Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Arckanum – Antikosmos (2008)

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    This Swedish band unleashes upon us their 4th full length under the name of “Antikosmos”. This release presents almost no change since their great debut album “Fran Marder”. And this is not good in my opinion.

    Antikosmos as all the other Arckanum’s releases, is mainly based on the atmosphere created by the band, and not the quality of the music. The album kicks off with a bang that is quickly dissipated by uninspired songs like: Røkulfargnýr. In this song the same simple guitar riff is played for over 4 minutes making it sound very dull.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    October Falls - The Womb Of Primordial Nature (2008)

    cover

    This 3 man band from Finland too me by surprise with this release. Having heard Marras and Sarastus before, I was expecting some relaxing folk music. These 2 albums can be compared to Empyrium’s last albums, but The Womb Of Primordial Nature clearly takes a different path. It’s more of a folk / ambient black metal album, and it’s great.

    The album consists of 4 songs and they probably took a few weeks to come up with the title names (look it up and you’ll laugh about this).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Nåstrond - Muspellz Synir (2008)

    Nåstrond gives us a pretty weird release in general. I have not heard this band before and after reading that their lyrics are Egyptian and Occultism related I was looking forward to listening to this release. But to my surprise it’s not up to par with other releases from Moribund records, while it’s ‘different’ it’s not the good type of different.

    The 2 man band plays a weird mixture of black metal, ambient and even some hints of doom metal. Don’t get me wrong I’m all about listening to new interesting mixtures of genres. But Nåstrond fails to deliver, since the album is not cohesive enough. All the tracks feel like they where put together in installments of 2-3 tracks intended for an EP.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Behexen - My Soul For His Glory (2008)

    I was waiting for a while since Behexen last’s release. And let me tell you my wait was in vain. While My Soul For His Glory is a pretty solid release for a band of the caliber of Behexen, it’s still missing one very important feature: the shiver inducing vocals of the previous 2 releases.

    The music sounds more mature than their previous 2 releases, marking a clear progression of the quality of musicianship that the members of Behexen have. After 13 years since the band’s conception, you can hear that each instrument complements each other in a perfect diabolical ‘harmony’.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Celestial Bloodshed – Cursed, Scarred And Forever Possessed (2008)

    This album is the first ‘full length’ by these Celestial Bloodshed hailing from Norway. I put full length in quotes because the album lasts only 35 minutes or so. And in my opinion this is one of the problems with the release and not because it sucks and it’s too long (like many other releases). But because it left me wanting more!!

    The band plays a traditional old school black metal that sounds very raw and brutal. No fancy things here, just the basic vocals, guitars, bass and drums combination.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Samael - Illumination (2009)

    After listening to this single, I have to say that Samael is preparing for a strong comeback with something more brutal than their most recent albums. The two tracks included in this single blew me away they showcase the intensity Samael was known for in the past. The music is more guitar driven and the vocals are as good as ever, while they don’t rely much on keyboards they are still present. The intensity of the guitars and the drumming are the focal points of these 2 songs.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fen - The Malediction Fields (2009)

    When this album starts, I started saying to my self” “here comes another shitty atmospheric black metal band”, like I often find telling my self and being completely right. Well for Fen I ate my own words, while their style is indeed atmospheric black/dark metal they have carefully crafted elements of folk and post-rock, to create a great unique sound.

    I would say they kind of resemble Alcest or even Agalloch at some points, but they have their own original ideas and sound embedded in their music.

    This album also evokes some memories of Ulver’s opus: Bergtatt. While at some points the music is very harsh, it’s perfectly balanced by great acoustic interludes changing the pace entirely of the songs.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    IXXI - Elect Darkness (2009)

    IXXI sound is very traditional of the current progression of many black metal bands, since they combine elements of black metal with trash metal with perfection. Most of the song have catchy melodies while being aggressive, it kind of reminds me of Satyricon when they released Volcano, however I prefer this album.

    The harsh vocals are almost identical to Satyr’s vocals and provide a perfect match for the sound of the band. The guitar riffs are strong and repetitive but never dull, the drums are perfectly executed and typical of a black metal release.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Blut Aus Nord...Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars (2009)

    When you listen to Blut Aus Nord you can count on listening to a band that has the same musical style since they where conceived. However their style, while primitive, is more mature in this release than their previous albums.

    If you like fast paced harsh black metal this is the album for you, however they do have some nice instrumental interludes in their songs and also some calm parts that sound better than the majority of the album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism (2009)

    As they mention in their myspace page, this is sick music for sick individuals, and I can’t agree more. This is something that every true black metal fan should listen and have in their regular playlists.

    This band has truly captured the old feeling of black metal and has managed to improve on it by their use of synthesizers along some their songs, reminding me of Alghazanth’s The polarity axiom and Osiris - Typhon Unmasked.

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