Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Lustre – They Awoke The Scent Of Spring (2012)

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    After the excellent full-length “A Glimpse of Glory”, Lustre returns to us with another killer full-length release titled “They Awoke The Scent Of Spring”. This one-man aural orgasm machine from Sweden has crafted four excellent tracks that have a very eerie atmospheric vibe that reminds us of Burzum’s “Filosofem” release. With 40 minutes of music, this release surely delivers enough bang for your money in the sense of creepy landscapes painted by the very minimalist music presented here.

    Opening with the nearly 13-minutes long monolithic “Part I”, the atmosphere is set with very fuzzy distorted guitars that only get denser by the minute. The sparse vocals are quite hellish and will creep on you when you least expect it. We particularly love how the song transitions when it seems to ‘brighten up’ between all the heavy dark clouds that are painted by the painful riffs. The minimal use of keyboards is also another thing that is very similar to how Burzum uses them.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Shroud of Despondency / Cholernik – Split (2012)

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    With a ton of releases in 2011, Shroud of Despondency is falling behind in 2012 since this is ‘only’ their second one of the year. In this split release we have four track of Shroud of Despondency and three songs of Cholernik, a one-man band from the bass player of SoD. After reviewing SoD’s last release “Pine”, we are quite shocked to hear that the songs presented in this release are way more brutal and more straight-forward in nature.

    Opening with some funky guitar structures, “Defeat” has a very direct approach with heavy Doom-ish riffs and very deep growls. The song suddenly shifts into 4th gear and delivers pummeling drums and hellish screams. This style indeed is very different to the band’s previous release, but still captures the sick guitar sounds that characterize SoD. Both “Pain Without Life” and “The Echo of Depletion” are very brutal in nature and border between the lines of Black and Death Metal at times, making them quite appealing for the more ‘brutal’ Metal music fan. “Shapes” goes back a bit into the more elaborate guitar structures with funky rhythms, leaving the listener totally puzzled by the weird but good tracks presented by SoD in this release.

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    A Forest of Stars – A Shadowplay for Yesterdays (2012)

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    The always riveting A Forest of Stars returns with yet another brilliant album that defies the limits of conventional music and mixes a very diverse spectrum of sounds and genres. In “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays”, the band features ten excellent tracks that will surely expand your horizons with a truly rich musical experience unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.

    Described as a concept album, this new release features the typical mixture of genres by the band, but it also sounds very cohesive and dark. The atmospheric elements are one of the biggest staples of the band and they delivers excellent sections that set the mood just right, like on the opener “Directionless Resurrectionist”. The spoken passages give that deranged vibe that we love about the band’s music. Not breaking character, the tempo of “Prey Tell of the Church Fate” is quite slow and nicely builds up to the faster Black Metal-ish sections. The drums are very good, but the atmospheric elements are the ones that shine the most.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Khadaver – New World Disorder (2012)

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    Our favorite two-man unit from Slovakia has returned with their first full-length release titled “New World Disorder”. With a richer and far more complicated sound since their demo EP “Beta Version”, the band delivers eleven tracks filled with crazy vocals, programmed ‘drums’ and a few interesting riffs here and there. This album does show the considerable amount of maturity that the band has achieved over the years, but it also lacks the cohesiveness of their demo EP.

    After the instrumental “Europa In Flames” intro, the band immediately sets the mood with some heavy and catchy riffs surrounded by fake drums and a very monotonous approach to things. The fake drums our one of our main pet peeves with short-staffed bands, and Khadaver falls in this category with very dull and linear patterns presented through the release. The track itself presents some cool guitar sections and even nicer electronic parts, but it is very repetitive.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Memoria – Death Calls The Islands (2011)

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    If Moonsorrow, Primordial, and Ulver had a genetically engineered (and somewhat defective) son, it would most likely sound like Memoria from Australia. In their latest release “Death Calls The Islands”, the band delivers a few well-crafted tracks that will surely grab your attention, and a few others that will make you scratch your head. The band’s interesting combination of influences also does them in, since the songs get a bit repetitive and dull after a while, something that in our opinion also happens to Moonsorrow.

    In the opener “The Dogs Smell Blood”, the band immediately lifts a wall of distorted guitars that reminds us of a mixture of Moonsorrow and Primordial, but it does get a bit dull after the sixth track. The production also allows this element to overshadow the vocals in particular, frustrating us after a while. The clean vocal are and excellent hybrid between Garm and Vortex, but they are not exploited correctly. The Emperor-esque “Claw At The Pine” keeps things interesting, but it also sounds a little too much like Emperor from their Anthems-era.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Svartfell – Apocryphe Apocalypse (2012)

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    Delivering nine Black Metal aural assaults, today we have Svartfell and ‘their’ third full-length release titled “Apocryphe Apocalypse”. This one-man band from France does a great job in crafting brutal BM tunes in a very raw and powerful way. In the days when many BM releases focus on being ‘pretty’ and ‘nice’ sounding, it is refreshing to hear something as filthy and destructive as “Apocryphe Apocalypse”.

    After the pummeling opening track “Terribilis Est Locus Iste”, the band delivers very crushing riffs on “The Crimson Cross”. All drums are real in this release and this greatly enhances the experience over most one-man band that use drum machines and sound like total ass. The production however is a bit weak and makes the guitars wobble a bit and also distorts the sound of the cymbals. The vocals sound either distorted or have some kind of FX behind them, and while it sounds weird, it actually makes them more brutal and fitting for the music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Epitimia – Faces of Insanity (2012)

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    Arriving all the way from Saint Petersburg, Russia via Hypnotic Dirge Records, today we have Epitimia and their latest full-length release titled “Faces of Insanity”. With a very melodic Ambient Black Metal sound, this excellent band pummels through nine highly melancholic tracks not apt for the faint of heart. With such a rich and atmospheric sound, this Russian 3-person outfit is by far one of best bands in the genre.

    After setting the mood with the excellent atmospheric track “Reminiscentia”, Epitimia delivers the hypnotic “Epikrisis I: Altered state of consciousness”. In this track, the band keeps building momentum with excellent shoegaze-ish guitars and the harsh vocals finally appear. With such a depressive mood and the subtle beauty of dreamy guitars complementing the distorted ones, this band is very near melancholic musical perfection.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Demonic Slaughter – Dark Essence (2012)

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    With a deeply disturbing thick Black Metal sound, today we have Poland’s Demonic Slaughter and their latest EP titled “Dark Essence”. Being almost a full-length release by today’s Black Metal standards, this killer release showcases a very thick and extremely intoxicating devilish atmosphere. Thanks to the heavy guitars and firm vocals, this release surely will unnerve even the most seasoned BM listener.

    After the extremely cliché acoustic atmospheric opener, the band goes into full steam with “Inner-self Transfiguration”. In this track the riffing is very typical and the drumming provides the perfect complement. The strong snarls that the band’s vocalist Xaos Oblivion delivers are just right for such a dark and foul sound. While not your average BM release, the band has great knack for creating thick atmospheres with a the basic guitar-drum combo, and being produced and mixed by Xaos Oblivion we suspect this is exactly what the band was going for.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Necrovation – Necrovation (2012)

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    Delivering one of the darkest and most evil sounding releases of 2012, today we have Necrovation and their self-titled sophomore release. With nine tracks and around 45 minutes of crushing brutality, each of the tracks in this release features a very dark and cavernous atmosphere that is rarely matched by anything we have heard this year and reminds us of the crazy atmospheres created by bands like Shinning (Sweden) and Bethlehem.

    Delivering the first blast full of hate with “Necrovorous Insurrection”, this release opens with a bang. Featuring an old-school raw Death Metal vibe, the Swedish influences are extremely clear in this epic track. The quality riffing makes this song even more enjoyable, and the crystal clear production makes brings the full experience to your speakers. The intoxicating rhythms of “Dark Lead Dead” make this very weird song extremely intoxicating indeed.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Devilish Impressions – Simulacra (2012)

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    Making quite an impact since the first song, today we have Poland’s Devilish Impressions latest release titled “Simulacra”. Being properly released through Lifeforce records this July, this is one of those albums that combines so many different elements in a very cohesive and successful way, making it super diverse and extremely exciting.

    “Icaros” opens with release with a mixture of Vintersorg meets Dimmu Borgir atmosphere, thanks to the hefty use of synths and the awesome clean vocals. Setting the bar this high, the band also delivers pretty solid melodic Black/Death-ish music that is very direct and well crafted. The atmospheric side of things keeps making this album very appealing in “Legion of Chaos”, but it is the massive drumming and heavy riffing that ultimately makes this song super catchy and effective.

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