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This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
An exceptional debut album by a very talented composer, “Netherstorm” provides
the perfect symphonic complement to the complexities and contradictions of the
multiple darknesses at the core of our seasonal cycle, and is remarkable in
both mood and concept.
“Netherstorm” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1).
Netherstorm
2).
Shadowed Secret Unmasked
3).
Limbo of Abysmal Void
4).
Ethereal Visions of a Monumental Cataclysm
5).
Obidient Intolerant
6).
Outro
The Review:
As
I listen to Vargrav's
debut album “Netherstorm”, I am
situated on the edge of the North Atlantic,
caught in a season of deep lability which surges tempestuously between Winter
hurricanes and polar vortices. There could be no more fitting soundscape for
this temperamental climate; both in ferocious grandeur and ataraxic lulls, this
work captures all the subtleties of the anatomy of True Winter - full of
savagery and sorrow, of majesty and torpor.
Vargrav's
lone composer and musician hails from Hyvinkäa, Finland.
The project is self-described as symphonic black metal, which, given some of
the pejorative associations, may throw off potential listeners. Don't let it:
this is high craft which bonds the ruthlessness of its forebears with
considerably more lyrical and sonic maturity. The orchestral and symphonic
passages throughout add ambience and atmosphere without ever straying into the
territory of those black metal subgenres - it sews a rich textural tapestry
that illustrates a landscape harrowed and harried by the winds of the glacial,
almost retreating vocals and the driving flurry and hail of the guitars and
drums. Each song is carefully set up structurally, a frost-rimed surface of
absolute zero then torn apart by blistering raw guitar that comes through
in blizzard-like ruptures and cascades. Throughout, we have great, vocals,
sorcerous and menacing. Intros range from the almost science fiction inflected “Netherstorm” and the bombastic dungeon
synth of “Shadowed Secrets Unmasked” to
the restraint of “Limbo of Abysmal Void”
and haunting choral passages of “Ethereal
Vision of a Monumental Cataclysm”.
The album begins and ends beautifully, allowing a full narrative sweep to
encapsulate it as a whole. The slow settling of the storm into the austere
grandeur and ice-still world-view of “Obedient,
Intolerant, Ensnared” and the haunting, almost mournful instrumental outro
show deep attention to the album-as-tale. The story here is a memorable one,
and one I will return to time and time again even as winter recedes.
There are two great bonus tracks here which have ended up on a separate EP. The
first is “Glory of Eternal Night”,
probably the most feral of all the tracks. To my ears, it sounds like the
pursuit of the Wild Hunt - nocturnal, sepulchral and unrelenting. The final
bonus track is a cover of Emperor's “Ancient Queens”. It is a very
attentive interpretation that seems to fuse the symphonic subtleties of the “As the Shadows Rise” rendition with the
savage fury of the earlier “Wrath of the
Tyrant” version.
An exceptional debut album by a very talented composer, “Netherstorm” provides the perfect symphonic complement to the
complexities and contradictions of the multiple darknesses at the core of our
seasonal cycle, and is remarkable in both mood and concept. I am very grateful
that Werewolf
Records grabbed this brilliant work and allowed it the exposure it
merits!
The Cambridge English
Dictionary defines Deity as ‘Godhead; the
Supreme Being; a fabulous god or goddess; a divinity.’ That
definition needs to be amended to include DEITY the band; who melds old-school metal through
a thoroughly unique intense influence of their own into music that is godlike
and divine!
Inspired by Suffocation, Emperor, Death,
Slayer and Immortal
and describing their music as ‘relentless,
powerful, intriguing, honest and revitalizing’, DEITY has produced a truly special album,
combining the fantastic progressive instrumentals of Metallica and Iced Earth with
crushing metal anthems.
With the completion of DEITY's self-titled
album, the extreme duo, Danny and John are looking forward to taking their
sound to live stages in Toronto, Montreal and more in both those cities
provinces and beyond. Watch this pair, because DEITY are a band that deserve to break out
of the studio into the live arena! Guitarist/vocalist Danny Alessandro had the following to say about
the album
“This album
has been a long time in the making and we are very proud of what we've created.
From start to finish we want to take the listener on a journey of different
emotions and feeling. As fans of metal we wanted to create something the
listener could play over several times without losing interest. Something with
a timeless feeling, and we feel like we've achieved this. Chaotic, aggressive
and melodic are the best words to describe this self titled release. We
hope the metal community digs the album cheers!!!”
With the album set
to hit the streets on Friday 2nd June, you can check out the album
in all its brutal splendour below. For
more info about this release as it becomes available, like and follow DEITY via facebook
below.
Black metal, like many genres, is a
genre of two minds. One mind is of ever-evolving progress, and the other of
unflinching orthodoxy. Some bands will make a concerted effort to try something
new and push a genre forward, and others spend their whole discography finding
new ways to keep an old, worn style interesting. Black metal has never seen a
shortage of by-the-book bands, satisfied with doing what’s been done before.
Even now, more than 20 years removed
from the early classics of its second wave, there are scores of black metal
bands playing at 90s nostalgia. These bands and albums are nothing if not
dedicated to the old style, and have their own take on the genre's inherently
harsh production. But there is still something about virtually every band in
this niche that gives them a feeling of existing in the here and now.
Sjelferd
is different.
Sjelferd
existed for only a brief span in the mid-90s and never released the demo they
recorded in 1996. Shortly thereafter they changed their name to Majestic, and did release a demo in 1997 under that name.
In something of a recurring theme for the band, they weren’t terribly pleased
with the results they got in-studio.
(Please note that certain other
bands included in this zine are known for having suspect or outright racist
worldviews, especially during this timeframe)
It’s now 2017, and more than 20
years later Sjelferd have gotten themselves back
together again to record their original demo the way they wanted it to sound
back then, giving us ‘Fortid’ in
March. This isn’t one member taking it upon themselves to resurrect the past,
either. Every member of the band that played on the original recording appears
here as well, save for original bassist Christian (replaced by Asbjørn), who moved
away shortly after the band dissolved. Guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist Mikael (Morloc)
explains their reasoning for returning to these songs after so many years:
“The
short answer is Nostalgia. We get together on occasion and talk about the old
days and Daniel
[Sjelferd drummer Nalok] had dug up the old recordings of
the first demo we made, and we had to admit to ourselves that the old songs
were not without their charm.”
As for their sharp self-criticism in
the interview clip above, Mikael elaborates on their feeling then and now:
“The
issue was not necessarily with the quality of the sound, but rather with the
performance of the band. Due to inexperience, we weren’t the best of musicians
back then and that shows on the recording. We had only played together for
about 5-6 months before we decided to go into a studio and record our first,
and only, demo. It would have been wise for us to have waited longer. A lot
longer.”
This leads us to the music itself.
These songs are, for obvious reasons, very much of their time. They were
written in the mid-90s, and that personality and character carries over into
the current day. The riffs are kept simple and direct, and the keyboard used
largely to add sonic depth or accompany a central melody. The drums aren’t
overly flashy, choosing the route of acting as an unshakable foundation from
which the rest of the music is built. The production bears some resemblance to Dimmu Borgir’s original recording of “Stormblast”, though updated for added richness and clarity.
Interestingly, a production befitting such nostalgic material wasn’t something
that the band had in mind to start with. Mikael elaborates:
“Capturing
the sound of that era was not a goal we had. Given that the whole recording,
mixing and mastering was done in my own studio we were trying to give it the
best sound possible. The fact that we were able to capture the tone and feel of
the era was more luck than anything else. The choice of keyboard may have
contributed to that.”
Indeed, the voices chosen for the
keyboards are an essential part of why this EP works so well. They feel and
sound as if they’ve been plucked from Norwegian black metal’s prime years and
dropped into the present day. The same applies to the rest of ‘Fortid’. Mikael
indicates that their influences at the time were bands like Gehenna (Nor), Emperor, Satyricon and others and Sjelferd
would have fit in perfectly on a show featuring a combination of those bands,
at least as they existed in the mid-90s.
All of these aspects put together
are what makes ‘Fortid’ so special.
Both the band and their songs each existed right in the thick of one of metal’s
most historic scenes. This EP is a snapshot of a very specific time and place
in metal lore, when the forward thinking bands of the era were only beginning
to evolve into something beyond their initial sounds. For someone with an
interest or even fond memories of this distinct time and place in metal’s past,
‘Fortid’ should be an absolute joy.
But for as much as we’ve dwelled on
the past in this review, the next question of Sjelferd’s
future remains up in the air. It stands to reason that, were the band to
continue, they couldn’t capture this same kind of lightning in a bottle, but
are they even looking to continue? ‘Fortid’
provides its own unique closure, but Mikael indicates that the question remains open:
“It was meant to be a one-time thing, and yes,
to close this chapter in our history. But both me and Christer, who wrote the original
songs, currently have a lot of material to work with and we are in the process
of making new songs. If this is to be another Sjelferd
release or something else remains to be seen, but you may not have heard the
last of us just yet.”
Album Type:
Full Length Date
Released: 12/08/2016 Label: Gilead Media
A.L.N.
demonstrates a penchant for punishing the listener in so many different ways,
but also establishes a talent for creating harmony layered within the chaos.
“Yodh” CS//DD//LP
track listing:
1). Woe Regains My Substance
2). A Semblance Waning
3). The Serpent Eats Its Tail
4). Inertia, an Ill Compeller
5). Bask in the Lingering
The Review:
A.L.N.
follows a long line of Pacific Northwestern musicians leading the charge for
American Black Metal. The mysterious multi-instrumentalist from Portland, Oregon
lends his talents to multiple projects including Helland Urzeit who create unique blends of tumultuous black metal
and doom metal. “Yodh” is the latest
release from A.L.N. under the Mizmor (meaning "psalm" in Hebrew)moniker he uses for his solo-projects.
With “Yodh”, A.L.N. makes a strong
argument for Mizmor
as his best musical project. After a four year gap between full length
recordings, the project has returned stronger, focused, and more cathartic than
ever.
“Yodh” is broken into
five extended pieces that all have their share of A.L.N.’s ferocious growl,
mesmerizing doom riffs, and suffocating abrasive climaxes. All five tracks are
incredibly ambitious and while the track lengths can appear daunting “Yodh” does not suffer from any periods
of self-indulgence or overkill, each sequence being equally as gripping as the
last. These tracks feature multiple sequences that are woven in a way similar
to seventies prog rock. What differentiates Mizmor from other metal acts in
the same vein are the smooth transitions that remove any abruptness from
appearing, making this the perfect blend of black and doom metal stylings. This
album is downright heavy like a great doom record should be. “The Serpent Eats the Tail” has a
brilliant riff that would find itself right at home on an early Black Sabbath
record. “Yodh” is also as horribly
biting and desolate as a great black metal record, but does so in an incredibly
maximalist way. This record is beautifully mastered and sounds as sharp as any
metal record in recent memory. This mastering style paired with the black metal
traits gives the record a similar feel to Emperor’s “In The Nightside Eclipse”, in that it does not need to rely on
aesthetic or tradition to provide that eerie feeling of total misery.
A.L.N. is a master of sonic and vocal
diversity that makes the 60 minutes blow by as fast as the riffs themselves.
Rather than employing an utter scorched earth policy of heaviness, these tracks
offer a lot a breathing room within this bleak atmosphere. This is certainly a
technical release whose monoliths were created to be admired while dwarfing
whatever surrounds it. A.L.N. demonstrates a penchant for punishing the
listener in so many different ways, but also establishes a talent for creating
harmony layered within the chaos. Much like the world in which the record was
created, these tracks have a hidden beauty about them that can be lost in the
distracting clamor of what is immediately apparent. A.L.N. displays both what
is ugly as well as what is harmonious in a frighteningly familiar imbalance.
The grim heavily outweighs the allure in a way not totally dissimilar from what
so many of us are used to.
Yodh is available
on cassette here digitally here and on vinyl here
Album Type: Full
Length (Reissue) Date
Released: 20/05/2016 Label: Napalm
Records
This album does to me what people describe psychedelic drugs as
doing for them. In my opinion this is mandatory listening. There are precious
few albums that matter this much to me, and I can only hope that if someone
hears this album for the first time this year, it has the same kind of impact
on them that it’s had on me.
“Nemesis
Divina” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1.The Dark of a New Age
2.Forhekset
3.Mother North
4.Du som hater Gud
5.Immortality Passion
6.Nemesis Divina
7.Tanscendental Requiem of Slaves
The Review:
I
know it’s supposed to be poor form to write about yourself when writing about
an album. “Nobody cares about you, they care about the album!” is a
recurring point made on Twitter. I get it, and when we’re talking about new
albums, I usually agree with it. Please know that if you’re strict about that
particular rule, this isn’t going to be for you. I don’t really have a
structure for this, nor do I have any direction. I’m just going to write about
an album that’s meant more to me than virtually any other. I’m writing about ‘Nemesis Divina’, an album in its 20th
year of existence, recently reissued via Napalm Records. I’m going to talk about why
this album matters so much to me, and why I regard it as being one of the best
black metal albums ever made. If that’s not interesting to you, close the tab
and no hard feelings. Fair enough? Ok, let’s get started.
As
was the case with a lot of the bigger second wave black metal albums of the
90s, I found out about ‘Nemesis Divina’
through a compilation CD. In this case it was the ‘Gods of Darkness’ compilation, which was issued by Nuclear Blast in 1997,
the same year the album got its release in the United States. Back then, the US often got black metal albums quite a bit
later than Europe. Many of these great albums
didn’t see broader distribution in the US until Century Black came to the rescue and became the North
American home of some of the greatest black metal albums of all time. Along
with ‘Nemesis Divina’, Century Black was the
American home for Mayhem’s ‘De
Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’,Emperor’s‘In The Nightside Eclipse’ and ‘Anthems to the Welkin At Dusk’, Ulver’s ‘Nattens Madrigal’, Gorgoroth’s first
three albums, and so many others. That black metal imprint for Century Media was so
vital to making prime Norwegian black metal available throughout the US
that it almost can’t be overstated.
The
song featured on ‘Gods of Darkness’
was, as you’d expect, “Mother North”.
In the 19 years or so that I’ve been listening to ‘Nemesis Divina’, the song went from being my favorite, to
over-playing it and getting burnt out on it, to then coming back around to
appreciating and understanding why people love it so much. “Mother North” is among the most popular
black metal songs of the nineties. When it comes down to it, the reasons for
its popularity are pretty simple. It’s loaded with hooks, and Satyr’s vocals
are comprehensible enough that people can learn—and follow along with—the
lyrics.
I’ll
admit that my 16 year old self might have found occasion once or twice to put
on my most dour black metal face and bellow “Sometimes in the dead of the
night, I mesmerize my soul…” in front of a mirror. In the previous
decade, high school kids were lip syncing and air guitaring to Maiden or Priest. But for
me, it was hours upon hand drumming on my knees to ‘Nemesis Divina’ or ‘De
Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’. It was easy to romanticize Norwegian black metal
as a teenager, even with all of the violence. But that was a non-factor with Satyricon. They
weren’t really a part of the drama that surrounded Mayhem, Burzum, and Emperor. They were just a band. The music on ‘Nemesis Divina’ created it’s own
mystique.
In
terms of knowing about the band itself, I really only had photos in the CD
booklet to go off of. The photo of Satyr, Frost, and Nocturno Culto (credited
as Kveldulv on this album) in front of what, in retrospect, a ridiculous blue family
photo/school picture backdrop. Satyr is seated upon an old wooden chair with
markings along the sides and thrusting a partially intact skull toward the
camera. Frost and Nocturno Culto stand beside him, wielding stylized axes, and
Frost is decked out in some of the most unwieldy spiked gauntlets ever worn by
arms. They were basically just giant nails in place of where the half inch
spikes had been. It was ludicrous. At 16, I imagined Satyricon were
just like that all the time. They didn’t have jobs or families or pets or
regular human lives. Instead, they just lived in a secluded Norwegian forest,
where they dedicated all their time to black metal and ancillary activities. 16
year old me didn’t want to think about Satyr ordering a coffee, or Nocturno Culto
punching a clock and working like I would do the following year. I was like a
young child who watches pro wrestling and doesn’t really understand that
wrestlers were often very different from the personas they played on
television.
But
all these years later, none of the image or package has anything more than a
passing nostalgic value. Today, the music is what matters. Sure, it’s the music
that conjures those fanciful memories, but more than anything it’s about the
constant realization while listening to it, that Satyr, Frost and Nocturno
Culto captured lightning in a bottle back in 1996. ‘Nemesis Divina’ is one of the few albums, of the thousands of
albums I’ve owned and thousands more that I’ve listened to, where there isn’t a
track I skip on purpose. From the opening downbeat of “The Dawn of A new Age” to the final droning keyboard and guitar of
“Transcendental Requiem of Slaves”
it all has resonance, and it’s all important to the album overall.
Everything
works together so well. There has never been a black metal album so well
arranged. Frost is especially important here, as he’s virtually perfect at
coming up with musical drum fills and accents that play into the riff and often
enhance it. It’s those random tom hits on the upbeats, or the intricate
patterns he uses all over the album that bring more to ‘Nemesis Divina’ than any drum performance has brought to any other
black metal album since the genre’s inception. The riffs themselves are burned
in my memory for as long as I live. I could write 20 hundred words about each
song and individual riff, but I doubt there are many of you left reading this
as it is.
There
are few albums that have brought me anything close to the same amount joy that
‘Nemesis Divina’ has. Put on your
headphones, let the world burn around you if it’s going to, and exist only in
the world Satyricon built
with this music back in 1996. When I listen to this album, I get fucking
existential. I’d rather live in the universe this guitar work compels me to
imagine. This album does to me what people describe psychedelic drugs as doing
for them. I’m well passed the point of being ridiculous now, but let’s just say
that my opinion of the album is that it’s mandatory listening. There are
precious few albums that matter this much to me, and I can only hope that if
someone hears this album for the first time this year, it has the same kind of
impact on them that it’s had on me.
By and large, this album doesn’t have enough of what made Ihsahn
different to keep it from blending into a number of other prog metal albums you
might have heard over the last five years , but to get to the heart of the
matter, if you’re already a fan of Ihsahn’s more recent output you should enjoy
this as well, the songs fit in nicely within that style, and with more concise
songwriting to boot. However If you’re like me, and you tend to favor the man’s
earlier work, it’s worth hearing for the sake of appreciating the musical
talent on offer, but you may be left cold by the overall direction of what you
hear.
‘Arktis.’
CD//LP//DD track listing:
1.
Disassembled
2.
Mass Darkness
3.
My Heart Is Of The North
4.
South Winds
5.
In The Vaul
6.
Until I Too Dissolve
7.
Pressure
8.
Frail
9.
Crooked Red Line
10.
Celestial Violence
Ihsahn is:
Ihsahn
| Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboard
Tobias
Ørnes Andersen | Drums (Session)
Matt
Heafy | Guest vocals on “Mass Darkness”
Einar
Solberg | Guest vocals on “Disassembled”
Jørgen
Munkeby | Saxophone on “Crooked Red Line”
The Review:
I’ve
been listening to Ihsahn’s music, starting with Emperor, for
nearly twenty years now. Emperor had a profound impact on how I viewed music, and
created an elevated standard by which I judge other albums. Simply put, I count
Emperor as being
in an elite tier of all-time heavy metal bands, regardless of subgenre. When Emperor ceased
producing new material, I understood and appreciated the decision. Ihsahn wanted
to spread his musical wings and try new things, without the burden of calling
that music “Emperor” when it likely
wouldn’t have fit the character and style of that band. It was an admirable
choice to make.
How
you feel about Ihsahn’s solo work is largely going to depend on
what you were hoping to hear from it in the first place. If you’re wanting
something approximating Emperor, you’re less likely to have enjoyed anything
post-‘angL’. If you kept a
relatively open mind, or were at least willing to give just about anything Ihsahn did a
chance, you’ve probably had a good deal to celebrate over the course of his
solo career. In my case, the last Ihsahn album I really connected with was ‘After’, as ‘Eremita’ and ‘Das
Seelenbrechen’ roam too far into prog rock territory to truly hold my
interest. Why am I bothering to explain all of this? Because the best I can
really say about ‘Arktis.’ is that I
respect the level of effort and musicianship at work on the album, and you
should know what my bias is when considering my opinion of the album. By and
large, this album doesn’t have enough of what made Ihsahn different to keep it from blending into a number
of other prog metal albums you might have heard over the last five years.
This
album is at its best when it recalls ‘After’
stylistically, with “Mass Darkness”
being the best example. The song begins with the sort of epic guitar
histrionics familiar to anyone who’s heard Judas Priest’s “The Hellion” (or Ihashn’s own “Frozen
Lakes on Mars”). After the initial explosion, the song retreats and begins
to build momentum as it heads toward the chorus. It’s the easy standout of the
album, with the album’s best hooks and songwriting.
The
tracks that follow, “My Heart Is Of The
North”, and “South Winds”, offer
some keen examples of what falls flat for me on the album. In the case of the
former, it sounds like Ihsahn has been listening to a lot of the last two Opeth albums,
which is no doubt great news for some of you reading this. To my ears, those
albums proved a textbook example of a band that left a lot of what made them
unique behind in pursuit of becoming just another prog band. While Ihsahn hasn’t
fully made that same jump yet, it is
worthy of concern. In the case of “South
Winds”, the song is the bizarre clash of an electronics-centric verse,
anchored by a steady kick beat, against light prog fare during the chorus and
at other points throughout. While there’s something to be said for attempting
something with such unlikely musical bedfellows, the dueling personalities
don’t comingle especially well.
To
get to the heart of the matter, if you’re already a fan of Ihsahn’s more
recent output you should enjoy this as well, the songs fit in nicely within
that style, and with more concise songwriting to boot. If you’re like me, and
you tend to favor the man’s earlier work, it’s worth hearing for the sake of
appreciating the musical talent on offer, but you may be left cold by the
overall direction of what you hear. In any case, there’s no arguing the man’s
abilities.
The ferocity never waivers, never pulls its hand away from your throat. Attan have given a dirty peak into their troubled souls, and it's already leaving track marks. ‘From Nothing’ will leave you spent and shaking, but it's just so easy to press play again....
‘From Nothing’ DD//LP track listing:
1). Nocebo (I Shall Harm)
2). Lost Words of The Mothkeepers
3). Full Circle/Full Stop
4). Black Liquid Marrow
5). Edward
The Review:
Except for almost all that is (genre) core, mixed methods are exactly that on inspection: mixed. However, out of this cesspool we have dredged a fresh body: ‘From Nothing’ by Attan, who forge a new deadly sound out of Black Metal and metallic Hardcore.
Pulling both of these genres together breathes quite a bit of ferocious life into the resulting offering, and Attan harkens back to the days of the budding hardcore scene where bands would rip your face off wherever they could fit their equipment. The energy involved in this album is undeniable, and their sound wouldn't be out of place in an industrial plant or a skatepark. This sound doesn't care; it just demands your attention no matter the setting.
‘From Nothing’ is absolutely heavy. Let's get that out of the way. This album is low frills, all brutal, and combines the absolute hurricane of fists and blast beats of hardcore with the bleached bone tone and vicious riffage of black metal. Its antifreeze syrup and it's forced fed with a frothing smile as they pummel away through 23 minutes of broken ice, raw as hell vocals, and a scalding delivery that will take your breath away from the first bar to the last. Attan waste no time, and they want you to get as pissed as they are IMMEDIATELY.
‘From Nothing’ rolls from slow to fast like the way a predator stalks: fast when it has no concern for being known, and ambling along just above your tasty head. And then it explodes when it pounces. All the tracks are delivered aggressively, but no two are alike. Attan don’t repeat themselves, so don't ask. The "radio song", ‘Black Liquid Marrow’, is the most indicative of their purpose, ploughing through listeners like an armoured truck with no brakes. They slam forward with the only direction being THAT WAY, basically grating their guitars along the insides of your ears, and then slowing it down to give you the eye of the storm before they push you down again. Another fun time is the previous track, ‘Full Stop’, having all the energy of a violent mental breakdown in an office building. It's methodical, unhinged energy pushes further and further with no resolve for the anxious battery of music pumping out at you.
Attan ends the album with the track ‘Edward’, which feels like a sludgy grunge style song for all of the excruciating 7+ minutes. It rolls up like the sleeve of a junkie, and they push their needle in slowly until about the four and a half minute mark. The ferocity never waivers, never pulls its hand away from your throat. Attan have given a dirty peak into their troubled souls, and it's already leaving track marks. ‘From Nothing’ will leave you spent and shaking, but it's just so easy to press play again....
‘From Nothing’ is available herefor preorder from 03/11/2015
FFO: Converge, Emperor, Neurosis, Will Haven and VOD
All the songs here rarely retread the same path, instead, it twists and turns like an alligator with a deer in it's jaws, disorienting and crushing.Indeed, whether Krallice have invented a new genre or not, what they've created here is a bookmark in the progression of black metal.
‘Ygg Huur’ CD//DD track listing:
1) Idols 2) Wastes of Ocean 3) Over Spirit 4) Tyranny of Thought 5) Bitter Meditation 6) Engram
Krallice is
Nicholas McMaster | Bass, vocals
Lev Weinstein | Drums
Colin Marston | Guitar
Mick Barr | Guitar, vocals
The Review
Have Krallice invented a new genre on 5th album 'Ygg Huur'? Is technical black metal a thing? Progressive black metal? How about blackened technical death metal? Whatever it is, 'Ygg Huur' is a little left field but my word, it's fucking good!
Opener 'Idols' is a truly majestic beast, almost disrhythmic, the melodies move in differing directions, like cogs in a wheel, all working towards the same goal; to fucking shred! All the songs here rarely retread the same path, instead, it twists and turns like an alligator with a deer in it's jaws, disorienting and crushing. Standout tracks 'Wastes Of Ocean' with it's arpeggiated guitar licks and 'Tyranny Of Thought' with it's crushing intro, sound like a cross between Cynic and early Emperor while avoiding pigeonholing. The last song 'Engram' sees them cram more musical ideas into its five and a half minutes than most bands do in entire albums (or careers).
This is a difficult album to get your head around but once you do, you'll truly reap the rewards. Whether they've invented a new genre or not, what they've created here is a bookmark in the progression of black metal.
