Ketzer Records

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    Bahrrecht – L'aube glacée (2016)

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    Hailing from France, today we have Melodic Black Metal outfit Bahrrecht and their sophomore full-length release “L'aube glacée”. Originally started by Fëanor and Winterhalter (Alcest, Glaciation), this band unleashed their debut album back in 2011 and finally returns after a few line-up changes (Winterhalter has departed) with a very solid and engaging old-school sounding Melodic Black Metal opus. Filled with over 45 minutes of music, this album is both punishing and atmospheric enough to sound different and entertaining.

    After the folky/atmospheric opener “Hommage à une foi perdue”, the band delivers their first blow with the crushing “Un orage éternel”. In this track the band often changes tempos while delivering waves of powerful Black Metal riffs and melodic solos. This level of intensity nicely continues in the playful “Le géant des neiges”, which reminds us of “Nemesis Divina”-era Satyricon, thanks to its atmospheric elements and overall pace.

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    Streams of Blood – The Descent of the Source of Disorder (2011)

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    Hitting you like a 50 pound bag of bricks, today we have Streams of Blood and their devastating full-length release “The Descent of the Source of Disorder”. Featuring eight tracks of supreme Black Metal blasphemy, this German band is ready to blow you away with their monumental riffing attacks. While not the most original stuff in the scene, each track is guaranteed to pierce through your eardrums.

    Wasting no time, “The Sense” quickly delivers guitar assaults and unparalleled brutality. The band nicely resembles Gorgoroth and Horna, but with their own hectic and devastating pace. The drumming is supper fast and the screams are just perfect for this music, not to mention the excellent rhythmical sections. “Deepest Abyss of My Soul”, “Fullmoon Era” and “Chaos Returns” keep up the furious pace with intricate guitar sections and brutal drumming. The crushing riffing is clearly top notch and never seems to get boring.

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    Bahrrecht – Nuit de Neige (2011)

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    Making its way from Ketzer records, today we have Bahrrecht and their 90’s inspired Black Metal sound in “Nuit de Neige”. In this powerful release we are presented with 10 tracks of pure fucking destruction that will cater to all fans of grim Black Metal from a few years back. Featuring Winterhalter (of Alcest, Les Discrets (live)) on guitars, this release is very intense and has fresh ideas here and there.

    Blowing up in your face with the album title track, Bahrrecht wastes no time in creating the lovely whirlwind Black Metal sound that bands like Immortal and Satyricon came to perfect in the 90’s. The riffing is very effective and the overall pace of the songs is very hectic, but not extremely overdone. “Nuit de Neige” is a release that is very guitar oriented and on tracks like “The Sign of Bahrrecht Lotharingen Black Hordes”, you can quickly notice how well the riffing works in creating a thick atmosphere without resorting to the overdone tremolo-picking that many BM bands use.

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    Pest – Tenebris Obortis (2010)

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    With a very chaotic and gloomy Black Metal sound with Thrash influences, today we have Pest and their fourth full-length release “Tenebris Obortis”. While this release is not highly original, it still has enough elements to make it a very solid release that will find it self lingering in your playlist more than you would have expected.

    “Tenebris Obortis” features 10 tracks of solid Black Metal that sometimes feels like a sample platter of sound bits of Gorgoroth, old Dark Throne, Arckanum, etc, but still has enough personality to stand on its own and not get called a recycle band by all the critics and followers of the genre. There are a few ‘weird’ direction shifts between the songs that might put of some people, but for us they actually help this album flow differently and avoid getting dull.

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    Gjenferdsel – Varde (2010)

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    Hailing from Norway we have yet another Black Metal band!, and this one is one of the good ones from what we can hear with “Varde”. This two man outfit has a very similar sound to Gorgoroth and we really dig their music. But don’t think they are a carbon copy since they add their own elements to make their sound different.

    As you know we don’t usually compare bands to the all-mighty Gorgoroth unless they are pretty solid and Gjenferdsel has won this comparison based on their efforts over the years. Varde” is the band’s second full-length album and features 10 songs all sang in Norwegian, adding that extra level of authenticity to the bands music.

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    Lux Ferre - Atrae Materiae Monumentum (2009)

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    With all the hundreds of Black Metal albums being released every month is hard to determine which ones are worth buying. Today we have Lux Ferre from Portugal and their second full-length album “Atrae Materiae Monumentum”, this release is one the ones we can easily recommend you spend your money on.

    The band plays a very basic and Black Metal that has the old-school feeling to it but it’s not under produced to sound like it was recorded in the woods or in the bathroom. Lux Ferre centers their sound on aggressive riffing and relentless drumming, an old but effective formula that fans of true Black Metal will greatly appreciate.

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    Trollech – Jasmuz (2010)

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    All the way from the Czech Republic, today we get Trollech presenting their latest release “Jasmuz”. The band self-labels their music style as “Forest Pagan Black Metal” but we prefer Pagan Metal to sound less pretentious. We review quite a few Pagan/Viking Metal albums every year, and this 2010 we have to say the best so far is Trollech’s “Jasmuz”.

    “Jasmuz” like we mentioned is a very solid release that features every single element that makes a great Pagan Metal album. But it’s an extra element in this release that made us deduct several points from our score, some terrible vocals that sound like a troll getting raped by a bear, or something like that. In the first song “Moudrost Kovare” they stick out like a sweater on the beach. And most people will stop listening to this album after they hear them.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Angmar - Zurück in die Unterwelt (2009)

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    For all of us that like our Black Metal with some Melodic aspects to it, today we have Angmar, a French band that would easily be considered a pissed-off version of Alcest. Angmar features magical acoustic/atmospheric passages similar to what Alcest, Fen, Celestia, etc. are doing but with an overall focus on Black Metal.

    “Zurück in die Unterwelt” is the band’s second full-length album and a very memorable one. The band kicks off the album with a very hypnotic atmospheric part with backing choruses that sets the stage for the Black Metal assault that is to follow. The whole album varies between melodic sections into full-on BM aural assaults.

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