Black Metal Tuesday - Autumn Aurora

Drudkh - Autumn Aurora

The Ukraine is home to a smattering of black metal bands, and Drudkh is probably one of the best known. Drudkh is modern black metal band that is actually a full band and not just one guy. Autumn Aurora is their second album, and was released in 2004. 

Drudkh are not the typical, occult / Satan worshipping black metal. They come from the Burzum school of soulful, hypnotic, ambient black metal - recalling Burzum's Hvis Lyset Tarr on more than one occasion during the 5 tracks (closing track, The First Snow is a dead ringer for that album's opener). As the album title implies, this is a concept album based on the Autumn season and the powers of nature. "Summoning the Rain" is a slow, repetitive track with multiple guitar layers that drop in and out. It sounds like music to sleep to. 

There is a warmness and almost positive feel to this album, which is weird to say about any black metal. The track "Sunwheel" sounds downright happy at the beginning, which is a bit bizarre. Somehow, it works and Drudkh have created a interesting thematic work with Autumn Aurora. On the downside, it is a bit monotonous at times, and may frustrate some listeners expecting a high-energy black metal band. Drudkh are like the mighty trees - sturdy and predictable. The vocals are also a bit of an afterthought - not much emotion or deviation in them,  he sounds rather disinterested with little emotion. 

Drudkh have a fairly devout following out there. They appeal to fans of the Northwestern black metal movement in American, like Wolves in the Throneroom. Unlike Wolves, however, Drudkh are very straightforward, particularly on Autumn Aurora (and their debut). 2006’s Blood in Our Wells is a tad more forward-thinking and a more interesting listen in my mind, but this offering is not without its charms - particularly if your looking for black metal that is less dark and oppressively evil (call it gray metal perhaps?). It gets a 2.5 out of 5.

Black Metal Tuesday - Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera

Mortifera - Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera

A French solo band created by Noktu Geiismort (also of Celestia), Mortifera's full length debut was released in 2004. Though not officially part of the notorious Les Legiones Noir, Mortifera sounds like they would fit right in, and are perhaps a logical progression from that movement. 

Geiismort's vocals are truly special on this album. He squeaks in fits of anguish, communicating utter sadness in a language I don't understand. It is tragic that he changed his approach to a much more generic screech after this, because it really makes this album something special. From the sound of it however, it may be reasonable to assume he couldn't make those noises any longer by the time album two rolled around. Musically, Mortifera play a lofi depressive style with tremolo-picked minor chords over usually slower drums with only the occasional blast-beat. "Le Revenant" starts after the instrumental intro, sounding like something off of Ulver's Bergtatt, rendered completely unique once the vocals come in. Track 4 is a short piece on classical guitar that is really quite beautiful. It's powerfully sad-sounding stuff and could probably bum out a great number of people. This isn't something you put on in your car as your driving down the freeway on a sunny day. This is quiet winter night music. 

As I said, this work sounds very much like the black legions' stuff, like Mutiilalation or Vlad Tepes, but the clarity of production is really a welcomed change. None of the atmosphere is compromised, but when all is said and done, you don't feel like you just heard some guy's demo tape. Also, though I don't remember enough from my two years of high school French to understand the lyrics, the content seems personal and introspective and not concerned with the occult or the Christian satan. This is the precursor to US bands like Xasthur - proving the whole range of human emotion can be expressed through the medium of extreme metal. That's a crazy thing to imagine, I know. This is a nice intro to the whole “depressive” sub genre for those unfamiliar, it gets a 4 out of 5.

Black Metal Tuesday - Sóknardalr

WINDIR - Sóknardalr

We move from the profoundly abstract to the ridiculously accessible this week. Windir hail from a small town in Norway called Sogndal. They were the brainchild of Valfar - a musician with a knack from writing catchy hooks who died years ago from hypothermia while lost in the Norwegian forests (how fitting). Before his untimely death, Windir released four albums of catchy, medieval-sounding black metal. Sóknardalr is their first album, released  after the Helvete store closed, Euronymous was murdered, Varg (Burzum) was arrested, and the black circle had dissolved. Even in 1994 Norway was still the center of the black metal movement,  and still introducing variations to the initial concept. 

Windir's debut is 8 songs of moderate length, all very triumphant and downright positive sounding compared to many of their darker and more evil peers. Windir probably has the most in common with Enslaved, focusing on Norwegian ancestry and mythology rather than satan. The result is a black metal album that could appeal to those who thought they couldn't like black metal. Vocals are standard black metal screeches mixed with quite a few clean / sung vocals and various flourishes including a nicely out of place "yeehaw" in the first track. Windir is big on guitar harmony, typically placing a higher pitched guitar line on top of your standard tremolo-picked chords. I Ei Krystallnatt and Likbor are highlight tracks for me, because the harmonies are particularly cool. 

Windir would go on to create one of my favorite black metal albums, 1997's 1184. On their debut, they are still perfecting their style and some songs are a bit too simplistic and sing-song for my tastes. Like I said though, it's instantly infectious and will get stuck in your head. This a good beginner album for those new to the genre who want to ease in with something that lacks the in-your-face harsh production or juvenile satanism of so many others. It gets a 3.5 out of 5. 

Black Metal Tuesday: Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum

Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum

First of all, I understand what a poseur move it is to miss Black Metal Tuesday on the week of Xmas. I don't have a decent excuse, and I know how many evil points I just lost. Time got away from me. Forgive me. Anyway, happy new year - bring it in with black metal.

France's Deathspell Omega (DSO) started as a rather straight-forward blackened thrash metal band before embracing abstract melodies and quasi-religious philosophy on their 2004 album, the rather impressive Si Monumentum Circumspice. The follow up, 2007's Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum, takes the abstraction to a whole new level of prog/math/art rock, presenting a chaotic and mostly atonal slab of miserable noise that stretches the limits of most listeners. I would challenge hardcore fans of tech-death acts like The Faceless or Spawn of Possession to tell me that this album is an easy listen. Between the bouts of cacophony is near-silent ambience that merely lets you catch your breath until the next assault. 

Technically speaking, there is some impressive stuff going on. The drums are madness, turbo-charged blasts and broken time signatures, completely unpredictable and exhausting. The guitars are playing a great number of things, all at once. There are sometimes 4 independent melodies going on simultaneously - giving the feeling of being between two radio stations - hearing two unrelated tracks at the same time. 

If the goal is to make one feel uneasy, then DSO accomplishes the task. The lyrics read like prayers to Satan - the band supposedly wholeheartedly embracing the theistic Satanic religion. Maybe this makes it more legit, or maybe not. At any rate, it certainly sounds evil and is essentially anti-music for the antichrists. If you look at DSO's entire catalog, this certainly is not representative of their sound, so it is essentially a concept album - I can respect that. What I can't do, is enjoy listening to it. It gets a 2 out of 5. 

Black Metal Tuesday - Rain Upon the Impure

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST - RAIN UPON THE IMPURE

Another one-man project, this time from Germany, The Ruins of Beverast play an ambient form of black metal similar to the USA's Wolves in the Throneroom or even Xasthur. What Ruins has going for them (or him, more accurately) is an airy, vastness in their production that creates an impossible sense of space. This album sounds massive, keeping all the themes slightly hidden as though to demand repeated listens. And repeat you will, many times. 

This album is dense and darkly compelling with enough melody to draw you in and keep you there. It plays from track 1 to track 7, as one complete idea, lovingly crafted with meticulous attention to detail to eventually sound effortless and organic. Keyboards drift, just beneath the surface, establishing the dark atmosphere and subtle melancholic melodies throughout the album. Vocals are growled from the depths of hell, or sang, Gregorian Chat style, in the distance. Each track takes a journey through various tempo changes and multifaceted themes, complex and involved in composition. Ruins are a band with vision and purpose, an accomplished musician, but focused on atmosphere above technicality. 

Rain Upon the Impure feels weighty and massive from start to finish. Fans of the depressive and atmospheric black metal movements will be drawn to this. I found myself thinking of the aforementioned Wolves in the Throneroom quite a bit as I went through this album again - yet significantly darker than their work, the comparison stands. There are expansive passages that are painstakingly slow and heavy, and occasionally wandering and aimless - it's clearly for the purpose of atmosphere, so I'll cut him some slack. Overall, it's a dynamic album and one that remains entertaining despite its massive length. Highly touted among several black metal bloggers, Rain Upon the Impure deserves the attention and earns 4 out of 5. 

Black Metal Tuesday - March to the Black Holocaust

BELKETRE - March to the Black Holocaust (split)

As black metal matured and diversified, many mini movements started in different countries throughout Europe. In France, a group of bands started a movement called the "French Black Legion" - very similar to the "Black Circle" in Norway during the early nineties. The Black Legion can be characterized by extremely lo-fi production (most of the albums sound like 4 track demo recordings from the 80's), and dark and dismal melodies. The muddiness of the whole thing, adds to the atmosphere. 

French Black Legion band, Belketre are one of the more a approachable bands in the Black Legion. At times, they sound like the logical progression of early Bathory, particularly in their vocal approach. March to the Black Holocaust (a split with fellow Legion member, Vlad Tepes) is a grim but varied lo-fi affair, occasionally discordant and ugly, other times, aggressive and downright rocking. This is Belketre's only "official" release. The song(?) "Hate" is 3 minutes of a sloppy clean guitar riff, and down-tuned demon growling, genuinely creepy. "Night of Sadness," is a mid-tempo rocker mixed with atmospheric clean guitar underneath the fuzz. "Those of our Blood" is a more traditional black metal track, erupting into a storm of impossible speed. 

I like to approach albums such as these as if they were recordings found in the basement of a creepy cabin in the woods (ala Evil Dead), made by some unknown entity - could be human, or maybe not. I think Belketre is most effective when viewed in this light (or more appropriately, in this "dark"). It's got a very home-grown feeling to it - if they recorded this in the studio, they got ripped off. There's a primitive charm to March to the Black Holocaust, one that will likely be lost on many. There's also the loose connections of black metal and neo-Nazism to consider: the inclusion of the word Holocaust and the given song titles may raise a brow. I choose not to explore such things, the vocals are unintelligible as it is, and no serious political agenda could be communicated through this medium in my mind. It gets a 3.5 out of 5. 

Black Metal Tuesday - Sheol

NAGLFAR - SHEOL

The Swedes eventually jumped onto the black metal wagon with Norway, but Swedish black metal is distinctly different from Norwegian. Usually more aggressive and with a polished production, Swedish black metal is likely more accessible to your average metal fan. Enter Naglfar, a Swedish band who sound strikingly similar to Dissection, a legendary Swedish black-death hybrid. Sheol is their third full-length release, and their first for current label, Century Media. 

Five years after the fantastic Diabolical, Sheol is very much more of the same: great melody, lots of tempo changes, plenty of ferocity and touches of groove. Naglfar are black METAL, riff heavy and with classic rock song structures, using somewhat sparse traditional black metal elements to remain relevant to the genre. Ryden is a fantastic vocalist, he sounds plenty evil and pissed off which is a very effective combo. "I am Vengeance" starts the album with a definitive "we don't fuck around" attitude, and it never really lets up. 

Naglfar are on the upper tier of the black metal Swedes, mainly due to their sense of melody and groove. "Black God Aftermath" is a good example of this. They have moments that call Norway's Old Man's Child to mind, a similarly riff-driven black beast. No keyboards really prominent here, Naglfar uses guitar overlays to produce that "wall of sound" so necessary in the genre.

If there is a weakness to this effort, it's that it sounds fairly identical to the previous album. This means Naglfar progressed very little in the 5 years they had to finish this album, but maybe that's okay. They really didn't have anything they needed to fix. Sheol is a slab of vicious black metal driven by catchy, well-written riffs. It's nothing strikingly original, but that doesn't always matter. It gets a 4 of 5.