Black Metal

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    Essenz – Mundus Numen (2012)

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    Making its way from Germany, today we have Essenz’s latest full-length released titled “Mundus Numen”. With a very healthy mix of traditional Doom Metal with some Black Metal and Sludge hints, this release takes you down to the bowels of hell and back with a very powerful and dark sound. For six tracks, “Mundus Numen” showcases the band’s tuned low guitars and raw power when it comes to speed things up.

    “Extinguish Shapes - Innermediate” opens this release with very powerful Sludgy riffs that nicely morph back and forth to painful Doom sections. The atmospheric elements make this track even more dense thanks to their unconventional nature, and the female vocals add a very nice extra touch. Before we know it, “Sea of Light – Pleroma” explodes in our face with some furious Black Metal in the vein of bands like Watain and Horna. The switch from Doom to BM is pretty rapid and very well engineered to deliver a powerful blow. This track again drones back between furious BM riffs and some deeper slower passages.

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    Winterfylleth - The Ghost of Heritage (2012) reissue

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    While we wait for some more new music from Winterfylleth, Candlelight is re-releasing their debut full-length release “The Ghost of Heritage”. With a complete overhaul in the packaging and a remastered sound, this excellent album sounds even more impressive and clear than before, showcasing Winterfylleth’s destructive nature.

    The wall of distorted guitars is immediately set with the devastating opening track “Mam Tor (The Shivering Mountain)”. In this track the band shows their polished BM sound similar to Wolves In The Throne Room and those kinds of bands. The riffing is punishing, but the harsh screams are just magical in this context. There are some clean choir-like vocals that add creepiness to the song and nicely contrast the excellent guitar work. Things turn a bit into the unknown with the atmospheric acoustic guitar driven track “The March to Maldon”, a very nice and momentum building song. This track was just the buildup before the explosive “Brithnoth: The Battle of Maldon”.

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    Al-Namrood – Kitab Al Awthan (2012)

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    Saudi Arabia’s most interesting ‘ethnic’ Black Metal band is back with another release that features intriguing middle-eastern atmospheres and crushing Black Metal merged to near perfection. With “Kitab Al Awthan”, Al-Namrood pushes forward in their musical exploration delivering over 47-minutes of intelligently written music that is both captivating and very brutal.

    Opening with the lush “Mirath Al Shar”, the album instantly transports you to a somber and mysterious place thanks to the excellent atmosphere created. The production this time is considerably better and you can really hear the richness of the band’s percussions and epicness of their middle-eastern influences. The rawness of their Black Metal foundations is first unleashed on “Min Trab Al Jahel”, and we again noticed considerable improvement in the production values when compared to their previous release. The fusion of atmospheric keyboards and the raw distorted guitars is majestic, giving that creepy feeling of being trapped in a maze similar to the ones in the Prince of Persia games.

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    Moonreich – Curse Them (2012)

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    After Moonreich’s impressive debut “Loi Martiale” in 2011, we have them returning with even more devastating Black Metal in their digital-only EP titled “Curse Them”. Featuring three new tracks and a cover of Christian Death’s “Deathwish”, this short but sweet EP continues where the band left off and delivers a pummeling 20 minute aural assault that showcases how strong and brutal Moonreich is.

    Blowing up since the first track (“Slay the Prophet”), the band’s high-octane Black Metal riffing onslaught immediately delivers waves of brutality. Similar to bands like Watain and older Behemoth, Moonreich does not fuck around and delivers tons of blistering riffs in a very short amount of time. The drumming is pretty brutal and this track embodies the full range of the band’s aggressiveness.

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    Pseudogod – Deathwomb Catechesis (2012)

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    After countless split releases, Russia’s Pseudogod delivers their debut full-length “Dethwomb Catechesis”. Pummeling through eight tracks of violent Death/Black Metal that creates a thick-as-fuck atmosphere, the band does a pretty solid effort in presenting us with their debut release. Hailing from Russia, this band sounds like it has a lot of hate and anger to vent and they sure make their point with “Deathwomb Catechesis”.

    Opening with the demolishing “Vehement Decimation”, the band immediately fills the room with a wall of distorted guitars and hellish growls. The band’s sound is a brutal as you can get and thanks to the thick distortion layer, it sounds entirely demonical. “Malignant Spears”, “Saturnalia”, “Azazel”, and “The Antichrist Victory”, keep delivering waves of negative vibes, adding to the overall atmosphere of destruction that this release present. We particularly like how the band gets a bit Doom-ier in some sections like on “Azazel” and it’s very decadent slowdown passage that also features and excellent guitar solo.

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    Furze – Psych Minus Space Control (2012)

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    Making its way from Norway, today we have Furze’s latest deconstruction of Black Metal titled “Psych Minus Space Control”. In this release, this one man band delivers 43 minutes of brilliant music perfectly split in five intriguing tracks. Furze’s ability to create trippy space rock tracks with infused Black Metal elements is just outstanding.

    The minimalist opening sequence of “Occult Soul, With Mind” has a very funky sci-fi vibe that we haven’t heard since Angst Skvadron “Sweet Poison” release. The very rudimentary approach to music that Furze opts to use is quite interesting to listen to and on tracks like “Psych Mooz Space Control”, it is evident that the man behind this band is brilliant. With very retro sounding guitar work and an ever-present mellow bass guitar lines, these first songs nicely set the mood of this fine release.

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    Burzum – Umskiptar (2012)

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    Keeping up with releasing an album a year since his release from jail, Mr. Varg delivers Burzum’s “Umskiptar” this 2012. Combining the ‘traditional’ Burzum sound with some of the ‘new’ elements he showed in “Fallen”, this new release is a perfect mixture of both Black Metal and Folk elements, that while not groundbreaking it is still a solid release for this one man outfit.

    Drawing inspiration from the Norse poem “Völuspá”, Varg does a solid job in creating chilling atmospheres that have a powerful Nordic feeling to them. Opening with the “Bloostokkinn”, this song feels like a war chant due to its atmosphere and spoken word sections. In “Joln” the quintessential Burzum guitar work marks its presence and delivers perverse riffs nicely paired with harsh and clean vocals. One of the things that made “Fallen” such an interesting release was the clean/spoken sections and “Umskiptar” is full of them as well.

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    Llvme – Yia De Nuesu (2012)

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    With a very lush and elaborate sound, today we have Llvme and their second full-length release “Yia De Nuesu”. Mixing elements from Doom, Folk, and Black/Death Metal, this band has a very rich and entertaining sound that will blow you away with excellent melancholic passages and sheer brutality moments.

    Opening with the majestic “1188-1230” track, this release immediately establishes a melancholic atmosphere full of aggression and emotions. The female vocals and violins in this track are excellent and nicely contrast the heavy elements of the track. “Helmantica” brings forth a more aggressive stance from the band and some very Dimmu Borgir-esque keyboards. The riffing is very well crafted and the drums are stellar. “Vettonia” has that same Folk Metal vibe that bands like Eluveitie exploit to no end (the bagpipes), but it somewhat feels different with some nice stop-and-go moments and the direct Amorphis ‘rip-off’ section at the end of the track.

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    Kommandant – The Draconian Archetype (2012)

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    As the USBM scene keeps getting better and better over the years, it is not surprising to find high-quality releases, like Kommandant’s “The Draconian Archetype”, that keep pushing the boundaries of Black Metal. The band’s delivers 10 tracks and over 50 minutes of excellent Black Metal with an emphasis on the atmospheric side of things. With a sound similar to bands like Nightbringer and Canadian’s Weapon, Kommandant clearly knows what they are doing and transmit their sickness perfectly in this release.

    With excellent dissonant guitars and a balls-to-the-wall approach, “We are the Angels of Death” makes a powerful statement as the opener for this release. The thick atmosphere created by the guitars is outstanding and gives that veil of darkness that many BM releases lack these days. The vocals are creepy and intense, adding an extra layer of dissonance to the music. “Victory Through Intolerance” features a more traditional structure, but that dense atmosphere is nicely present throughout this track as well.

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    Vorkreist - Sigil Whore Christ (2012)

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    Exploiting a sick and twisted approach to Black Metal, today we have France’s Vorkreist and their latest opus “Sigil Whore Christ”. In this release the band delivers over 45 minutes of deranged Black Metal in the vein of fellow countrymen Peste Noire minus the extreme use Avant-garde elements.

    The album opens with the punishing riffing of “De Imitatione Christi” a piece that sounds very similar to a track on the latest Peste Noire release. With such a commanding guitar work and demonic vocals, the release quickly follows with the massive “Maledicte” and its brutal combination of shrieks and growls and deranged mourns, something that Shinning or similar BM bands would do.

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