Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Nadiwrath – Nihilistic Stench (2010)

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    Featuring Wrath and the other session members of Dodsferd, today we have Nadiwrath and their debut full-length “Nihilistic Stench” release. In this release we are treated to some Punk infused Black Metal and judging from some of the song names, things are not taken completely seriously when it comes to the ideas behind the lyrics.

    Before listening to the album we expected something along the lines of Dodsferd’s depressive Black Metal, but we got surprised by the crushing and straight forward approach that Nadiwrath takes. That being said, the band is very ‘vanilla’ in their musical approach and might only impress a few people that haven’t been listening to Black Metal for a long time.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Disiplin – Radikale Randgruppe (2010)

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    Usually when we get stuff from ATMF we are very excited since they have some of the most different and interesting releases, with Disiplin’s fourth full-length release we find ourselves puzzled and a bit disappointed with the end result. Mixing Black Metal with Industrial/Ambient elements the band manages to create a very disturbing sound that is very effective for a couple of songs only.

    “Radikale Randgruppe” kicks-off with a very straight forward Industrial Black Metal sound with catchy beats and crushing guitars. As dissonant as this may sound, it’s pure evil and creates a dense atmosphere, something that is continued with the second track “Me Ne Frego”. The flow is somewhat hindered by the uninspired and very repetitive “Triarii”, here is were you start to notice the band will fire blanks for the rest of the album since the drums are very dull and similar to the first songs and the overall atmosphere gets a bit stale.

    • 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.

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