Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Black – Alongside Death (2009)

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    The Black was originally one of many side projects from Jon Nödtveidt (R.I.P) from Dissection fame, I remember getting their first release from Necropolis Records 15 years ago, and I was extremely psyched about it. At that time that’s what black metal was supposed to sound like.

    The band has reformed with two members of Tyrant and Vinterland at the helm along with original drummer “The Black”. And it seems that time stood still for this band, since their sound is very old school. I’m like both Tyrant’s and Vinterland’s music and was very disappointed to hear this release, since it lacks any novelty in it.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Immortal – All Shall Fall (2009)

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    “All Shall Fall” is one of the most expected Black Metal releases from this legendary band. Seven years have passed since their last album “Sons Of Northern Darkness” and this release continues EXACTLY were they left off.

    For some people this might be just perfect, and to some extent it is, but you would imagine that a band would learn something new after that amount of time. All band members have been playing in different bands and should have provided a creativity boost to this album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Weapon – Drakonian Paradigm (2009)

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    After receiving this promo CD I was expecting and other, at best, average Black Metal band that needs to show off his evilness on the cover of the album. However, after a few times going over the CD I discovered that this Canadian act has more going on for them other than the whole satanic act.

    Having a very solid production behind them, the band manages to release a Death/Black Metal album that features an old school sound with fresh elements thrown in. The band never stays stagnant with a particular style and mixed things up in all songs, being acoustic passages and the usage of sitar and grand piano, all these elements create a very dark atmosphere that the band uses to perfection.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Pestilential Shadows – In Memoriam, III Omen (2009)

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    We get a ton of cookie cutter Black Metal bands and their ‘cult’ sounding albums, and this makes for a very tedious job of listening to their albums and producing an objective opinion on them, however there are days when we get lucky and bump into an actual release that represents the earlier days of BM with a bit of a different edge to it. Today we found “In Memoriam, III Omen”, and after doing some research of the band we figured out that the quality of this album made sense since it features several members of the great Nazxul.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Vulvark – Vulvark (2009)

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    When it comes to rawness Vulvark would get the highest marks, however the whole raw concept of the album gets a bit tired after a while and then you are left with a disconnected array of several elements that would have made for a better album under the hands of somebody more creative.

    The ten minute epic opening track and the next two made me very optimistic about how this album was going to turn out, but as the next tracks made their appearance this illusion quickly faded. Clocking at 1 hour and 6 minutes, I think this album should have been cut at track 3 and this would make a great EP. However the last 5 songs just destroyed the whole momentum the band built on the opening tracks.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Ruins Of Beverast – Foul Semen Of A Sheltered Elite (2009)

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    The Ruins Of Beverast is a one man project from the drummer of the defunct band Nagelfar. The ‘band’ brings us a very dense sounding and highly enjoyable Black Metal album that features a wide variety of elements that make this release a very different one from the piles of BM albums that are released every month.

    “Foul Semen Of A Sheltered Elite” features 10 tracks of sickness that will keep the listeners on the edge of their seats. The music ranges from ambient-like passages to blast-beat sections in a very well arranged manner. It never becomes dull or boring for the whole duration of this journey into darkness.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Bleeding Fist – Bestial Kruzifiz666ion (2009)

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    With the moniker of “True Slovenian Black Metal” stamped on the CD I figured this band would play something a little more… organized. While the brutality and speed is undeniable in this release, sometimes it just feels that they are just banging at their instruments with no coherence behind them.

    That being said, there are plenty of ‘trashy’ sounding BM riffs here and the intensity of the guitars is pretty good. The drumming is very bestial and sounds like a demon with 4 arms and 4 legs is playing the drums at some points, it’s also sometimes very random sounding and it makes me wonder if they can play the same song twice without making a mistake.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Azaghal – Teraphim (2009)

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    If I’m ever looking for a brutal and raw Black Metal album, I always turn back to my Azaghal and Horna albums, since they are the true embodiment of this genre. Azaghal returns after one year of releasing “Omega” and the still bring their A game to the table.

    The only change that Azaghal has suffered is the very light use of synth in their last two albums, and in “Teraphim” this element makes me like this album even better. This being said, do not expect Dimmu Borgir style synths or anything like that, just small hints to complement a song.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Marduk – Wormwood (2009)

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    “Wormwood” is probably one of the most expected Black Metal releases of 2009 and it fully delivers what is expected from Marduk. The album features Black Metal at its most refined state, blasting away since the first song and never letting go.

    Marduk’s status as BM legends has been earned by constantly releasing quality albums since their debut album “Dark Endless” back in 92, the band has constantly been evolving refining their style to its current state.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Merrimack – Grey Rigorism (2009)

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    Merrimack is a French Black Metal band that while not extremely ‘known in the scene’, they manage to create a good album with “Grey Rigorism”. After 3 years of releasing their best album to date “Of Entropy And Life Denial” the band is here trying to recapture their momentum, but they just achieve other album just like “Of Entropy And Life Denial” and nothing more.

    The quality of “Grey Rigorism” is unquestionable and the band is very good at writing songs and creating a very malevolent atmosphere. If this is the first album you have heard of the band it will surely blow you away. The band creates a very balanced mix of BM that includes fast tremolo picked parts and some less intense more rhythmic parts, like many BM bands are doing these days, particularly Marduk.

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