siLLy puPPy Eleven years later and who’da thunk that the chiptune meets black metal antics of Rev would find a new light with a new album in the form of DEATH MOUNTAIN. After the intriguing album “Primeval Mountain” which i really enjoy listening to once in a while we get a fairly weak followup. On the first album Rev utilized his best Summoning inspired frantic screaming sessions with some excellent black metal riffs while the chiptune features simply took the place of the keyboard parts found in atmospheric black metal. On DEATH MOUNTAIN however the focus is mainly on the chiptune melodies themselves leaving the black metal in the background which makes this a lot less satisfying than the previous.

“Primeval Mountain” was pretty much a novelty in the first place and although i really liked it and wished it could have been longer, i feel that there really wasn’t a need for a followup as this idea has a short shelf life and this second release is so ridiculous in many ways that it actually makes the whole thing a mockery in many ways. Yeah, i know the idea was half-baked in the first place but i actually love unorthodox ideas however that doesn’t mean they deserve a whole series of expressions. XEXYZ is the perfect example of why such an idea was fun once and should be abandoned and other ideas pursued. This just feels half baked. The black metal parts are weak, the vocals are weak, well everything feels weak actually.

I’m not sure why this was ever deemed a good idea. Even a “Primeval Mountain Part 2” would have been a better plan than this. It just seems unfocused as sometimes the chiptune ideas are dominant, sometimes the black metal ones rule but they never gel together quite like they did on the first album. Whatever the reason for releasing this, i just don’t like it nearly as much as the debut. While there are a few tracks that are OKish, the album just doesn’t gel. Please Rev, enough is enough. Let your idea stand and move on. You lost the whole “feel” from the first album with not only the colorful Zelda-esque album cover but on basically every track on the album. You may not have been aware of what made the first album so unique obviously so don’t go down this path anymore. It’s just not working.

siLLy puPPy Now here's something completely different. Have you ever wanted your favorite 8-bit era Nintendo video games music set to Black Metal? Well... me neither! But we get it anyway and it's actually pretty good if you can embrace the unorthodox eclecticism.

XEXYZ (taken from a Japanese game from 1988) also known as Rev, is a one-man band from Illinois, USA and this is his only album released so far by Dipsomaniac Records. It is some strange stuff indeed but actually works a lot better than it sounds. The video game music is the template which takes the place of the keyboards in setting depressive moods and interesting soundscapes. It is accompanied by fierce old-school black metal riffs and grim scream vocals in the style of early Summoning that give the overall project the proper black metal feel. The tracks range from the energetic with blastbeats to the atmospheric with minimal percussion. Song lyrics cover the game themes and the production has a very dark, raw and primeval sound.

Highly recommended for those seeking out the more obscure and eclectic nature on the black metal spectrum. Well mixed, well produced and definitely worth listening to for more than novelty's sake and at the short running time of only 28:26, it hardly outstays its welcome and actually leaves me wanting a bit more. Rev's other bands are Tjolgtjar and Enbilulugugal.