Black Metal

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    Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini (2010)

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    The masters of Progressive/Experimental Black Metal return with a super impressive release that tops anything they have done before this album. With “Axioma Ethica Odini”, Enslaved shows no signs of slowing down, compromising, or playing it safe. The band maintains the high musical standards they set with “Isa”, “Ruun”, and “Vertebrae”, and manage to push things a bit further on this long-awaited release.

    It has been years since we liked a Black Metal release as much as “Axioma Ethica Odini”, and through our listening experience of this brilliant album we can’t avoid using comparisons to Borknagar’s “Olden Domain”, Primordial’s “A Journey's End”, and Enslaved’s “Isa” among other is in terms of musicianship and innovation for their time. While there are many Psychedelic, Progressive and Experimental elements in “Axioma Ethica Odini”, the core roots of the album emanate from well made and aggressive Black Metal that is non-compromising and never feels watered down, but rather enriched by these elements.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Wolfshade – When Above… (2010)

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    Every few months we get an album that completely takes us by surprise and we end up loving it and adding it to our permanent ‘all-time favorites’ playlist. This month the “When Above…” by the Wolfshade has achieved a spot for eternity in said playlist, featuring seven compositions of majestic Atmospheric Black Metal/Dark Metal, this one-man band is probably one of the best we have heard in quite a while.

    Kadhaas is the sole member behind Wolfshade, a French ‘band’ that has released three full-length albums to date and if “When Above…” is only their third release, we can only imagine how amazing their future albums will be. The band features influences from Dark Metal masters Bethlehem (vocals particularly), a hefty influence of Atmospheric elements, some Post-rock/Post-Black Metal elements, and some more Doom/Gothic oriented guitar/keyboard structures that create an ethereal atmosphere that will send chills through your spine.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Angrepp – Warfare (2010)

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    Is nice to finally hear some Black/Thrash Metal that is not trying to sound too ‘oldschool’ or too brutal. Angrepp manages to perfectly Thrashy riffs, Punk-ish rhytms, and powerful vocals, creating a very thick sound that will surely please metal fans since the first couple of minutes of this CD.

    The opening song (after the Intro) “Five Horned Formation” wastes no time in establishing that the band’s riff machine is open for serious business. With a very powerful Thrashy opening riff, you will think that you are listening to the new Exodus, or something like that. After the initial impression settles, you will be quickly taken away by the surgically precise drumming that makes your head explode.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    WAN – Wolves of the North (2010)

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    All the way from Sweden today we get WAN, a band that features a sound that will take you back to the ‘early’ days of Black Metal with their Bathory/Hellhammer influenced music. With a lo-fi production that will make some sound snobs cry, and fans of the ‘poor’ sounding music cheer. We think that there is a fine line between sounding ‘old-school’ and just ‘plain shitty’, and for “Wolves of the North” we have to lean on the ‘plain shitty’ category.

    The band takes us in a 13 tracks and 35 minutes long ride of dull sounding old-school Black Metal. After a few songs you will start wondering why they are signed and releasing such an unimaginative album. There are some ‘ok’ moments, but they quickly get dulled by the monotonous drum machine, random riffs, and reverbed vocals. There is not much to be rescued from this album besides a few riffs and some decent songs like “Ulvhall”, but the drumming makes them less than bearable.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Kozeljnik – Deeper the Fall (2010)

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    In these times where most Black Metal bands are still doing what somebody else already did in the past, it’s very difficult to find something worth listening to and spending our hard earned money. Kozeljnik from Serbia might have a shot at being one of those few bands that are worth your money and your time.

    “Deeper the Fall” is an album that while not original by any means, it does a great job in recapitulating what we all have experience in the last 10-15 years of Black Metal. The band merges Satyricon-style grooviness with different styles of singing and random elements that have worked for the genre in different occasions.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Prosanctus Inferi - Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation (2010)

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    Featuring J. Kohn of Black Funeral (USA) fame, Prosanctus Inferi is one of those bands that you will either love or hate to death. Their style merges Black and Death Metal elements into a blender and creates very brutal and mostly aimless 2-3 minute musical ‘compositions’ that will either make you headbang like crazy or scratch your head wondering WTF is going on.

    “Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation” the band’s first full-length album features 13 songs and around 25 minutes of sheer brutality. If you like your music to be extremely brutal and somewhat pointless then this is the album for you. The band’s drummer Antichristus committed suicide before the release of this album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Denouncement Pyre - World Cremation (2010)

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    When it comes to sounding evil and grim, the Aussie’s behind Denouncement Pyre got it down to a science. With their first full-length album in 7 years they are finally arriving to American shores via Hell’s Headbangers. The band consists of two members and they alone can create enough havoc to unleash war and hell upon planet earth.

    After several demo’s, EP’s, Split’s, we finally get a true full-length release form this band and while it’s a bit short of complete epicness, it does create a very solid atmosphere and has a powerful Black/Death Metal ring to it. As you can expect, the band is short from being original or revolutionary, but they do a great job in sticking to the basics and creating raw melodies without the need of sounding like they recorded this album in the toilet.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Drünken Bastards – Horns of the Wasted (2010)

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    It’s been a while since we have heard a band be as effective in 20 minutes as the Drünken Bastards manage to be with “Horns of the Wasted”. With a brutal mixture of Thrash Metal with Punk elements and a few Black Metal hints here and there, the band does a great job in crafting small, concise, and effective songs that will rock you sideways.

    Release in the USA on Hell’s Headbandgers, “Horns of the Wasted” is a great blast in the past, when bands where still having fun and freely rocking out tunes that mashed up several genres and they did not give a shit if people liked them or not. The overall Punk influences are very high in this release, and in songs like “Alcoholic Big Tits” the band goes all-out Punk on us. But they quickly regain their Metal-form with their cover of Barbatos “Prophecy of the Evening Star”, a song that sounds extremely Heavy Metal for this album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Royal Arch Blaspheme – The Royal Arch Blaspheme (2010)

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    With J. Gelso composing the music and N. Imperial on vocals, The Royal Arch Blaspheme is ready to torture our soul and ears with their Blackened Death Metal sound. With such a promising line-up, the band knows what old school Black Metal fans like: raw and unceasing attacks of brutality and dissonance.

    With such a foul sound, The Royal Arch Blaspheme delivers 10 tracks of total blasphemy and destruction. While this self-titled album is nothing close to a revelation or re-invention of the genre, it is very direct and effective in creating thick guitar-woven atmospheres that are greatly adorned by Imperial’s hellish screams.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Profanatica – Disgusting Blasphemies Against God (2010)

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    As one of the most ‘anticipated’ records of 2010, “Disgusting Blasphemies Against God”  is all that the band and the label promises it to be. The album is raw, barbaric, filthy, dissonant, blasphemous, etc., however, we fail to see the point in how the lyrics and song names are crafted. We have nothing against the crushing and extremely raw and harsh music, the problem we have is with the idiotic lyrics and song titles. One thing is to be ‘kvult’ and another is to sound like a retarded 5 year-old, with songs like “Angel with Cock”, “Covered in Black Shit”, and “Smashing Religious Fucking Statues” the band sounds like a bad joke written by the kids from South Park.

    We completely understand the anti-religion ideology behind the band, but when things are taken down this low, the whole point is missed and it ends up being laughable. With such idiotic ramblings we think that this takes credibility away from other bands of the genre that are actually EDUCATING themselves and being anti-religion/Satanic in a smart way.

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