Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Gravewürm - Blood of the Pentagram (2010)

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    Legendary USBM act Gravewürm have returned with their 7th full-length release titled “Blood of the Pentagram”. In this album the band continues to create their very disturbing sound by combining raw Black Metal elements with Thrash/Doom/Death Metal influences that give the band’s sound a little edge over the rest of the average sounding BM bands these days.

    However, not everything is enjoyable in “Blood of the Pentagram” since this release tends to get a bit too simplistic and repetitive in nature. The band exploits the raw and lo-fi approach to things and creates a very creepy sound, but it fails to deliver when the music tends to get boring and super repetitive.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Feu Gregeois - Mortis Regnum – 2nd Circle (2010)

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    All the way from France, today we have Feu Gregeois debut album “Mortis Regnum – 2nd Circle”. Featuring an interesting combination of lush keyboard arrangements and traditional Death/Black Metal elements, this release marks for a very unpredictable and interesting approach to the genres.

    With five instrumental pieces in this 38 minute release we are treated to a mix bag of emotions, but left very pleased with the final result. Some people might say that some of this songs are nothing but filler pieces, but they somehow manage to nicely separate the album’s ‘brutal’ tracks and keep things in perspective allowing “Mortis Regnum” to flow in a very unconventional manner.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Nocturnal Blood – Devastated Graves - The Morbid Celebration (2010)

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    When it comes to having a raw and crushing sound, only a few bands can be as effective as Nocturnal Blood. Unluckily, Nocturnal Blood also lacks depth and enough variation in their music to be 100% effective. That being said, we don’t think that “Devastated Graves - The Morbid Celebration” is a bad album since it’s crushing and relentless, but we will not say it’s amazing either, since it lacks depth and variety and feels like a 26 minute long song.

    Having only one member, Ghastly Apparition, the ‘band’ quickly takes command with a very raw sounding assault of guitar riffs, slurred growls and relentless drumming. With “Devastated Graves”, you will surely be brought to your knees due to the fact of the massive rawness and brutality behind this song. However, once tracks like “Death Calls”, “Impure Devotion” and “Ghouls Wrath” go by, you soon realized that Nocturnal Blood is a one-trick pony.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Meads of Asphodel – The Murder of Jesus the Jew (2011)

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    As the first release we review of 2011 (for the USA), today we have a very special release: “The Murder of Jesus the Jew” by the ever surprising The Meads of Asphodel. Featuring their unique blend of Black Metal with countless other genres, the band manages to create their most impressive release to date.

    Metatron and company return with their first full-length release since their epic “Damascus Steel” from 2005. “The Murder of Jesus the Jew” plays out in a very theatrical way, depicting in 12 songs the story of Yeshua. As you can expect the band uses their wide range of influences to craft a very unique sounding and appealing release that will blow your mind away (if you’ve never listened to the band).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Furze - Reaper Subconscious Guide (2010)

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    In the category of the weirdest album we received in 2010, today we have Furze and their “Reaper Subconscious Guide” release. Being the band’s fourth full-length release, “Reaper Subconscious Guide” is full of surprises and a very old-school vibe that will throw most people off, and requires more than a few listens to fully digest.

    As a ‘tribute’ to Black Sabbath, Furze recorded all this tracks in vintage equipment from the 40’s to the 70’s, creating a very interesting sound that we rarely get to appreciate. The band also recorded it and mastered it especially for the Vinyl version of this release, and then mastered digitally for the CD release (the one we reviewed) so rest assured that you will have two different sounding products that will be equally impressive.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Pandemonium – Hellspawn (2007)

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    With a killer presentation, a few weeks ago we received Pandemonium’s promo package that included their 2007 release “Hellspawn”. In a time when promo presentation does not matter for younger bands, it’s nice to see that Pandemonium’s new label Godz Ov War Productions cares enough to get their bands noticed and remembered by reviewers getting shit tons of albums every week.

    Anyways, going back to the actual thing that matters: the music, “Hellspawn” treats us with 30+ minutes of crushing Black/Death Metal that is very high in intensity and effectiveness, even though it was released ‘back in’ 2007, this album still sound very easily comparable to anything we get in the mail these days. The band’s sound very well polished and all 10 tracks are very solid.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Woe – Quiet, Undramatically (2010)

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    Featuring half of the Woods of Ypres lineup and everybody of The Green Evening Requiem, today we have Woe and their very impressive second full-length release “Quiet, Undramatically”. The now full band, delivers a crushing 43 minutes of Black Metal with melodic and emotional passages that will surely get a bunch of people yelling Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc, rip-offs.

    While the band’s sound does have very little of the Agalloch, WitTR, melodic edge, they do have a hefty amount of aggressiveness and power to their sound, making them a very different band from what we are used to listening to from the Black Metal scene here in the USA. “Quiet, Undramatically” is a brilliant album that is both raw and aggressive, but it also has that certain elements of melody that makes you start ‘pseudo’ headbanging in your seat.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Krieg – The Isolationist (2010)

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    “The Isolationist” marks the first full-length album after the 2007 revival of USBM band Krieg. Featuring members of a wide variety of Black Metal bands, most notably N. Imperial, we get 11 tracks of an interesting combination of raw Black Metal and some experimental elements that take this release into the ‘Black Metal with weird stuff’ category in our book.

    Opening with a very desolate intro, “No Future” shows a very raw and aggressive side of Black Metal that only a few bands (and Krieg) can pull off and not sound pretentious or that they are trying too hard. The guitar riffing is hellish, N. Imperials screams are brutal and the overall atmosphere of this song will bring unrest to even the calmest person in the world. This is pretty much how the rest of “The Isolationist” will continue to affect the listeners psyche.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sargeist - Let the Devil In (2010)

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    As one of the most brutal Black Metal assaults of 2010, today we have “Let the Devil In” by the all-mighty Sargeist. Hailing from Finland, this band has gathered cult following with their crushing releases since 1999. The band originally a solo project from Shatraug the mastermind of Horna and countless other bands feature Hoath Torog (on vocals) and Horns (on drums) from Behexen.

    Opening with “Empire of Suffering”, Sargeist immediately takes the listener by the throat with a brutal assault of massive drumming, crushing guitar riffing and hellish vocals. Since track one of this album, the band makes you aware that you will crushed to pieces with the music on “Let the Devil In”. The band’s brand of traditional Black Metal is top notch and will surely please all the fans of bands like Gorgoroth, Horna, and such that base their sound on raw brutality mixed with melody and well structured songs.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Dawn of Ashes – Genocide Chapters (2010)

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    As one of the worst band’s we have reviewed in a while, today we have Dawn of Ashes and their superbly un-original “Genocide Chapters”. By the worst band denomination, we don’t mean that (most) of the musicians of Dawn of Ashes suck at their instrument, we are referring to their lack of creativity and their ability create filler music for almost the full duration of the release (since we actually liked one song on it).

    Changing styles from Industrial/EBM to Melodic Black/Death Metal, Dawn of Ashes approaches Metal like clumsy nerdy kid about to have their first sexual experience: it’s sloppy, awkward and very unsatisfactory. The band’s attempt at creating a solid album gets quickly destroyed by their ridiculous Dimmu Borgir-esque approach to Black Metal, using persistent keyboard arrangements will not get you far if the rest of your music sucks.

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