Black Metal

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    Frozen Ocean – Vestigial Existence (2011)

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    Originally recorded in 2009, today we have Frozen Ocean and ‘their’ release “Vestigial Existence”. This highly active one-man outfit keeps cranking out releases like they are pancakes, but impressively enough they are all pretty good. Whether they are Dark Ambient/Drone or Atmospheric Black Metal, the releases by this band are very well crafted and deliver the right amount of melody, atmosphere, and aggression. Luckily for us, this release is more on the Metal side, and we can enjoy some cool atmospheric elements thrown in with punishing riffs.

    Immediately after the ambient intro “In Derelict”, the guitars start pounding on “Winter – Aelean Being”. In this track, a very melancholic vibe is present thanks to the solemn riffs and powerful vocals. The song structure is quite engaging and you can hear that is some of Frozen Ocean’s earlier work since their style is not as refined and sounds rawer. The catchiness is always present with “Mute Walls” and some cool sort-of-electronic elements that make this song very appealing for fans of Industrial Black Metal.

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    Destractive – Gospel of Warheads (2013)

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    Delivering their fourth demo release, today we have Finland’s Destractive and their very unique and cohesive combination of Death/Thrash/Black Metal. Featuring four destructive tunes, this demo release shows the band’s maturity and how well they manage to blend all their influences in a very solid and powerful way. With a traditional line-up of two guitars, a bass guitar, drums and vocals, the band focuses more on effective musical structures than any gimmicks, making this release quite solid from beginning to end.

    The demo title track delivers the first wave of aural assaults with some Thrashy riffs and pummeling drums. The band nicely changes the temp into a more run-and-gun situation with excellent catchy sections and brutal speedups. This track has both Death and Thrash elements with some Black Metal-esque vocals, making a very solid combination and delivering sheer brutality to the listener. “Blood on the Soil” changes the pace a bit with incisive drumming and a slower tempo, giving more of a Black/Death Metal vibe at first, reminding us of Inquisition and even Watain at certain moments.

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    Germ – Grief (2013)

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    The multi-talented Tim Yatras returns with another crazy release from his latest project: Germ. In “Grief” we get 69 more minutes of the deranged world that Germ creates with their truly unique and very extreme musical style. Arriving just in time for Halloween (in North America), this is one hell of a release that if you liked the band’s previous albums, it will push you to further limits thanks to a bigger assortment of diverse influences.

    After a space-ish intro, the album really starts with the very catchy and unsettling “Butterfly”. Featuring Audrey Sylvain (Peste Noire) on this track, we definitely got an instant Amesoeurs vibe from the track until Tim laid his chaotic screams. Besides the catchy song structure, the piano section is quite cool and unique sounding in this track. In true Germ fashion, “The Stain of Past Regrets” immediately blows in your face with powerful screams. The catchy mixture of electronic elements is a staple of the band and it elevates this track to further levels of awesomeness when paired with the clean vocals.

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    Oranssi Pazuzu – Velonielu (2013)

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    Cracked out Psychedelic Black Metaliers Oranssi Pazuzu, make a triumphant return with their latest release: “Velonielu”. Pushing the boundaries of Black Metal (and music in general) to new extremes, this album features six thought provoking tracks that will either make you hate the band completely or fall into a deep trance. For over three quarters of an hour, this Finnish band will make you have nightmares with their unique level of weirdness.

    Opening with the demoralizing “Vino Verso”, we are treated to very unconventional Black Metal guitars and funky atmospheric elements. The vocals are your traditional BM screams with some distortion added that greatly complements the pounding guitars. “Tyhjä Tempelli” changes things up with funky Psychedelic guitars and an excellent bass line. The riffing sounds Black Metal-esque, in a very weird and unique manner, reminding us a bit of bands like Furze. The atmospheric component of this track is quite disturbing, especially when contrasted by the harsh distorted vocals and the cool guitar feedback.

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    Murrum – In His Tacita Atria (2013)

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    Hailing from Connecticut, today we have Murrum and their debut EP “In His Tacita Atria”. Featuring 21-minutes of blistering USBM, this band made a strong impression on us. With a powerful sound that evokes the likes of Krieg, Judas Iscariot, and early Nachtmystium, this fairly new band delivers raw and uncompromising power in the shape of five aural assaults. If you are looking for pretty Black Metal with keyboards and stuff, we suggest you look elsewhere since there is only sheer power and brutality in this release.

    After the cliché wolves and fire crackling intro, “Demons of Winter” fully explodes into a furious Black Metal pace. The band’s riffing power is quite devastating and thanks to their hectic drumming, it sounds even more brutal. “Ritual Bloodletting” rolls in packing enough thunder to bring down a building, allowing the listener to have no rest and succumb to the band’s crushing music. The vocals in this release are quite standard, reminding us of Watain at some points, but definitely not extremely shriek-ish like most people like.

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    Satyricon – Satyricon (2013)

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    Five years have passed since Satyricon’s last album, “The Age of Nero”, and people are still not fully over the fact that the band has left their more direct Black Metal style of “Nemesis Divina” back in the closet. For those of you that have kept up with the band’s musical evolution, “Satyricon” is a release that follows the same path and delivers a very unique mixture of Black’n’Roll with strong Black Metal roots and a sick guitar-driven atmosphere. The vocals are Satyr’s signature style, but the music is a bit on the darker and gloomier side, similar to his side project Wongraven, minus the folk-ish elements.

    Opening with the instrumental “Voice of Shadows”, we are treated to solid and devilish sounding guitar melodies. As “Tro og Kraft” rolls by, we got a very Storm/Wongraven vibe from how the guitars create melodic passages alongside Satyr’s BM snarls. The drumming is superb, what else can you expect from Frost, and nicely gives the music an aggressive edge, on a slower tempo. Typical Black Metal structures are very evident on “Our World It Rumbles Tonight” but with a certain slower pace, this helps create a very unique and unraveling atmosphere that only a few Black’n’Roll bands manage to achieve.

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    Rotten Liver – Purification by Debauchery (2013)

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    With a heavy knack for killer riffs and powerful melodies, France’s Rotten Liver delivers “Purification by Debauchery”. Avoiding sounding like anybody else, this band takes the best elements of bands like Vreid, Midnight, and old-school Darkthrone and creates their own brand of filthy Black’n’Roll that will have you headbanging since the first song.

    Opening with “Infamous Nil”, the band immediately delivers waves of killer riffs and a very cool melodic vibe. The snarls are quite fitting for the music, but it is the creativity and catchiness behind the song that makes it quite enjoyable and devastating. “Become the Arcanthropos” keeps the flow of the album going with another onslaught of sickening riffs and a very dark-yet-melodic atmosphere that Rotten Liver perfectly creates.

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    Fallen Tyrant – No World to Win, a Life to Lose (2013)

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    Delivering pummeling waves of punishing Black Metal, today we have Germany’s Fallen Tyrant and their debut full-length “No World to Win, a Life to Lose”. With eight tracks and over 35-minutes of crushing music, this release is one of the most devastating BM albums of the year, paired with Watain’s latest opus.

    The album opens with a very traditional and at moments Black’n’roll-ish “Fallen Tyrant Rising”. This track immediately unleashes the powers of the band and showcases their killer riffing and powerful vocals. Reminding us of newer Gorgoroth and other bands like Lord Belial, the punishment continues with the killer “Exaltation” and “Bortrykkelsen”. The band also has a melodic aspect to their BM and you can how crafty they can get with tracks like “To Finnmarken”.

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    Winterblood – Herbstsehnsucht (2013)

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    Making its way from Germany, today we have Winterblood and their debut full-length “Herbstsehnsucht”. Mixing Black Metal with some Doom elements, this Post-BM release is one tough cookie to crack. At first some things seem a bit rough, but once you get the whole picture of the album it comes together nicely in a very unconventional way.

    The album starts with the mysterious opener “Nur der Tod hat mir Erlösung gebracht”. In this track the band nicely builds up to some brutal sections with harsh screams. While the music is well-crafted, the drums are programmed and sound a bit fake in some points. We are usually very picky about this, but most of the time you can’t tell them apart. Taking the opposite approach, “Mit jedem Abschied wird Erinnerung geboren” starts very heavy and slowly mellows out as it concludes. The atmospheric sections have some Drone-like elements and really help setting up a dark and cavernous mood.

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    Acacia – Tills döden skiljer oss åt (2013)

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    Just when you think you have almost heard everything under the sun, it comes a truly moving release like Acacia’s debut full-length “Tills döden skiljer oss åt”. Melancholic and depressive are adjectives that barely start to describe the mood and atmosphere of this soul (and spirit) crushing album. Formed originally under the name of Livsnekad, this Swedish outfit manages to deliver 61 minutes of truly moving music that we will do our best to try to do justice while describing.

    The solemn piano opening of “Död mans mask” really builds anticipation and once the clean vocals come on, the mood suddenly gets even darker. As “Förnimmelsens lund af längtan” opens, the riffs remind us a bit of bands like Draconian and Desire with a certain atmospheric touch of My Dying Bride. Being huge fans of Death/Doom Metal, the growls are up to par to any of the heavy hitters of the scene, a very important element to contrast the atmosphere of the music. The Black Metal influences kick in and elevate the music to a whole new level, featuring extremely contrasting brutality with a highly atmospheric content. As the song winds down, we get some nice Post-Rock/Depressive Rock final minutes that serve as a relaxing culmination to this excellent track.

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