ALBUM REVIEW: Hexis, "Aeternum"

By: Richard Maw
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 26/08/2022
Label: Debemur Morti Productions

 
“Aeternum” CD//SS//DD//LP track listing:
 
1. Letum
2. Divinitas
3. Exhaurire
4. Interitus
5. Tacet
6. Accipis
7. Nunquam
8. Vulnera
9. Captivus
10. Memento
11. Amissus
12. Aeternum
 
The Review:
 
Copenhagen’s Hexis have clocked up over 800 gigs over their lifespan thus far- so hard touring seems to be part of their DNA. The rest of their DNA seems to be blackened hardcore- mixing the aggression of Agnostic Front with the sweeping wall of noise of, well, any number of Scandi-BM acts.
 
These Danes bring aggression and speed across the first two tracks and when “Letum” and “Divinitas” have given way, the dissonant and sinister tones of “Exhaurire” showcase another aspect of the band’s sound. Truthfully, it is the faster and sharper material that I gravitate towards here and there is no shortage of it; most songs clock in between one and a half and four minutes with only a handful extending this run time.
 
This is an album which sounds good- it’s clear and noisy/filthy at the same time. The post metal aspects of the band’s sound can be heard on tracks like “Vulnera”, while elsewhere the band bring weight as well as speed.
 
If you like the idea of blackened hardcore mixed with sludge and post metal elements, then this band is exactly the kind of band you might see on one of the stages at Damnation Festival that would rip the place apart. There is nothing wrong with this album at all and it is as fine an example of the melding of genres as I can think of. Vicious.
 
“Aeternum” is available HERE 

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Ulcerate, "Stare into Death and Be Still"

By: Josh McIntyre

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 24/04/2020

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

“Stare into Death and Be Still” CD//DD//2LP track listing:

1). The Lifeless Advance

2). Exhale the Ash

3). Stare into Death and Be Still

4). There is No Horizon

5). Inversion

6). Visceral Ends

7). Drawn Into the Next Void

8). Dissolved Orders

The Review:

My love for Ulcerate is no secret. I truly feel that they are the best death metal band since Immolation and Gorguts at the turn of the century, both bands which are crucial influences. Ever since 2009’s landmark record “Everything Is Fire”, Ulcerate have explored their twisted-yet-atmospheric sound with great consistency in terms of quality and earned much acclaim as a result.

Listening to the band feels like falling into a whirlpool, not knowing where you’ll end up. The guitar lines pull themselves apart and together again, backed by a foray of beating drums which are full of tricks and fills even at the quietest moments. The band sways back and forth, up and down in almost jazz-like fluidity while the vocals and bass serve as an anchoring point to grab onto.

“Stare into Death and Be Still” is absolutely a continuation of these elements yet it also comes off as more melodically focused. Guitars still warp around but certain harmonies sound more doom metal than in past material. As a result it comes off as more sorrowful, appropriate for an album themed on death. All of their key influences appear the same and the complex layers are still there, just in a slightly less dissonant format. Ultimately, the band sounds as if Neurosis played two Morbid Angel songs simultaneously. 

The other noticeable change is in the production. The guitars in particular sound EQ’d more on the high end with this record which has added some more clarity than usual, as if a bit of smog has been lifted. I find it to be a slight improvement in terms of sound quality. Everything sounds really punchy and direct, with only the vocals being appropriately drenched in reverb like a damn beast in a deep cavern. Thanks to the mix the beast sounds like a hole has been made for him to shout into rather than him being drowned out by the insanity of the music. 

If someone asked me to rank Ulcerate’s discography I don’t think I could do it. However, “Stare into Death…” is absolutely another gem to be added to the collection and another achievement that shows why New Zealand hosts the greatest death metal band of the 21st century. Seeing the band on their 2016 tour (where I was also introduced to the amazing Zhrine) left me wondering how the hell humans can write this music and perform it. I still don’t quite get it but I’m damn glad that these three have somehow figured it out.

“Stare into Death and Be Still” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Lychgate, “Also sprach Futura”

By: Thomas Gonzales

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 13/03/2020

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

“Also sprach Futura” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Incarnate

2). Progeny of the Singularity

3). Simulacrum

4). Vanity Ablaze

The Review:

Lychgate opens their new EP “Also sprach Futura” with a chaotic and discordant piece replete with off key organs, ghostly throat singing, and atmospheric backing tracks. Even in its moments of harmony, there is an ethereal nature to their sound, like some sort of haunted masquerade, creating an uneasy tension that is not easily subdued. Shrieking guitars, and shrill harmonics add to the cacophony, pummeling the listener into a state of distress, unrelenting in delivering their dystopian vision.

Relatively new to the scene, Lychgate formed in 2011 to mixed reception. This was not due to a lack of talent or quality, but from an undefinable classification; it was music for the bold, seeking more depth in the extreme metal genre. Their avante-garde approach to composition elevates their sound to an artfully progressive realm, blurring the line between Black Metal, Death, and Doom Metal. It is the musical equivalent of a blackened midnight mass procession, waltzing macabre through the cemetery gate. Remember, this is the band who once on tour, employed an actual working organ for each of their shows.

“Also sprach Futura” is a stepping stone for Lychgate, as they continue to evade wallowing in the pit of mediocrity; it’s multi-textural, evocative, and psychedelic, but not at the expense of brutality. They represent an evolution in Blackened Metal, drawing from their classical repertoire, and incorporating technical metal sensibilities with the raw and primal ferocity of their predecessors. If you’re seeking something dark, complex, and fresh, look no further than “Also sprach Futura”, available NOW via Debemur Morti Productions.

“Also sprach Futura” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Latitudes, "Part Island"

By: Eeli Helin

Album Type: Full-length

Date Released: 05/04/19

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

"Part Island" is a beautifully aching, emotionally overwhelming and all consuming monstrous opus

"Part Island" CD//DD//LP tracklisting:

1. Underlie

2. Moorland Is the Sea

3. Dovestone

4. Fallowness

5. The Great Past

6. Part Island

The Review:

"Part Island", the fourth full-length by Latitudes and their second under the flag of Debemur Morti Productions. On "Part Island", the UK based sludgy post-metal band reinvent themselves on familiar waters, leading into a mental image of a capsized ship representing a previously unseen side of their own sound. The maritime references are more than fitting; The artwork, song titles, lyrics and the albums name all blend together perfectly, keeping the listeners close and feeding them protean visions they feel are apt at any given time.

On their earlier albums, the band has heavily relied on strong instrumentation, often leaving the vocals abaft. The most notable change this time is that instead of building up from a riff or drum pattern, all the songs were embarked with an acoustic guitar and vocal melodies, other instruments following afterwards. Soon after the album begins, you realise that the vocals are extremely integral this time, and it's something you didn't know you missed on the earlier albums.

The album starts off with "Underlie", which acts as sort of an introduction to the album, infused with soft plucked acoustic guitars, keys and fragile vocals. The listener is instantly carried away from wherever they are, into the drowsy and bleak world sealed within this album. The following tracks "Moorland Is the Sea" and "Dovestone" are perhaps the heaviest pieces on the album, creating contrast and boundaries to the otherwise vague and floating settlements. Adam Symonds' vocals sway through the air stronger than ever, constantly reminding how the vocals are indeed where the focus is at this time around. The pair is also mirroring their past works more than the rest of the album.

"Fallowness" starts off with synth swoops and picks up a more prompt pace until it comes to halt, again showing how Latitudes thrive in creating huge contrasts within short periods of time. There’s currently a lot of bands going for that certain kind of variability, but Latitudes excels in it better than most. Trailed by the most sinister track on the album, "The Great Past", you can't help but smirk, knowing how you will enjoy this release for countless repeats. The albums titular closer, the grand ouvre of "Part Island", will take every single mood and emotion strewn throughout the 43 minute album and compress them into one magnificent entity. It is now when you realize words can't do enough justice for the album, it simply has to be heard to be understood. This album will drain you, but it's worth it.

"Part Island" is a beautifully aching, emotionally overwhelming and consuming monstrous opus, which shows that this band is ascending to a whole new class and there's absolutely no limits to their creativity and what one might expect from them in the future.

"Part Island" is available HERE

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: AORATOS, "Gods Without Name"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 22/03/2019

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

“Gods Without Name” CD//DD//LP track listing

1). Parallax I

2). Holy Mother of Terror

3). Of Harvest, Scythe and Sickle Moon

4). Gods Without Name

5). Thresher

6). The Watcher on the Threshold

7). Prayer of Abjection

8). Dread Spirit of the Place

9). Parallax II

The Review:

There must be other US black metal artists out there delivering atmospheric, occult, disturbing hymns to elder gods.  But between Akhlys, Nightbringer, and now AORATOS, one-man powerhouse Naas Alcameth (aka Kyle Spanswick) has seemingly cornered the market on truly grim, pitch black metal.  Naas is one of the most prolific one-man powerhouses in black metal, which (SoundCloud rappers notwithstanding) may be the most dominant “solo” genre of the moment.  You’d be forgiven for assuming so much output from one songwriter would be indistinguishable or, at worst, repetitive, but his latest work as AORATOS should shut up any naysayers: Naas Alcameth has a seemingly boundless well of interesting and diverse offerings to the darkness.

As a thematic departure from his prior work, AORATOS seems less focused on the introspective dreamscapes of Akhlys or the arcane magickal workings of Nightbringer. Instead, AORATOS is an earthier turn to primordial worship.  The “group’s” promotional images feature two hooded, robed figures lurking near a dilapidated farmhouse, one holding an old-fashioned pitchfork.  But this isn’t some hokey devilry – this feels like some cult roots, some ancient hearth magic. 

Naas’s lyrics on “Of Harvest, Scythe, and Sickle Moon” paint a picture of medieval peasant life supplemented by rootsy paganism: “I’ve ripped my hair and torn my skin / to get my master’s harvest in / I’ve reeved all flesh for the mighty dead / and blooded the field neath the moon of red.” There’s an unrelenting drive towards some high-minded ancient ancestry in a lot of black metal (often towards elitism or, in some sinister circumstances, racial purity). This feels like a raw and honest departure – few of us were descended from pseudo-elven kings and warriors, but our low forbears may have enjoyed a dark communion without even being able to read.  In “Gods Without Name”, Naas invokes spirits that carried weight for generations without the burden of holy scriptures or grimoires: “God of the attic, cellar and wheel. God of the shed, abbatoir and mill. God of the edge, grotto and grove. Dark gods of the plot to whom I’m betrothed.”

Naas himself handles all the instrumental duties (guitars and synth), as well as lead vocals, while Nox Corvus (main man of ANOTHER solo black metal project, Serpent of the Black Forest) offers some guitar work and backing vocals.  Menthor, drummer of Nightbringer, Necrosadist, and others, is the standard type of black metal powerhouse you need on an album so expansive sounding. 

Naas has layers upon layers of instrumentation and vocals, creating a chorus of tortured but distinguishable shrieks and howls.  The guitars vary between shimmering but almost out-of-tune picking (which is way more unsettling than my description would make it seem), massive chords, and tremolo picking that will make the hairs on your neck stand up.  Menthor’s precise double kick work and blast beats is invigorating, while the sparse, doomy crashes of “Dead Spirit of the Place” punctuates the nightmarish, nearly ambient closer before launching into full on black metal assault: one assumes Frost would be proud, and don’t get me wrong, this is still remarkably evil sounding.  

Naas isn’t writing an anthropological dissertation – he’s subverting the expectations of what themes carry black metal.  It’s smart but the plain descriptions of superstitions and homespun occult practice are sincere and totally unpretentious.  There’s something undeniably chilling when Naas howls “I am the thresher ‘neath the moon’s baleful eye! I am the thresher, the wolf in the rye!”  If this is the worship music of the hearth magician, consider me converted.

“Gods Without Name” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Cultus Profano, "Sacramentum Obscurus"

By: Conor O’Dea

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 23/02/2018

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

"This is black metal at its bleakest, most oppressive 

“Sacramentum Obscurus” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Conventus Esbat, Op. 8
2. Under the Infernal Reign, Op. 10
3. Ceremony of the Black Flame, Op. 4
4. Lord of Ages, Op. 2
5. Ignis Altare, Op. 5
6. An Offering to the Prolific Goat, Op. 7
7. Forging a Covenant, Op. 6
8. Awakening the Strzyga, Op. 1
9. Cultus Profano, Op. 9 

The Review:

Debemur Morti has been the host of a number of my absolute favourite artists over the years. The roster has been strong enough that I have frequently found new favourites by keeping a close eye on their lineup, and they are now among the few labels on the planet that I consider in the "must listen/must buy" category. That being said, Debemur Morti releases possess a curious anti-signature or fall under an inverted or distorted emblem: they are almost always boundary-pushing and difficult to categorize; never easily this or that, they discomfit by occupying a unnameable between. While much of the material released lies in these uncomfortable and ambiguous liminal realms that border on black, death and industrial, Cultus Profano is actually both unusual and outstanding in its orthodoxy: this is true, occult, sinister-as-Vamachara black metal. Its tremendous success is partially rooted in the depths that it adheres to this foreboding and shadowy terrain: it moves downward into occult black metal instead of across. Rather than distort through vertiginous borrowings, what we see here in a fervid mining of the abyss itself, obliterating the dark ground until gaping black remains. 

The nine tracks presented here are raw and uncompromising; there are traces of Finnish melodicism but they are crushed under the weight of a feverish, plague-house atmosphere; dark rituals worked among the bearers of incurable illness. The album as a whole carries with it an unforgiving 'heaviness' in terms of malevolent gravitas, accented by a number of elements, including the swirling nature of the riffs themselves and the reverb-saturated trade-offs between literally frightening male and female vocals. These tradeoffs in particular offer a further decentring for the listener: echoes coming from the shadowed recesses of whatever chamber of charnel horror from which this bleak and abominable act emerged. If I were to offer a phrase to encapsulate the mood that permeates and pervades all the tracks, it would be something like somber exultation in the sickness unto death. This album is not fun and it feels unholy. 

This is black metal at its bleakest, most oppressive and most 'occult' in terms of being evocative of the forbidden, hidden and unspeakable. A caveat: uncareful listening will open interpretations of sameness where these corrupt tonal simulacra are in fact the desired product of the Operators. 

“Sacramentum Obscurus” is available here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

Latitudes - "Old Sunlight" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 22/01/2016

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Their crunchy take on Pelican’s colossal ambition shot through with Mastodon’s progressive grit is as potent as ever, particularly evident on the monstrous “Altarpieces”. “Old Sunlight” is no retread of former glories though, every track crackles with the energy of the band expanding their horizons. “Ordalian” and “Gyre” are riddled with frantic black metal-influenced tremolo picking, injecting an air of grandiose melody to the Latitudes already epic sound.  “Old Sunlight” consolidates all that was great about Latitudes and stretches it in intriguing new directions to intoxicating effect. Hopefully they won’t leave another four years until the next time.

“Old Sunlight” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Ordalian
02. Body Within A Body
03. Amnio
04. Gyre
05. In Rushes Bound
06. Altarpieces
07. Quandary

The Review:

Hertfordshire quintet, Latitudes have built up a fierce reputation as a UK post-metal powerhouse equal to their US peers. New album, “Old Sunlight” shows that the four year gap since their last LP has done nothing to diminish their prowess. Their crunchy take on Pelican’s colossal ambition shot through with Mastodon’s progressive grit is as potent as ever, particularly evident on the monstrous “Altarpieces”.

“Old Sunlight” is no retread of former glories though, every track crackles with the energy of the band expanding their horizons. “Ordalian” and “Gyre” are riddled with frantic black metal-influenced tremolo picking, injecting an air of grandiose melody to the Latitudes already epic sound. These new influences are integrated seamlessly into their sonic spectrum, taking what could have been an abrupt, jarring swerve into new musical territory and creating a distinct sound, bearing the hallmarks of many genres, without slotting easily into any pigeonholes.

The band blur things further with “Body Within A Body” and “In Rushes Bound”. These tracks bring electronic textures to the fore, working alongside the punishing riffs to provide a perfect backdrop for some angelic, yet sinister, vocals. This is a style you rarely hear used in heavy music and works well here. The section in “Body Within A Body” when the music is stripped back to haunting organ and a lonely croon which creates an unsettling atmosphere, redolent of prog voyagers like King Crimson.

“Quandary” brings the album to a close with a sparse guitar and voice ballad, another left turn which reaps rewards. This track and drumless interlude “Amnio” provide effective contrast to the huge big riffing monsters here, allowing the listener to process these trips beyond the event horizon.

“Old Sunlight” consolidates all that was great about Latitudes and stretches it in intriguing new directions to intoxicating effect. Hopefully they won’t leave another four years until the next time.

“Old Sunlight” is available here

Band info: facebook

Akhlys - ‘The Dreaming I’ (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/04/2015 (digital), 

12/06/2015 (physical)

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

‘The Dreaming I’ CD//LP//DD track listing:

1. Breath and Levitation

2. Tides of Oneiric Darkness

3. Consummation

4. The Dreaming Eye

5. Into the Indigo Abyss

Akhlys is:

Naas Alcameth | Vocals, Keyboards, Bass, Guitars, Sound effects

Ain | Drums

Review:

Naas Alcameth has been mightly busy over the last year or so, with Nightbringer having just released a new album late last year and now returning with Akhlys’ second album ‘The Dreaming I’ just this year. The natural inclination, since both projects involve Naas Alcameth as both songwriter and guitarist/vocalist, is to use the two albums as points of comparison. In this interview on the Debemur Morti website, Alcameth sheds a bit of light on the conceptual and musical differences, but it’s worth exploring a bit more in depth.

Where Nightbringer is more straightforward and vicious, similar to an even darker Dark Funeral or ‘Hell Eternal’ era Setherial, Akhlys uses more ambient noise, and musically falls into a more eerie, atmospheric style that is less easy to compare to others. The rhythm guitars tend to drone, serving as a deeper bedrock from which the lead guitars can dictate the finer emotional tone, as difficult as it can be to determine exactly what emotional reaction it brings out as you’re listening.  Meanwhile, the drums are generally content to alternate between relentless blasting, thrash beats or more conservative snare and cymbal patterns struck atop a wall of impenetrable double kick, a suitably raucous backbone for an album likely to pull such deep emotional reactions from the listener.

The strange, surrealist disposition of the album seems to be directly linked to the album's concept, built around a number of Naas Alcameth’s particularly bizarre dreams. With the music sounding so alien, to the point where the humanity evident even in the majority of black metal albums is stripped away completely, ‘The Dreaming I’ feels more like a sonic web woven by the worst recesses of the subconscious, rather than something a human being concocted while of sound mind. If that reads like a criticism of the album to you, it isn’t. The vocals are harrowing as they’re hissed and howled without the thinnest trace of either human warmth or pain. The drums, guitars and keyboards are maelstrom, subsiding only long enough to make you nervous about what the next storm has in store.

If that all reads a bit too much like I’m writing a press release for the album rather than reviewing it, I’m sorry, but it was either this or write a review that just says “It’s fucking fantastic.” and then turn it in. I’m sure other writers have found ways to describe this album without resorting to hyperbole or being excessively dramatic, but try as I have, I’m just not capable. It’s too all-consuming while I listen to it, and too exciting when having the presence of mind to try and analyze it. What’s surprising in retrospect is that the album didn’t always feel that way to me upon my initial, more cursory listens. It took allowing myself to get lost in the album to truly appreciate it as much as I do.

This is an album that warrants your exclusive attention when it’s on, otherwise you’re cheating yourself. It’s the kind of clandestine mindfuck that catches you after numerous listens, softening your brain into thinking it’s less uniquely affecting than it really is before it decides to completely change the complexion of your day. That’s something few albums can accomplish, once you’ve heard a large and varied portion of what the genre has to offer.

Words by: Daniel Jackson

You can pick up a digital copy here and a CD/LP copy here. 

For more information:

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Archgoat - ‘The Apocalyptic Triumphator’ (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-Length

Date Released: 27/01/2015

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

‘The Apocalyptic Triumphator’ CD//LP//DD track listing:

1). Intro (Left Hand Path)
2). Nuns, Cunts & Darkness
3). The Apocalyptic Triumphator
4). Phallic Desecrator Of Sacred Gates
5). Grand Luciferian Theophany
6). Those Below (Who Dwell In Hell)
7). Intro (Right Hand Path)
8). Congregation Of Circumcised
9). Sado-Magical Portal
10). Light Of Phosphorus
11). Profanator Of The 1st Commandment
12). Funeral Pyre Of Trinity

Archgoat is:

Lord Angelslayer | Bass/Vocals

Ritual Butcherer | Guitars

Sinisterror | Drums

Review:

I hope you’ll forgive me for what I know will read like a broken record. I know this sort of thing matters to very few others, and I understand why. It’s really a very small aspect of an album; a single choice, really. And yet for me, it can cripple even the best of material depending on how the other pieces fall into place. If this sounds like an apology; in some ways it is. There is so much about Archgoat and their newest album ‘The Apocalyptic Triumphator’ that I like. Everything about Archgoat is right up my alley except for that one thing: flat, “everything all at once” blast beats.

Depending on the musical context surrounding the album, I might be able to tolerate or even enjoy an album that uses this kind of blast beat sparingly. Suffocation, Internal Bleeding, even the recently reformed Gorelust have gotten “passes” on using this technique from me because music has enough of a rhythmic focus for it to work. I still don’t like it in principle. Archgoat’s ugly, barbaric black metal does not lend itself to the use of this technique at all. The monolithic guitar wall begs for the barely controlled chaos of a real blast beat. So when the drums so often rely on this ill-fitting blasting style, it’s severely dampens the impact this music could and should have.

Everything else going on is top-notch. I’d be spending this whole review extolling its virtue and defying others to come up with something this compelling while remaining this orthodox. But I can’t. I can’t get beyond the way this drumming choice hurts the album. It’s the same for just about all of Archgoat’s material, but we’re talking about ‘The Apocalyptic Triumphator’ in specific. I call it a choice, because from time to time, Sinisterror will break out (in my mind) a real blast beat and I nearly cheer out loud every time it happens. He’s clearly very talented and more than capable of using the “right” technique at any time. In fact, if he were to read this he’d probably wonder who I am to question his drumming choices, especially considering that he’s continuing the style Blood Desecrator used on earlier releases, not to mention that I haven’t owned a drumset in nearly 15 years. That’s a fair point, and my only defense is that this preference is so deeply embedded in my mind and my conviction is so strong about this that I simply can’t ignore it.

If I were able to ignore it, I would recommend that everyone buy this album immediately because it’s so damned enthralling otherwise. It’s just about as time-honored and battle-tested as black metal in this vein gets. It’s powerful in a way few black metal albums can be, and it’s dark in a way few bands capable of mustering. You should seek this out immediately, because you probably don’t care at all about blasting techniques or the way it changes the dynamic of a song, and I know I shouldn’t care so much about it either. The only way I can fairly sum up my thoughts about ‘The Apocalyptic Triumphator’ is that if I didn’t have this hang up, I can guarantee you I’d be writing about this album again eleven months from now. Since the vast majority of you don’t have the same issue, I urge you to give this album a shot right now.

Words by: Daniel Jackson

Digital copy may become available later at the DMP Bandcamp page.

Order a CD/LP copy here.

For more information:

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Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/10/2014

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

‘Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry’ CD/LP/DD  track listing:

1). “Prelude”
2). “Paien”
3). “Tellus Mater”
4). “Forhist”
5). “Henosis”
6). “Metaphor Of The Moon”
7). “Clarissima Mundi Lumina”

Bio:

Originating in 1994 from the ashes of VLAD (who released two demos), BLUT AUS NORD are undisputable French Black Metal pioneers, always managing to progress and move forward, evolving in perpetual mutation, developing their own vision of Black Metal.

Choosing, from the start, the total opposite path of regressive bands (who copy what others have done ten years earlier and ten times better), BLUT AUS NORD eschews all the inherent clichés belonging to the genre. BLUT AUS NORD's Black Metal approach is a fist in the face of mainstream mediocrity, becoming more macabre and sinister through a blend of innovative musical research, subliminal mental manipulation, and an incredible haunted, nightmarish feeling based on disharmony.

BLUT AUS NORD are creators of a hallucinogenic universe, erasing all preconceived ideas of Black Metal - and extreme music in general. They redefine the rules...

The Band:

Vindsval | Guitars, Bass, Keys, Vocals

Thorns | Drums

Review:

In the last 8 years, Blut Aus Nord has released 7 full length albums and 4 EPs. Let that sink in for a moment. That is, unquestionably, too much material for any band to release and not see a dip in quality. Blut Aus Nord isn’t immune to it. The last two of the three ‘777’ albums aren’t anything I’ll go back to listen to very often, as they feel under-cooked, even when giving them another listen once I knew this album was imminent. Just counting 2014 they've had three releases: an EP, a split and now ‘Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry’. Despite being lukewarm on some of their more recent material, the history and high quality of the previous ‘Memoria Vetusta’ albums was enough to raise my expectations for this new album. Along with 2003’s ‘The Work Which Transforms God’; the previous two ‘Memoria Vetusta’ albums are the band’s best work to date.

Blut Aus Nord are at their strongest when delving into one of two musical themes: twisting dissonant black metal and melodic black metal that is broad in scope. ‘Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry’ is a stunning example of the latter. It accomplishes something that so many of the best melodic black metal albums of the 90s accomplished; it gives you an escape into an imagined musical world. Each song is an adventure across vast landscapes; a far-reaching sonic journey with the vocals often acting more as an accent and texture rather than narrator or focal point. That isn’t a slight against the vocals. In fact, they’re often vital to the moments they’re a part of, particularly the clean vocals. Every element of this album works to, and succeeds at; creating something greater than each individual performance, and that goes for the non-musical elements as well.

Artwork is too often marginalised or even neglected by bands when it comes to its role in establishing the tone of an album for the listener. I can only speculate as to the creative process behind the artwork, but Necrolord’s artwork for this album is on par with his best 90s work, without question. It gives visual life to the fantastical ancient world to which the album is the soundtrack. It’s the sort of artwork that immediately communicates that the album is a classic. Certainly, there have been albums with artwork of this caliber but the album doesn’t really live up to the promise of its packaging, but we are truly getting the best of both worlds here. 15 years ago, with music not being so easily accessible, this would have been a blind buy, even if I’d never heard Blut Aus Nord previously.

What of the music, then? It’s pure melodic black metal bliss from top to bottom. There aren’t any weak points and each new listen–and there have been many–yields something new or exciting. It helps immensely that Blut Aus Nord have never sounded this good from a production standpoint; everything sounds powerful with room to breathe. The riffs are an upward spiral, like some wondrous and brilliant tornado building to larger and grander proportions the higher you travel. If you don’t go in for that sort of frivolous word-painting, here’s something we can all go along with: It fucking rules! These songs are crafted with care from people at the height of their abilities. If you’re a beer lover; it’s the one that you only pick up a few times a year because it hits your pocketbook so hard.

It should come as no shock, with all of this in mind, that ‘Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry’ comes with my highest recommendation. It may even be the best album of the year when all is said and done. My gut instinct on the album is that it stands above even the best of a crowded field, but only time can really answer that question.

Words by: Daniel Jackson

You can pick up a copy here

For more information:

http://www.facebook.com/blutausnord.official

http://www.debemur-morti.com

http://www.facebook.com/debemurmorti

http://dmp666.bandcamp.com

http://soundcloud.com/debemurmorti

http://www.youtube.com/user/debemurmortiprod