Ereb Altor - "Blot - Ilt - Taut" (Album Review)

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length (Tribute)

Date Released: 26/02/2016

Label: Cyclone Empire

“Home of Once Brave” and “Twilight of the Gods” are both faithful renditions, and performed about as well as you could hope. The added heft of a modern production helps, but the execution is what really sets these covers apart, retaining a lot of what made the songs so great in the first place, and exuding a deep passion for the source material to boot.  They’re deeply affected and influenced by the subject at hand, and they’re got a strong enough grasp to really do the material justice. In that sense, a band succeeding more than they fail on a tribute album of this kind is quite the accomplishment.

‘Blot - Ilt - Taut’ LP//DD track listing:

1. A Fine Day to Die

2. Song to Hall Up High

3. Home of Once Brave

4. The Return of Darkness and Evil

5. Woman of Dark Desires

6. Twilight of the Gods

7. Blood Fire Death

Ereb Altor is:

Ragnar | Vocals, Guitars, Bass

Mats | Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards

Mikael | Bass, Vocals

Tord | Drums

The Review:

To say that Bathory are one of the most influential heavy metal bands in history is to state the obvious, but I’m doing it anyway. Whether you’re talking about the impact those first four Bathory albums had on bands like Mayhem or Darkthrone, or the important role albums like “Hammerheart” and “Twilight of the Gods” plays in the sounds of Primordial, Falkenbach, and so on; a big part of Bathory’s legacy resides in the incredible bands they’ve helped shape.

One of the best of those bands is Ereb Altor, whose work falls under that restrained but powerful Viking metal sound that Bathory pioneered in the early 90s. Dating back to their very first album, and even at the first proper metal song on their debut, ‘By Honour’, Quorthon’s ghost looms large over Ereb Altor’s whole career to date. That this album is a full album of Bathory covers not only stands to reason, but also seemed inevitable.

The only minor surprise is that two songs from Bathory’s first three albums make an appearance, although when you consider there’s usually at least one darker song on each of the last few albums, it’s not completely out of character. Unfortunately, those are also the songs that are the least effective on ‘Blot - Ilt - Taut’. “Return of Darkness and Evil” is slowed down somewhat and given a disciplined death metal treatment. It leaves the song feeling more like an Unleashed song rather than a Bathory song, and as a result some of that wild, primal energy is lost.

With “Woman of Dark Desires”, the song is completely reimagined, keeping only the base arrangement and turning it into an almost goth metal song, more like early Moonspell than even their own trademark song. They earn points for trying something outside the box, and the song is fine on its own, but as a tribute to Bathory it feels out of place. Where the album really shines is in the covers of the ‘Blood Fire Death’, ‘Hammerheart’, and ‘Twilight of the Gods’ material. In their original compositions, Ereb Altor do a great job of updating the mid period Bathory formula, so the transition to simply performing Bathory songs is as natural as could be. The clear highlights of the album are the one-two combo of “Song To Hall Up High” and “Home of Once Brave”, along with “Twilight of the Gods”.

“Song To Hall Up High” get’s a slight facelift, becoming a full-fledged metal song here as opposed to the acoustic based original. The song loses none of its atmosphere, and it takes on an additional doom metal dirge quality in the process. “Home of Once Brave” and “Twilight of the Gods” are both faithful renditions, and performed about as well as you could hope. The added heft of a modern production helps, but the execution is what really sets these covers apart, retaining a lot of what made the songs so great in the first place, and exuding a deep passion for the source material to boot.

Covering legendary music is always a dangerous bridge to cross, and so many bands end up falling through creaky wood before they’re even halfway there. In Ereb Altor’s case, ‘Blot - Ilt - Taut’ reminds us of those pitfalls on a couple of occasions, but more often than not comes up with an ideal tribute. They’re deeply affected and influenced by the subject at hand, and they’re got a strong enough grasp to really do the material justice. In that sense, a band succeeding more than they fail on a tribute album of this kind is quite the accomplishment.

You can pick up a copy here. 

Band info: Facebook

Various Artists - ‘Morbid Tales: A Tribute to Celtic Frost’ (Album Review)

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 15/11/2015

Label: Corpse Flower Records

Child Bite, along with Phil Anselmo brings the biggest name to the tribute, and Phil sounds like he had a blast trying Tom G. Warrior’s unique vocal inflections on for size. He’s like a middle-aged kid blasting “The Usurper” in front of a mirror, doing his best impression of Warrior while his parents are out of the house, which kicks this album off with a really fun tone

‘Morbid Tales: A Tribute to Celtic Frost’ LP//Digital track listing:

Side A:

1. Child Bite w/ Philip H. Anselmo - “The Usurper”

2. Persekutor - “Procreation Of The Wicked”

3. Acid Witch - “Cherry Orchards”

4. Temple Of Void - “Os Abysmi Vel Daath”

Side B:

5. Municipal Waste – “Nocturnal Fear”

6. Hayward (featuring Scott Kelly and Jason Roeder of Neurosis) - “Jewel Throne”

7. Coffin's Slave (featuring Scott Carlson of Repulsion) - “Dance Sleazy

8. Evoken – “Dawn Of Megiddo”

MP3 Download Bonus: Black Anvil – “Dethroned Emperor”

Flexi Bonus: Coffins Slave - Hellhammer’s “Reaper”

The Review:

There was a time, particularly in the first half of the 2000s where tribute albums were a dime a dozen. In fact, there were bands with only a single album out with tribute albums arriving only a year after that album had come out, as was the case with Evanescence. In a more relevant metal context, Dwell Records released an enormous number of metal tribute albums in the late 90s and early 2000s, to wildly varying results. But those tributes also enabled them to get some great albums from the likes of The Chasm and Evoken into major US record stores, at a time when that made a huge difference.

In 2015, tribute albums seem less prevalent anecdotally, or at least more easily ignored. It’s for that reason, along with the sheer effort and reverence ‘Morbid Tales: A Tribute to Celtic Frost’ has behind it, that this tribute is more special than just about any other out there past or present. You can order the album with a 150 page illustrated comic released earlier in the year, as the album is meant to be the comic’s soundtrack. There’s no questioning Celtic Frost’s influence and impact on the heavy metal genre, but this album really drives that point home.

Child Bite, along with Phil Anselmo brings the biggest name to the tribute, and Phil sounds like he had a blast trying Tom G. Warrior’s unique vocal inflections on for size. He’s like a middle-aged kid blasting “The Usurper” in front of a mirror, doing his best impression of Warrior while his parents are out of the house, which kicks this album off with a really fun tone. Sadly, Persekutor drop the ball a bit with a thin-sounding, antiseptic cover of “Procreation of the Wicked”, which takes some of the steam out of the album early on.

Luckily, there’s more than enough here to make up for a couple of stumbling blocks along the way. Acid Witch’s cover of “Cherry Orchards” makes a case for being better than the original for sheer personality, besides being really well-conceived and executed. Temple of Void’s take on “Os Abysmi Vel Daath” from 2006’s ‘Monotheist’ and Evoken’s “Dawn of Megiddo” are powerful versions in their own right, and each band remembers that the best part of covering a song is making it your own.

With the level of care that went into producing most of these covers, combined with the awesome idea behind the illustrated book that accompanies the album, what you have here is all you could really want in a tribute. There’s a level of passion for the band of honor here that so often feels absent from other tribute albums. For that reason, along with the quality of music on offer, ‘Morbid Tales: A Tribute to Celtic Frost’ is a step above and beyond just about any tribute album I’ve heard to date.

You can pick up an LP/illustrated book copy here. 

The Sludgelord News: IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE to be released by UDR Records worldwide on March 9th 2015.

One of the most venerated guitarists ever to grace hard rock music, the late, great Randy Rhoads, will be celebrated in the truest of fashions with the release of IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE on March 9th.

A collection of 11 classic Rhoads co-written songs, IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE is performed by twenty top contemporary artists, including old friends and performing partners Rudy Sarzo and Frankie Banali, his Brother Kelle Rhoads and more designated musicians like Serj Tankian, Tom Morello, Vinny Appice, Tim (Ripper) Owens, Chuck Billy, Alexi Laiho, George Lynch, Gus G., Bruce Kulick, Doug Aldrich, Dweezil Zappa and others.

The album was produced & compiled by the Grammy-award winning guitarist and producer Bob Kulick at his own studio.

A lover of classical music, Rhoads had taken initial steps into rock’n’roll as a 16 year old when he formed a band, that soon became Quiet Riot. It was never named “Little Women”, who would quickly become Quiet Riot. Rhoads was vaulted to the limelight in 1979 when Ozzy Osbourne chose the relatively unknown guitarist to help shape a new future for him via his band, Blizzard of Oz. The result saw Rhoads co-script two of the most famous albums in hard rock history,Blizzard Of Oz and Diary of A Madman, and rapidly ascended the stairway of fame and recognition for his virtuoso playing and writing. Famed for the way he fused classical flavors with technically-excellent hard rock, Rhoads became one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock. When he tragically died on March 19^th 1982 in a plane accident, Rhoads was only 25 years old, but thankfully, the legend of his work, ethos and their continuing influence on a whole new generation of guitarists, has never dimmed.

Along with the CD, IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE, will also contain a bonus DVD, including interesting interviews with some of the involved artists, hosted by Bob Kulick and a feature on the Musonia School of Music, a teaching school on North Hollywood, California, set up by Randy’s mother and run by his brother Kelle Rhoads.

Source: Duff Press