Cold Northern Vengeance - Trial by Ice 2002 – 2010 (2010)

Today we have the Cold Northern Vengeance… of the USA? With such a powerful name we expected them to be from Norway or somewhere really up North. Anyways, “Trial by Ice” showcases the transformation of this very promising USBM band and how their sound have evolved over the years from the traditional kvlt Black Metal to some more refined and stylish pieces. If you never heard of this band, you can be caught up with them by the time this 70 minute release is over.

After the traditional filler intro track, “Acausal” shows a very strong Black Metal influence that incorporates different tempo changes. This makes the song a nice departure of the traditional BM crap we are used to reviewing. The band goes a bit more extreme with the denser “Black Metal Isolation III”. This track features a different sound than the previous one but still creates an eerie atmosphere. The vocals, guitars, and drums are very well crafted for this song.

The super ethereal “Obscure Pansophism” is a nice change of pace, but the ‘beats’ sound a way off for the focus of this release and the band’s sound, but then again, they also show that the band is not afraid to experiment. In the live rehearsal version of “Subconscious Lucifer” we get to listen to the band in a more natural environment and with super clean vocals. In “…And Death” the production it-self made our ears almost start bleeding, but it also showcases another different face of the band.

The atmosphere of “The Darkness of Once Was” is probably the best created in this release and this is exactly how we like our ‘low-fi’ Black Metal to sound like. “Spirit Halls” and “Dungeons” just fly by as two aggressive Black Metal tracks with a few interesting sections here and there. The monumental 14 minute closer “Pan-The Return” starts with a very nice acoustic guitar section, but since our CD arrived scratched it started skipping in this track, thus we couldn’t fully listen to it.

With a preconception this was going to be straight up kvlt Black Metal stuff, we got very nicely surprise on how Cold Northern Vengeance has evolved over the years and have created very interesting tracks. We particularly love the way the band creates haunting atmospheres with simple keyboards. If you are looking to get into USBM or just want a solid and constantly diverse release, be sure to get this compilation release.

Release: November 2010

Country: USA