Black Metal

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    Thrall – Vermin to the Earth (2011)

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    All the way from Australia today we have Thrall and their sophomore release “Vermin to the Earth”. Featuring seven tracks of hard hitting well-produced Black Metal, Thrall does a great job in following up their debut release “Away from the Haunts of Men”. The band plays very typical BM but with a crispier production and nice tempo changes that sometimes shake things up allowing them to not bore the listener to death.

    The guitars are very well constructed and in all tracks they nicely shine due to the excellent production. The vocals are probably the most exciting part about this album since they bring that hellish scream that singers like Attila Csihar love to deliver, and they never get to high-pitched to the point of making your ears explode. In the first two tracks (“Vermin to the Earth” and “Oblivion”) we can nicely hear the tempo changes in the songs, making them less vanilla than your average BM release.

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    Taake – Noregs Vaapen (2011)

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    As the saying goes: “if you want stuff done right, do it yourself”, Hoest delivers us the latest and finest Taake album to date: “Noregs Vaapen”. Featuring the traditional Norwegian Black Metal that we all love from the band plus a few surprises here and there, Hoest has greatly enhance the aural power of the band’s raw and aggressive sound.  Delivering waves of brutal Black Metal for over 46 minutes, Taake shows no signs of aging and continues to be one of the best Black Metal bands in the world.

    Opening with some traditional BM guitar work, “Fra Vadested Til Vaandesmed” delivers waves of BM pleasure. The brutal yet rhythmical drumming is one of the main trademarks of the old-school Norwegian BM sound, and on this track (and album) is one of the best elements. Hoest vocals are as hellish as usual and the speed-ups in this track are excellent. Keeping a similar atmosphere “Orkan” and “Nordbundet” keep the album flowing very effectively with some melodic sections that nicely blend into the brutality of this release.

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    Farsot – Insects (2011)

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    There are tons and tons of Black Metal bands these days, but it is very hard to find the ones that manage to deliver and original album that keeps you wanting for more. Farsot managed to achieve that with their previous release “IIII”, and now with “Insects” the band proves that they are not a one-album kind of band. Playing Black Metal with an edge of Doom and Post-Metal, “Insects” is by far one of the most interesting and different sounding albums this 2011.

    “Like Flakes of Rust” opens this release with an atmospheric section followed by heavy guitars and very desolate vocals. Here you can start noticing that while music is aggressive, there is just something that makes it different from the cookie cutter bands (like the subtle bass guitar in this track). “Empyrean” delivers a very effective atmospheric section with nicely distorted guitars and some amazing clean vocals in the same vein as Ulver and similar bands. The riffing is excellent and nicely creates a very powerful atmosphere without being completely on your face.

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    Lantlôs – Agape (2011)

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    After releasing the impressive “.Neon” last year, Lantlôs returns with an even better release with “Agape”. In this album, Herbst basically takes apart Post-Black Metal and infuses brilliant instrumental passages and a nihilistic raw energy that creates an even more crushing and beautiful sound than ever before. While at first glance “Agape” might catch you off guard, this release is truly worth your attention to detail and how all elements weave together in a big bleak dark atmospheric could unlike anything heard before from Lantlôs.

    The opener “Intrauterin” quickly exposes some Drone-like elements with some Doom influences in its first few minutes. Very similar to Funeral Doom, this makes a very harsh and quick statement about the intensity and rawness of some of the songs to follow. The guitars are heavy and crushing, but they very effectively switch when the instrumental passage kicks in. Having some minor Post-Black metal hints to it, it feels like being pulled out of the water after almost drowning. Just before you think that the song will end quietly, there is another onslaught of harsh vocals and pummeling guitars, very nicely arranged.

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    Mord'A'Stigmata – Antimatter (2011)

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    Hailing from Poland, today we have Mord’A’Stigmata and their monumental Avant-garde Black Metal release “Antimatter”. In this album the band delivers 52 minutes of pure chaotic Black Metal that will blow you away and make you scratch your head at the same time. We are huge fans of Avant-garde BM and “Antimatter” is one of the finest examples we have heard this 2011.

    Opening with a weird intro, the album fully kicks in with “Kinetic Dogma” and “De Magnum Opus Solis”, two very hellish and powerful straight-up Black Metal tracks that feature some interesting elements here and there, but mostly devastating vocals, dissonant guitars and a powerful and tornado-like atmosphere. The devastation continues with “Antimatter”, but here is where things start turning somewhat melodic leading up to the ‘weirder’ things in this release.

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    Fyrnask – Bluostar (2011)

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    Beautifully packed in a lush digisleeve, today we have Fyrnask’s debut full-length release “Bluostar”. Mixing some pretty bone-chilling ambient/atmospheric elements with harsh and devastating Black Metal, Fyrnask delivers over 55 minutes of brilliant music that while not everybody’s cup of tea, it did affected us in a positive way.

    The mastermind behind the band, Fyrnd, delivers flawless performances in all instruments making them all come together in a brilliant way to capture the raw essence of Black Metal and incorporate the hypnotic feeling of the ambient sections. While most BM tracks are over 7 minutes, the brilliantly placed interludes and intros of song songs nicely shake things up and allow the listener to be always guessing what’s coming next.

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    Saligia – Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (2011)

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    Hailing from Norway, the cradle of Black Metal, today we have Saligia and their old-school nihilistic release “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi”. Featuring 40 minutes of pure and unadulterated Black Metal, the band relies on slick riffing and drumming to capture an occult feeling behind this release. There are no over-the-top shrieks of over-extended use of tremolo-picking section, just plain and simple devastating Black Metal like in the old days.

    The opening blow titled “Casus Gloria” nicely builds up into a very retro Black Metal sound that prevails through this very well crafted release. The band delivers just the right amount of ‘devilish’ riffs to create a very effective atmosphere and does not overdo things too early. The vocals and rhythm sections of “Sar Ha-Olam” keep up with the same tempo than the first track and we think it is just great. The speed of this album is not super chaotic, allowing the music to flow nicely and deliver its occult message without getting on your nerves.

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    ICS Vortex – Storm Seeker (2011)

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    After the ‘departure’ from Dimmu Borgir, acclaimed singer ICS Vortex decided to not go down easily and has finally delivered a very solid ‘solo’ release that capitalizes on his biggest asset: his vocals. However, the music is also top notch since it mixes a wide variety of styles that might catch some people off guard, but with high promise and top notch quality.

    Playing all instruments in the album except the drums (courtesy of none other than Asgeir Mickelson), this release is packed with soaring vocals and epic melodic sections. Capturing some of the elements of Borknagar and adding some more psychedelic and progressive brushes, “Storm Seeker” is one of the most diverse albums of 2011.

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    Plutonium – Devilment Entertainment Non-Stop (2011)

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    Hailing from Sweden, Plutonium delivers merciless aural attacks of pure and chaotic Industrial Black Metal. There is nothing pretty and ‘techno’ about this release, just raw Black Metal energy fused together with some dissonant samples and relentless riffing. While most Industrial Metal bands these days are trying to sound too ‘nice’, Plutonium delivers pure decadence in their very crushing and powerful sound.

    Opening with the crushing “A Tribute to the Tools of the Cosmic Abostionist”, this one-man band delivers some blistering Black Metal elements paired with some crazy electronics at the end of the song. Having been warned, “Devilment Entertainment Non-Stop” delivers more Black Metal elements with very well crafted and credible drums (but we suspect they are ‘fake’). Things start getting weird with the very martial “Peace Keeper”, a very different track that creates a very bizarre atmosphere.

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    Tyrael – Der Wald ist mein Zuhause (2010)

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    Featuring a very unique blend of Black/Death and Grindcore with Melodic passages, today we have Tyrael and their latest release “Der Wald ist mein Zuhause”. With claims by the band of calling their sound “Green Metal”, we found it very interesting that they actually do sound different than the tons of submissions we get every day.

    Blowing up in your face with the opening track “To Isengard”, the band quickly gets into very melodic guitar work, crafted to perfection. The band’s tempo changes and hellish vocal combinations deliver enough brutality to nicely contrast the melodic nature of the track. “Throne of God” moves a bit into Black Metal territory with brutal drumming, but it also has very effective melodic mid-tempo sections that nicely pace the songs.

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