quiet wind sounds, 'MoRT' instead uses creepy dissonant sounds that go right along with the music. My favorite of these is the transition between "Chapter VII" and "Chapter VIII", which has some really low and distorted growls as if Lucifer is speaking to the listener; quite fitting considering it's going into the final track of the album and the listener meets the master of this dark void. The other notable problem is the naming of the songs simply as "Chapter I", "Chapter II", etc.; and like '...Mystical Beast...', 'MoRT' isn't Blut aus Nord's most memorable output, but it's still very intriguing to listen to from beginning to end and there's more individual songs that I find myself going back to.

Though it falls on the weaker side of Blut aus Nord's spectrum of albums, 'MoRT' isn't bad in any sense. If you're looking for something really dark and disturbing to listen to, then this is a great album to check out, because if there's one thing this album does better than Blut aus Nord's other works, it's that it creates a darker atmosphere than any of the others and it works out pretty well.

Warthur If you look at the lyrics to Burzum's second post-jail album, and listen to Varg's tormented delivery, then you might be fooled into thinking that this account of a person's introspective self-searching might be the result of Varg finally beginning to feel some remorse for his various misdeeds. Of course, if you've read any recent interview with him you'll know that isn't the case at all, but even if he's still a shitty dude, at least he makes some really great music and doesn't try to use it to really push his agenda.

Once again, the electronic influences of earlier Burzum albums are more or less albsent; the concluding track is instead some sort of eerie folk piece which I believe might be performed on traditional instruments. Showing a bit more flair and originality than Belus, Fallen is Varg finally gathering momentum again; let's just hope this prolific run of albums he's one doesn't end like the last one.

Warthur Dimmu Borgir's sound is a fragile thing; when it's good, it's great, but it only needs to be nudged a tad out of place for it to leave me completely cold. That's the case with Abrahadabra, which comes across as a symphonic black metal by the numbers album with the inclusion of an orchestra serving little purpose beyond padding out the album a little. The lukewarm material and business-as-usual sound masks the broadening lyrical basis of the songs, which develop beyond the usual blah blah Satan blah black metal rants of past albums; it's just a shame that this hasn't been accompanied by a similar level of musical growth.

UMUR "The Age of Nero" is the 7th full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Satyricon. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in November 2008.

"The Age of Nero" further explores the heavy and groove based black metal sound of "Volcano (2002)" and "Now, Diabolical (2006)". It´s not an album that develops much on that sound, but it´s a convincing, powerful and extremely well executed. While "Now, Diabolical (2006)" at times felt slightly uninspired, "The Age of Nero" is the kind of album that will eat you alive. Satyr is his usual caustic sneering self that in addition to delivering his unmistakable snarl also plays those ungodly heavy riffs. The tempo is actually predominantly slow- to mid paced and heavy on the album allthough there are faster paced parts present too. Frost delivers another stunning and varied drum performance. There´s seemingly no end to the man´s creativity. Paired with a powerful and effective sound production this album is simply killer. Tracks like the opener "Commando", "The Wolfpack" and "Black Crow on a Tombstone" pack so much punch and catchy hooks that it´s impossible not to bang your head. A return to Norwegian lyrics on the closing track "Den Siste" ("The Last") is also a good idea that works well.

"The Age of Nero" is what I´d call a return to form after the relatively forgettable "Now, Diabolical (2006)". It´s inspired and delivered with fierce conviction and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Warthur The first four Burzum albums should have made Varg Vikernes one of the most critically acclaimed and widely appreciated figures in metal - but between his utterly pointless campaign of arson and murder of Euronymous, his outright stupid embrace and promotion of far-right politics from jail, and the recording of two horrible albums on cheap jailhouse keyboards, it seems as though Varg spent the better part of his decade trying to obliterate what reputation he'd built up.

However, on leaving jail in 2009 Varg seems intent on salvaging his artistic reputation. Despite still issuing nasty diatribes on his website which make it clear that he's still a reprehensible human being, Vikernes seems intent on keeping his politics out of his music, his albums since his release having focused purely on retellings of Norse theology (as on Belus) and highly abstract emotional musings (as on Fallen).

But is Belus any good? Well, yes it is. Reclaiming some of the material from the Casio albums and putting it into the metal context it had always cried out for, the album shies away from the electronic dabblings of Filosofem in favour of raw, dirty black metal noise. Not that the recording quality itself is raw - this is Burzum with decent production values at last, and interestingly the music still seems vibrant and exciting even without the lo-fi aesthetic of the early albums. In fact, it feels fresher than ever before, with the shoegaze-like wall of guitar noise tapping into experimental currents in modern black metal. It's like the old devil's never been away after all.

Warthur Immortal used to have a fairly brisk release schedule, so fans may have had reason to be concerned when it took seven years for All Shall Fall to finally emerge. Luckily, it seems that the delay wasn't the result of the band struggling to produce decent material; in fact, they've clearly spent their time honing their craft and polishing these songs until they glitter, intent on producing the absolute best album they can. I'd rather have one All Shall Fall than three to five lesser albums; it's a thrashy black metal masterpiece which showcases Immortal hitting a new level of technical mastery. Superb.

UMUR "Now, Diabolical" is the 6th full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Satyricon. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in April 2006. With "Volcano (2002)", Satyricon took their music in a more simple direction and that tendency is further explored on "Now, Diabolical".

"Now, Diabolical" is even more stripped down vers/chorus based than "Volcano (2002)" was, but it´s obvious that main composer/guitarist/vocalist Satyr has been very conscious about that writing method. "Now, Diabolical" is overall an easily accessible release, but the relatively simple song structures are also a slight issue as not all 8 tracks on the album are equally memorable. The album starts with the title track and then "K.I.N.G", which are both hookladen, memorable and feature infectious grooves, but it´s not more than a couple of more tracks into the album, that my attention begin to wander. The hooks in the tracks simply aren´t strong enough. The "dry" sound production isn´t doing the music any favors either.

"Now, Diabolical" is still unmistakbaly the sound of Satyricon with Satyr´s commanding and aggressive raspy snarl, the creative drumming by Frost and the trademark monumentally heavy riffing. It´s all there but it´s like all the good ideas on the album are not executed in a 100% wholeheartedly fashion. "Now, Diabolical" is still a good release touching excellence at times, but compared to it´s imidiate predecessor it´s slightly disappointing. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur Pest returns to the vocal spot and Infernus once again becomes the band's primary composer as Gorgoroth emerges from the devastating feud between Infernus on the one hand and King ov Hell and Gaahl on the other. It's not an earthshakingly original album or a major departure from Gorgorth's usual style, but then again it didn't have to be; what was called for at the time was simply an album which proved that Gorgoroth could still raise a black metal cacophony and spit evil lyrics at the listener. This it does; as usual, the lyrics are extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to decipher, but the song titles at least seem to suggest a response to the Gaahl/King ov Hell-led era of Gorgoroth ("Building a Man" has to be some kind of take on "Carving a Giant", right?"); either way, all that really matters with Gorgoroth is that they sound furious and they certainly are that here.

Wilytank After Lunar Aurora brought about 'Elixir of Sorrow', they really began to detach themselves from the symphonic black metal scene and began their second era of the second era of the band's history featuring a more depressive type of atmospheric black metal. 'Zyklus' first showed off the band's completed metamorphosis since 'Elixir of Sorrow' still retained some symphonic parts but still showed signs of the style change. 'Mond' refined what 'Zyklus' brought about; and finally, there came 'Andacht', the best of this era but for better or worse also the end of this era.

I must say, this is Lunar Aurora's most depressive album yet. The sorrowful tone first brought about in 'Elixir of Sorrow' is brought to its peak in 'Andacht'. Among the different types of setting the atmosphere evokes is "Glück", with the church-like atmosphere brought about by the choir; and "Geisterschif", which goes right along with its translated title "Ghostship" in that it makes me feel like I'm sailing away from the shores of some place on a wooden ship during a foggy day and a storm closing in. The atmosphere is brought about by the guitar work, something Lunar Aurora have become quite skilled at doing. In particular, the lead guitar in 'Andacht' is very prominent and very impressive. While there is noticeable use of the keyboards on this album, the lead guitar often overrides them. The keys are at their strongest on the final two tracks "Der Pakt" and "Das Ende", though one of the "atmospheric" elements on the latter song sounds like someone inflating a balloon.

The drums are programmed by Sindar, Aran's younger brother. With the rest of the production rather clear sounding, the drums also sound pretty good; but their presence is a little overbearing at times such as the final refrain of "Glück" where i feel that they might have been overproduced. The vocals are handled by Aran, Sindar, and Whyrhd; but good luck trying to tell who says what since three different voices are heard in the songs. The only one i could recognize was Whyrhd from his work in the 'Hoagascht' album; he has the lowest voice. But otherwise, kudos to him and whoever did the majority of the higher screeching on the songs as well as whoever did clean vocals on "Glück".

Though there are a few small flaws, 'Andacht' is enjoyable enough for me to put it in the top tier category of my review filing system. However, it would be the end of this era for Lunar Aurora; and after they reformed, Sindar would not join them. Let 'Andacht' stand as one of the band's greatest efforts to date as well as the most ideal way to make this era go out with a bang.

UMUR "Volcano" is the 5th full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Satyricon. The album was released through Moonfog Productions in October 2002. "Volcano" is a bit of a turning point for the band. After releasing what is arguably their most complex and adventurous album in "Rebel Extravaganza (1999)", Satyricon opted for a much simpler songwriting approach on "Volcano".

While the music on the album is still unmistakably the sound of Satyricon, which means fiercely aggressive and commanding raspy vocals, monumentally heavy riffs (and faster sections too) and a dense dark atmosphere, main composer/vocalist/guitarist/bassist/keyboard player Satyr has chosen to incorporate a lot more groove on "Volcano" than heard on any of the earlier material by the band. The songwriting has been stripped down too, which gives most tracks a clear vers/chorus feeling, even though none of them are as simple as that. Tracks like "Fuel for Hatred" and "Possessed" are examples of tracks where the chorus takes on an almost anthemic quality. The former features quite the infectious black´n´roll riff, which is also a new element in Satyricon´s sound.

The musicianship is on a high level all the way through the album. Satyr plays and sings everything besides the drums which are handled by Frost. The latter is one of the most creative black metal drummers out there. While he can certainly whip up a storm when needed, he can also play an infectious groove. The album is positively loaded with great drumming ideas. Frost is one of those few drummers, where you are able to remember his drum patterns. A rare achivement indeed.

In addition to all the above mentioned positive and intriguing elements, "Volcano" also features a raw and powerful sound production, which further enhances the listening experience. "Volcano" is simply through and through a quality release. This is the perfect example of a band, that without losing integrity and without forsaking their "core" sound, are able to successfully develop their music and challenge their audience. While "Volcano" is much easier accessible than the complex "Rebel Extravaganza (1999)", it´s not a less bold statement. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature Slay the prophet...

Genre: black metal

Belonging to the more brutal end of the black metal genre, French metallers Moonreich's latest EP "Curse Them" is a lesson in pure black metal evil.

There are blastbeats galore on this album accompanied by plenty of tremolo picking and tense harmonies - so the black metal genre conventions are definitely observed on this release. But, in terms of production, the sound, while displaying the coldness that characterizes black metal in general, there is more of a brutal edge to it, and Moonreich have also opted for a sound that is not characterized by underproduction. In addition to the production, and a lot of the riffage itself, the vocals constitute an important generator of brutality, as they are closer to growling than your typical black metal screaming.

While brutal and aggressive, Moonreich do incorporate a considerable amount of melodic into their music, and the title track also also features some sludge-like elements not unlike Glorior Belli's recent releases. It should be mentioned that the most melodic tune of the EP is a cover track in which Moonreich offer their own spin on deathrockers Chirstian Death's 'Deathwish'.

Fans of more brutal black metal acts like Tsjuder and Svarttjern as well as Glorior Belli should definitely check out this EP.

Time Signature The gods weep...

Genre: epic black/(melo)death metal

Chthonic pretty much swept the feet away under the world with "Takasago Army" last year, but the band actually released a good handful of releases prior to the brilliant "Takasago Army". One of these is "Seediq Bale" from 2005 which was re-released on Spinefarm last year, too.

And, this one is no less spectacular than "Takasago Army". Stylistically, the music on the album is epic and symphonic black metal akin to Dimmu Borgir's more recent releases, but with a ubiquitous oriental character derived from the band's Taiwanese cultural hinterland. Thus, amidst the black metal evil and the symphonic synths, we find the er-hu and traditional (I assume) female vocal lines. And this results in an overall sound which is truly unique and compelling.

Also, while there are elements from more traditional black metal - such as blastbeats and tremlo-picking as well as growled and screamed vocals - which makes for a dark and chaotic atmosphere, Chthonic also include elements from other metal genres. For example, melodic death metal is a genre that the draw on consistently throughout the album, which suits the epic and symphonic black metal sound extremely well.

Any fan of melodic black metal with an epic atmosphere and a symphonic touch should give this album a listen. It's brilliant and one of the most original black releases you will probably ever hear.

Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Eternal Turn Of The Wheel" is a traditionally executed, yet pretty effective Atmospheric Black Metal.

Drudkh in 2012 are already considered Black Metal veterans. But the problem with veterans is that they get so used to the fact that they reach this status, that often they don’t try as hard to make good music. Though it does, after a while, come out pretty naturally. “Eternal Turn of the Wheel” indeed feels almost effortless, in a good way, but you can tell that some of the excitement of the earlier albums is gone.

With the usual, rough production, the band delivers a pretty standard, typical Atmospheric Black Metal album, that remains extremely consistent with Drudkh’s style. There is an overall less emphasis on the keyboards, which are used much more subtly. The vocals are probably the biggest change: much lower-pitched, less shrieked and a bit more human sounding, in contrast with the banshee vocals of the previous albums, a definitely interesting and quite different approach.

One of the darkest albums of the band, “Eternal Turn Of The Wheel” has a really intriguing, fascinating and gloomy atmosphere that reminds of a nocturnal, spectral, and especially, sylvan sight, where ancient ghosts roam around. The five tracks that together are only slightly more than thirty five minutes long, all feel very connected to one another, not only length-wise but also in terms of atmosphere: “Breath Of Cold Soil”, “When Gods Leave Their Emerald Halls”, Farewell To Autumn’s Sorrowful Birds” all feel like windy, crispy tracks that aren’t at all estranged from the rest of the band’s discography. They still deliver great, memorable moments and haunting atmospheres.

The closing track, ”Nights Woven Of Snow, Winds and Grey-Haired Star” feels a lot sludgier and crunchier, still however maintaining the chilly aura of the previous tracks. “Eternal Turn Of The Wheel” is a interesting and enjoyable Drudkh album that offers hints of originality occasionally; tradition though is a big aspect of this record, and as a consequence it doesn’t feel that different or distinguishing from other releases of this legendary Ukranian band, who I personally will always follow, no matter how habitual they might become.

Warthur For the first moment or so of album opener Clouds it almost sounds as though Enslaved have gone full-blown New Age with this release, with gently tinkling keyboards suggesting an ambient trip through gentle, relaxing soundscapes. The album offers nothing of the sort, of course: within seconds, the ugly, raw guitar assault bubbling under the surface has burst forth. A little more diversified in sound than the preceding Ruun, there's points where Enslaved unashamedly rock out, throwing in traditional heavy metal riffs to their now-expected amalgam of spacey progressive metal and frosty viking black metal. On the whole, it's another success from one of the most enduringly interesting bands of the Norwegian scene.

Time Signature Raise the throne of hate...

Genre: black metal

The Finnish black metal scene appears to be bustling with creativity and bursting with productivity, churning out one kvlt release after another. Vuohivasara's Perdition Reigns Supreme is one such release, and right from the start, they make no buts about it, as 'Tears of Firmament' basically starts straight in the middle of a super fast blast-beating section.

However, Vuohivasara soon reveal that there is more to their music than just blast-beating and tremolo-picking – although these elements are featured prominently. There are plenty of riffy sections, and Vuohivasara also draw on thrash metal now and then, and there is also a sense of melody to their music, reflected in harmonies and certain tremolo-leads as well as a couple of melodic bursts inherent in some of the riffs. Rather than focusing on repetition, like many other black metal bands do, Vuohivasara opt for variation in their music, including shifts and changes, breakdowns and build-ups in their compositions.

Unlike many other black metal releases from the Finnish kvlt scene, Perdition Reigns Supreme is not underproduced. On the contrary, the band have aimed for a, not polished, but well-defined production that allows you to even hear the bass. Still, I would say that the production does have the cold feel that characterizes black metal.

Also, Vuohivasara do, it should be mentioned, observe the majority of the genre-defining aesthetics, such as blast-beating and tremolo-picking, and the vocals are also pretty much delivered in the typical screechy black metal manner. Also, dissonant and tense harmonies are not completely absent from the album.

And, thus, Perdition Reigns Supreme should appeal to hardcore fans of the genre as well as to occasional listeners.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

UMUR "The Great Southern Darkness" is the 4th full-length studio album by French black metal act Glorior Belli. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2011. After releasing their 3rd full-length studio album "Meet Us at the Southern Sign (2009)", the band actually wrote material enough for a full album, but decided that the material they had written were too far removed from their Glorior Belli sound, to release it as the 4th Glorior Belli album. Instead they opted to create the 11 as in Adversaries project and release the material as "The Full Intrepid Experience of Light (2010)" under that monicker.

...having had their avant garde metal ideas released, they have returned to the more black metal oriented Glorior Belli sound on "The Great Southern Darkness". The music is by no means "traditional" sounding black metal though as the band incorporate quite a few southern tinged stoner metal and sludge metal ideas into their otherwise extreme and at times chaotic sounding black metal. The vocals are mostly harsh and raspy, but there are a couple of clean vocal sections on the album too. Most notably in the stoner rocking title track and in the closing track "Horns in My Patway". I´m reminded slightly of the most laidback psychadelic tinged tracks by Mastodon. While such an eclectic approach might seem disturbing to the most hardcore fans of more traditional sounding black metal, I think it´s very successful. The non black metal elements on the album makes the listening experience a more varied one and ultimately make "The Great Southern Darkness" a longer lasting and more interesting listen.

The fact that the album also features a really well sounding production, solid musicianship and strong songwriting only further enhance my opinion that "The Great Southern Darkness" is a great album fully deserving a 4 star (80%) rating.

Time Signature Like snow before the sun...

Genre: Murw metal

Taking their starting point in atmospheric black metal, Murw teach us a lesson with Kanker, and that lesson is that there is room for eclecticism even in this genre. Their approach to black metal has simply generated a very original and genre-defining brand of black metal.

There are only four tracks on the album, but with song lengths ranging from seven to eleven minutes, you know that each song will take you on a journey. The question is just, what kind of journey? Are that band going to simply repeat the same tremolo-picked figures for ten minutes, which is not unusual in this genre, or are they going to to something completely different? Actually, the four tracks are very varied, and each one features several different elements and parts, and I, for one, find this extremely interesting. The main sound is black metal, as mentioned, but Murw also draw on doom metal, noise rock, and alternative rock and even a touch of jazz fusion now and then, plus the vocals are mor ein the vein of death metal growling than black metal screeching. Each song is dynamically structured featuring atmospheric doom and black metal parts along with clean-guitared instrumental breakdowns. With songs that long, Murw allow themselves to repeat figures extensively, while still ensuring a lot of variation, exposing the listener to many nuances of darkness.

At times, the band go into some pretty weird and experimental territory with a quasi-psychedelic feel to it, and a central component in this sound is actually the fretless-sounding bass (I don't know if it actually is fretless, but it sometimes sounds like that). The way that the bass is actually audible and the ostinatos and fills that Robert Duijnjam performs on his bass add a sort of spacey feel to the music and a sort of warm and soft sound that complements the sharp guitars very well. Peter Civikov's drumming is also much more dynamic and varied than what one might be used to in a black metal context (he basically stays clear of any black metal cliches, do do not expect sloppy blastbeats and things like that), and he definitely is also a central factor in the band's unique sound on this album.

While I think Murw sounds different and, frankly, more interesting than a lot of other atmospheric black metal artists, they do observe many of the conventions of the genre, such as a unpolished production, a focus on atmosphere over technicality, and the use of dissonance. But even in their deployment of these genre-typical features, they do it differently. Just check out the first parts of 'Als Sneeuw Voor De Zon' which sounds almost jazzy in its own twisted way and, despite the use of dissonance, has a strange sense of melody to it, which also applies to the indie-rock opening of 'Artificiality'.

Definitely one of the most interesting black metal albums to be released in the last couple of years, Murw's Kanker is definitely a piece of art. It is expressive. It is challenging. It is unique. If you like avant-garde and progressive black metal, you will have to check this one out.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

Conor Fynes 'Where Distant Spirits Remain' - Falloch (7/10)

Much like Alcest, the pair of Scotsmen in Falloch are making a gateway to black metal. Much like marijuana and energy drinks can open up youngsters to drug addiction, and holding hands can lead to sex, the music that Falloch makes could very well lead some to the dark side. Although there are the blastbeats and tremolo picking that fans of the black metal genre might instantly cite as being indicative of their chosen genre, Falloch bring a much easier sound to bear. Although 'Where Distant Spirits Remain' might lack the pleasant challenge that much post-black metal aims to offer, Falloch have crafted a tasteful journey that provides a perfect opportunity for people who don't like the 'growls' in extreme metal to enjoy some of its beauty.

Back to the concept of being a 'gateway band', I remember a few years ago hearing an album called 'Blackwater Park' from a pack of obscure Swedes, and it changed my life. Before then, I had not been able to appreciate growls or 'screaming' as an enjoyable source of expression. However, it only took one experience and hearing the growls mixed with such coherent beauty to change my mind. I feel that this is much the same opportunity that Falloch offers on 'Where Distant Spirits Remain', although they are seeking to give people a step inside the world of black metal. Andy Marshall's vocals are almost entirely clean, with a real focus on melody that one rarely sees in this style. Besides that, Falloch falls firmly within the sort of post-black metal we have been seeing lots of in recent years. Alcest, Agalloch, or Primordial would all make for decent comparisons; although the clean vocals do earn them a small step apart from most black metal, the work as a whole does not feel all that different from what's been done before.

When I first heard 'Where Distant Spirits Remain' last year upon its release, I remember raising an eyebrow at the name and general aesthetic of the band, thinking them a shameless bandwaggoner on the success that Agalloch has recently achieved. On top of that, Marshall's vocals felt brittle and lacked the sort of power that would have sold me on the cleans- an issue I still have with the album. Although it may have taken me a year to get off the high horse and revisit it favourably, many of my gripes still exist to some extent. The music is a crisp take on atmospheric post-black metal, with the occasional Celtic instrument thrown in there to mixed results. Falloch's instrumentation treads the worn path, but the quality of the performance, and- above all- the melodies brings it to life. The epic climax to 'Where We Believe' captivates me each time with its cinematic flow and grandeur. The closer 'Solace' feels like a bit of an afterthought, but it makes for a beautiful piano piece, set to some fitting rain samples.

Although this last criticism is coming from a fairly seasoned black metal listener, Falloch's music is perhaps less interesting than it should be, if only because it implores nothing of the listener. There is no challenge in this string of pleasant-sounding ideas. From start to finish, Falloch create a convincing mesh of post rock and melodic black metal that's downright beautiful when the mood is right. It's not among the top tier of recent black metal output, but for someone who has always wanted to experience the vast atmosphere and emotional power of black metal without caring too much for the vocals, this album is a dream come true.

Phonebook Eater 9/10

"Filosofem" is a milestone album for Black Metal, and its influence is noticeable in many acts today.

The follow up to “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” is another masterpiece on behalf of Burzum, at this point one of the best Black Metal artists of all time. “Filosofem” is not quite as praised as the previous LP, which is a landmark album for Metal music in general; however, “Filosofem” is still considered another Black Metal classic and an essential release for fans of the genre. This album, the last one before the imprisonment of Varg, is one of the biggest stones that supports the castle.

Again, I will say that Varg Vikernes’ actions and philosophical believes will not be mentioned in this review, because of course they don’t relate directly to the music, not even to some of the lyrics, which are more focused on isolation, desperation, pain, darkness, and admittedly, evil, mentioned in more than a few spots. This however is not a good reason to relate it to something like Satanism or being anti-religious in any way. Filosofem, in fact, means Philosopheme in English, proving how Varg is much more than what he shows to be.

The album’s production is famously raw and lo-fi: Varg, for his guitars, didn’t even use an amplifier, instead he decided to plug them in his brother’s stereo, and record them with again the cheapest equipment he could find. This shows how passionate and determined Vikernes was in attempting to do something quite abnormal, unsettling, and anti-aesthetic. The abrasive instruments, meaning the guitars and drums, at all times, like in the previous album, are accompanied by cold, enigmatic synth sounds that give the music an arcane and surreal imprint. It seems like in “Filosofem” however the keys are much more used overall, and the dedication to Ambient/non Black Metal pieces are much more than in “Hvis Lyst Tar Oss”. But the Metal moments are priceless, hypnotic, and especially dark; in all of it’s distorted fuzziness, “Filosofem” finds unquestionable beauty even in its ugliest places.

Burzum, being the most important artist of Atmospheric Black Metal ( “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” being the absolute zenith of such genre), continues on with his vision with “Filosofem”: he concentrates almost entirely on creating a dark, haunting, and thought-provoking atmosphere rather than writing memorable songs with catchy riffs. But if in the 1994 release those forty five minutes seemed short and compressed, this 1996 release is the opposite, stretched out to almost 70 minutes, almost forty of which intensively atmospheric, giving to the LP a feeling of completeness by the overwhelmed listener.

The album starts off with the track “Burzum”, a perfect example of a typical song by the artist: repetitive riffs, subtle keyboards, shrieked vocals, and the unforgettable production. Same thing goes with “Jesus’ Death” and “Beholding The Daughters Of Firmament”, although this last track is much slower, much more melodic, eloquent and memorable, surprisingly enough. The more atmospheric part of the album (the point where the drums are no longer heard) starts with “Decrepitude 1”, a Black Metal song with no beats, a song suspended in air, giving an extremely gloomy atmosphere that is however one of the most fascinating ones of the entire album. The twenty five minute Dark Ambient track that follows has been subject to much controversy over the years, because of it’s extreme minimalism and repetition. But once again the aura Varg creates with his keyboards is sublime, and in this particular track I’m dared to say has the best atmosphere on this album. “Decrepitude 2” is the instrumental based entirely on the first part, with some slight modifications overall.

“Filosofem” is nothing less than a Metal masterpiece, that while not having the historical importance of “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss”, still maintains a superb quality, even in the songwriting, and maintains pretty much the same levels as Burzum's official magnum opus.

Phonebook Eater 10/10

"Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" is one of Metal's pinnacles, a landmark achievement that gives Black Metal an ideal model of an album.

A year after “Det Som Engang Var”, Burzum returns, with the ultimate Black Metal masterpiece, “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss”, the model and paradigm of the genre’s albums. Everything about BM is in these four tracks, that cover only 45 minutes of time, which pass by quite quickly. But HLTO leaves a permanent stain in one’s heart that will never leave him.

Burzum has always been one that preferred atmosphere over melodies and riffs: when it comes to these elements, he doesn’t put too much effort in the songwriting, all four tracks have simple hooks that immediately stick with the listener. Instead, with the addition of the keyboards that accompany the buzzing guitars and tortured-like shrieks, Burzum creates an extremely unique, scary, yet haunting atmosphere, and keeps this atmosphere constant throughout the entire album. The production is always lo-fi (Vikernes bought the cheapest recording equipment in order to obtain the worst quality possible), giving the atmosphere a more foggy, gloomy and necrophilic touch.

The album starts off with easily the best Burzum song He’s released; “Det Som En Gang Var”, a fourteen minute epic piece that mixes repetitive guitar riffs, accompanied by icy, mysterious keyboards. The song unfolds it’s few hooks only just before the end of the song, all of them being so stretched out in monotony. Burzum’s vocals are once again rough, a perfect addition to the arcane atmosphere. The title track is much more guitar driven: it’s the song where repetition is the strongest factor, because the main, extremely simple riff never changes much except for some variations occurring. Because of it’s atmosphere, it just never gets boring, one of Burzum’s magic tricks. The third track is even better; more hypnotic, it has as a whole much more variation, almost like it was divided in parts, like the opening track. “Tohmet” is the fourteen minute ambient piece that closes the album, as a sort of relaxer after all of the aggressiveness. Some moments on the track are simply beautiful and some even remind of New Age music.

Say anything you want regarding the persona of Varg Vikernes, and there’s no need to mention all the things he is and the things he did, because they have nothing to do with the music. “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” is an album-model for many albums later on, a piece of work that redefines the concept of the Black Metal and gives it a twist that makes it an even more intriguing genre. Thank you, Burzum.

Wilytank Getting a CD to me means, among other things, that if I want to write a review for that album, I no longer have to be glued to a computer if I want to use the music as a reference (which I always do). I've also developed a craving to collect certain bands' discographies, one of them being Blut aus Nord's. One thing that's unfortunate though is that the three Blut aus Nord CDs I own at the time of writing this review are, in my opinion, their three weakest: 'The Mystical Beast of Rebellion', 'MoRT', and '777-The Desanctification'. None of these albums are inherently bad, but the good news is that any other album by them I buy is going to be better than what I have. For now though, let's get a review out for 'The Mystical Beast of Rebellion', the first Blut aus Nord album to be introduced to my collection.

Pressing the play button greets me with a fast paced assault of melodic tremolo guitar play and blast beating drums. This first piece, "Chapter I", maintains the drum pattern until a little after the four minute mark. But before that, the riffs do vary to prevent the song from becoming stagnant. Once the music ends, there's a minute of quiet sounding howling of wind that continues on into the first thirty seconds of the second song. Here lies the first problem this album has, and every song after the first one has that moment of quietness before and after the actual music. I call that time waste. I could handle it if it was just at the end of a song so I could just hit the skip button, but the fact that I must waste my precious finger energy holding the fast forward or otherwise sit waiting for the music to start again in the thirty or so second mark of the following song really grinds my gears.

Turning my attention to the actual music though, 'The Mystical Beast of Rebellion' isn't very bad at all. Blut aus Nord have all but dropped the pagan act here and have begun playing their nightmarish style that they would be known for in their following albums. Vindisval's guitar work is well played and well written; and the dark, nightmarish atmosphere is definitely present here; but these attributes are stronger in some places on this album than other parts of the album. However, as the songs go on, this album's second problem becomes apparent. The fast paced blast beating that was used in the beginning of "Chapter I" is reused as the standard drum pattern through the rest of the songs, which makes the album a little monotonous. The guitar work is well varied though, and the drum pace does try to switch itself up at sections such as the final minutes of "Chapter I" and the entirety of "Chapter V" where things slow up a good bit.

'The Mystical Beast of Rebellion' as a whole isn't Blut aus Nord's most memorable piece of music, and having all the songs named "The Fall, Chapter (roman numeral)" doesn't help. But although I usually only go back to "Chapter I" because there's no silence at the beginning and it eventually does slow its pace down, giving the whole album a full listen still offers a pretty solid experience despite its flaws. The good news for those who want this album for themselves is that the most readily available version of this album is the 2011 version with a bonus disc with three more songs that are all slower than disc one's and may be thicker in the nightmare atmosphere. It's a pretty win/win situation in my book.

Warthur The departure of Maniac and the return of Attila to Mayhem yielded this intriguing album, in which the band take the technical lessons they had learned on Grand Declaration of War and Chimera and applied them to grimy, lo-fi black metal, yielding one of the sickest-sounding albums of their career.

Whereas many black metal albums recorded with deliberately poor production focus on creating a "tinny" noise (think Ulver's Nattens Madrigal or Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger), Ordo ad Chao on first listen sounds muffled, murky, and bass-heavy - however, I find that soon enough my ear adjusts to the production and I can detect intriguing nuances in the playing. As good as the musical performance is, once again I have to say that - as with De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas - what really makes the album for me is the absolutely unhinged vocal performances of Attila, who works through an absolutely insane range of vocal styles over the course of the album.

As a matter of fact, the album lyrics are actually rather silly - they're more or less all based on New Age UFO conspiracy theories as promoted by the likes of David Icke, believe it or not - but Attila is able to make them sound like the most evil thing in the world, just as the band use their newfound technical expertise to finally accomplish depths of disorienting musical blasphemy which their previous album with Attila only hinted at. Give it a chance, because I for one found it grew a LOT on me.

Warthur OK, fine, Dimmu Borgir's In Sorte Diaboli isn't very "kvlt" and is miles away from the lo-fi and defiantly anti-commercial aesthetic prized by the pioneers of the Norwegian black metal scene. I'm not going to pretend that you're going to enjoy this album if you listen to it expecting something along the lines of classic Darkthrone because that really isn't what it offers, and Dimmu Borgir have shown next to no sign of really be interested in doing that for well over a decade by this point.

However, it is a ridiculously fun album, an entertaining listen from beginning to end. Dimmu Borgir seem to rely on the synthesisers a little less than usual this time around and their performances are generally a lot tighter than I've got used to them being, and so this silly Dennis Wheatley-esque horror story concept album is a blast to listen to from beginning to end. You'd never mistake it for a classic of the genre but it is a really good time.

Warthur Negura Bunget's OM combines intriguing, experimental music with metaphysical lyrics which avoid the controversial subject matter usually associated with black metal in favour of spiritual speculation. Most of the album takes a progressive black metal direction, but by incorporating quieter (occasionally ambient) moments into their compositions, which often extends to including traditional Romanian instruments in their repertoire, the band create an atmosphere unique to this album. At points it sounds like a particularly stirring movie soundtrack, which I guess is a high compliment when applied to concept albums; either way, it's an intriguing little album which rewards multiple careful listens and an open mind.

Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Det Som Engang Var" is one of the first and most successful Atmospheric Black Metal albums.

Burzum’s second effort is much more recognized than the first, obscure debut album. It is though an album loved by the fans, and is one that somehow contributed in reinventing the Black Metal genre, like the following albums. “Det Som Engang Var” has many hints of originality, and many of Burzum’s (aka Varg Vikernes) works are definitely an evolution of this album’s formula.

This sophomore LP is a stereotypical Black Metal album, to make it simple. But, It’s stereotypical today only because it used ideas that inspired many bands of the genre. These bands cited Burzum as a major inspiration. But in 1993, “Det Som Engang Var” was in theory pretty much revolutionary; Black Metal at the time wasn’t as experimental, varied, and atmospheric driven; Bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Hellhammer were more focused on giving a brutal impact on the listener. Burzum shows here, with the use of keyboards and Dark Ambient tracks, that he intended on delivering an aura that the listener could immerge in. Other than that, there are the usual buzzing guitars, shriek vocals by Varg, and the extremely rough and lo-fi production.

Songs like “Key To The Gate”, “Snu Mikrokosmos Tegn”, or “Lost Wisdom” are typical BM songs that will however contribute massively in shaping and influencing further Burzum compositions. The ambient, keyboard driven songs like “Han Som Reiste” are also large contributors in the reaching of maturity on behalf of the musician.

“Det Som Engang Var” is a brave and original album for 1993. Although having some flaws in the songwriting, and being a bit immature, it is nevertheless an enjoyable experience that every Burzum fan must embark on.

Phonebook Eater 7/10

Among the Geometry, the Chaos, and the Complexity all mixed together, a frozen heart still beats loudly.

Dodecahdron are a young Dutch Black Metal band from Tillburg. They don’t have much background, and seem to be just taking off now. This self-titled debut album isn’t one of the most original albums out there, but the fierceness, energy, and promise these guys deliver already freezes the veins.

Their take on Black Metal has been compared many times to the one Deathspell Omega chose: extremely chaotic, fast, with infinite time changes and a lot of tremolo picking. Dodecahedron however insert in their lengthy pieces a little variation: there are a bunch of slower, ambient driven pieces within a song, in almost all of them. But still they manage to maintain a high level of intensity almost all the time. The musicianship and musical preparation of the band members is impressive, and really give another twist to the compositions here. The songwriting is also excellent, especially in the second part of the album, where it bursts like only a few Black Metal bands today can.

The album is constructed in a quite thought-provoking and intelligent way: the first part, chaotic, messy, frankly not quite as original and unique as the second part. “Allfather”, the opener of the album, has some variations but nevertheless remains a big ball of chaos. “I, Chronocrator” is much more progressive in structure, with a bit more developed song-writing and with a slow, ambient driven part in the middle of it. “Vanitas” is a long, an frankly boring ten minute song that doesn’t go at fast, mathematically challenging beats, but still maintains a strong level of complexity. Its much less appealing than the first songs, because it really feels like nothing is going on. The second part of the album however, is something else: starting with a creepy five minute interlude, “Descending Jacob’s Ladder”, we have the masterful trilogy of songs that closes the album, all of them having in the title “View From Hverfell”. Most definitely the most memorable, well-done, and complex piece of work this band has done so far: the repetitive, but very accessible hook of the first part is likely to stick with the listener for a while: the second part adds some ambient passages, more memorable hooks, and amazing musicianship. The third part is an amplified, wider ten minute version of part 2’s sort of structure.

Dodecahedron craft their debut album in a masterful way, and show great promise. I personally will look forward to great things from this band. Among the Geometry, the Chaos, and the Complexity all mixed together, a frozen heart still beats loudly.

Time Signature Legacy of savagery...

Genre: blackened death-grind

Singaporean blackened death metallers Impiety continue their onslaught of destruction in the form of their 8th album, aptly titled Ravage & Conquer, on which the band delivers an endless Satanic barrage of blackened death-grind chaos.

True to their style, Impiety based their songs on this album on hyper fast blastbeats, and aggressive riffage, drawing mainly on the aesthetics of death metal and grindcore as well as early Teutonic thrash. While most of the riffage is not super technical, the song structures themselves are actually quite complex, consisting of numerous riffs. Reminding us that they definitely know their way around their instruments, Impiety insert little bursts of technical guitar playing into their tracks every now and then, which definitely adds some texture to the tracks on the album.

The overall impression of the album is one of chaos and evil, and this is obviously something the band deliberately aimed at. One factor in the generation of chaos is the structural quality of the compositions themselves. Coming across as a frenzy of riffs and blastbeats, every tune is extremely intense and, I bet, the result of an underlying control that follows from advanced musicianship. The guitar solos likewise are very chaotic and might seem messy, but they actually include shredding, sweeping and other advanced techniques. The solos also have a certain old school death metal feel to them, which I think that many older fans of the death metal genre will appreciate.

Operating with considerably long song lengths for such an extreme album (the average song length is about five minutes), Impiety allow themselves to cram a lot of impressions into their songs, which does result in some quite interesting elements amidst the blastbeating chaos – just check a track like "War Crowned" with its slightly oriental feel. I generally think that albums with a lot of blastbeating tend to become boring, but drummer Dizazter actually manages to generate variation by using more different types of blastbeating than I ever knew existed.

Production-wise, the album might come across as sounding a bit thin to some listeners who are more used to the lavish and polished productions of modern extreme metal. However, the production of Ravage & Conquer does not detract from the music, and I bet that a lot of listeners will actually like the slightly raw sound.

Fans of death-grind should definitely check this release out. I think that the many blastbeats and the onslaught of riffs in each song might be testing to a lot of listeners, but fans of old school death-grind and brutal black metal are bound to love the chaos and evil that Ravage & Conquer expresses.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

J-Man American black metal act Shroud of Despondency really blew me away with 2011's Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion, and just under a year later, the band has already created their next black metal opus. Entitled Pine, this observation once again shows Rory Heikkila and company exploring the realms of bleak, nature-inspired black metal, but this time around their approach is slightly more eclectic. Whereas Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion mainly saw the group dabbling in folky black metal territory, this album offers a more one-of-a-kind mix of black metal, death metal, folk, progressive rock, doom metal, and post rock of the utmost quality. Pine is a very successful album in my eyes that, while still maintaining all the great things about Shroud of Despondency's previous efforts, shows a distinct evolution in the group's music.

Of course, the Shroud of Despondency's core sound is still rooted in folk-influenced black metal, but I think the more eclectic approach on Pine gives the band a totally unique identity. Whilst the variety of styles explored throughout this 58 minute album may initially seem incoherent, well-written songwriting ties the various ideas together quite nicely. The lovely "Unchaining of an Animal", for example, sounds like something that could've easily been off of a record from The Decemberists, and it serves as a refreshing change of pace from the lethal extreme metal of the rest of the CD. This, along with other ventures into prog and folk territory, are really what makes Shroud of Despondency's music so powerful, and I find myself constantly engaged throughout Pine's entire duration.

Initially I was a bit disappointed by this album, but after a few listens Pine really began to grow on me - now I actually consider this to be a small step above Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion, which certainly is no small feat. If there's one band in the American black metal underground worth your attention, it may very well be Shroud of Despondency. This is top-notch stuff, and anyone with a desire for some folky, forward-thinking black metal owes it to themselves to check out Pine.

Wilytank By the time I've caught on to Lunar Aurora, they've already split up and reformed; but I've found what I've listened to already so interesting that I was looking forward to their latest output 'Hoagascht'. The band has downsized, only maintaining Aran on instruments and Whyrhd on vocals. Regardless, these two veterans march on and make a very strong atmospheric black metal album.

See the art? The owl, the tree, and the moon? These things fit the atmosphere very well. Throughout the entire album, I think of an owl flying through the forest under a full moon and a star filled sky. Compared to their previous entry, 'Andacht', the atmosphere on 'Hoagascht' is much more consistent. One thing that boosts this is the much bigger role the keyboards play in this album compared to 'Andacht', provided that 'Andacht' didn't need the keys as much since the lead guitar on that album was used as a very prominent instrument. That attribute isn't present in 'Hoagascht'; the guitars are still layered, but there's no outstanding lead guitar. The keys here never make the music approach the boundaries of bombast though, and the guitars are the main instruments that carry the songs' melodies and tone; and the drums, while programmed, sound natural (especially when compared to the drums on 'Mond' and 'Andacht') and go with the album well.

Though much of the music is played mid-paced, such as "Im Gartn" and "Geisterwoid", there are faster pieces like "Håbergoaß" and the ending of "Nachtuele". There's also the slower epic, emotional sounding "Sterna" which is probably my biggest favorite from the album. The only track I really have a problem with is "Wedaleichtn", which starts out fine but then cuts to a prolonged sample passage that feels like it takes up a third of the song or more; so we've got a little time waste, but it's just a little impurity in an otherwise really clear glass of water.

This album just falls short of a top tier ranking. It's not as great as 'Elixer of Sorrow' or 'Andacht'; but I definitely like it more than 'Mond', which was a good album itself. 'Hoagasht' was a shift in the band's style though, and may bring a third era of the band as far as music goes. If so, I'm eager to see what all Lunar Aurora can do with it.

renkls There is almost enough in this epic 63 minute single track album to recommend, but taken as the overblown whole that it is, can be quite overwhelming and deadening. I will take this review as an opportunity to say that the acoustic section from the 6th to 22nd minute is probably my favorite part - overlong, definitely, but still hypnotic. When the real black metal kicks in, it's quite hard to distinguish standout moments - and the atmosphere remains consistent for 40 minutes straight to the end. There are small patches which are standout, 49:28 for instance is a great interlude. It's probably not the sort of album I'll listen to much, or one I can simply get into. But it's still alright for what it is, so check it out if you don't mind strange black metal with folk and ambient elements. The first 6 minutes are a field recording of rain by the way.

Warthur Summoning's first album after a long period of silence shows no significant musical progression for the band - if anything, they seem to have regressed a little. Their epic, slow, black-ish metal dirges on Lord of the Rings themes are present and correct, but unfortunately so is a fairly lousy production job and really cheap-sounding instruments. It wouldn't be so bad if I had the impression that the band were going for a lo-fi aesthetic, but the symphonic, epic stylings of the music is the sort which really lends itself to the opposite approach. Why the band can't, after all these years, get themselves some better keyboards I have no idea.