Black Metal

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    Ogen – Black Metal Unbound (2011)

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    As we are going through our never ending queue of albums to review, today we have Ogen’s debut EP titled “Black Metal Unbound”. Without needing a very high IQ we can figure out that the Italian duo of Ogen play Black Metal. Coming seemingly out of nowhere, this two-man band delivers one of the best Black Metal releases we have heard in this 2011. Featuring intricate riffs and powerful melodies, the band does not fuck around when it comes to creating punishing BM compositions.

    “Shattered Earth Volcano” opens this album with dominating riffs and very nicely paced drumming. This song marks the beginning of a set of five tracks that encompass many styles of Black Metal all in a well executed package. Since this song we can hear the Satyricon, Old Mans Child’s, and Emperor influences all around the music, but never sounding like a rip-off.

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    Svarttjern - Towards the Ultimate (2011)

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    Hailing from Norway, today we have Svarttjern and their crushing second full-length release “Towards the Ultimate”. With nine tracks of hectic Black Metal with some Death Metal influences, Svarttjern delivers very powerful blows in each song and has no problems mixing melody into their aural assaults.

    Featuring HansFyrste of Raganarok fame on vocals, Svarttjern will take you for a journey into the bowels of hell with very well crafted songs that do not get too repetitive as the album progresses. In the opener “Breathing Soil”, the band does not waste any time and delivers powerful guitar riffs, hyper-fast drums and hellish vocals. This song reminds us of the good years of Satyricon, and it will leave a great impression on you too.

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    Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage (2011)

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    USBM favorite tree hugger band has returned with yet another stylish release that is set to put everybody else to shame (in the USBM scene) and elevate the status of Wolves in the Throne Room (WITTR) even more. We have always been fans of bands that pushed the envelope and WITTR is exactly what they have been doing release after release since their birth back in 2003.

    Always characterized by their pummeling rawness, the band nicely incorporates atmospheric elements into their sound to create amazing songs that are never truly what meets the ‘ears’ in the initial listens of their albums. While most bands focus on who can be the rawest and most punishing bands, WITTR achieves this by building onto their sound beautiful landscapes that are unrivaled by virtually any other band playing similar music.

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    An Autumn for Crippled Children – Everything (2011)

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    One of the most mysterious bands coming from the Dutch scene has to be An Autumn for Crippled Childern. After their monumental 2010 debut album “Lost”, they return with an even more impressive and lush release with “Everything”. If you though that their first album was pushing the limits of creativity and delivering in almost every single aspect, wait until you get your hands on this excellent release.

    Being released on ATMF records, “Everything” opens with powerful Shoegaze influenced guitars in “Forever Never Fails”. Drawing similarities to Alcest, Lantlos and similar Post-Black Metal/Shoegaze bands, the band is greatly refining their sound from their first release. The distorted desperate screams of pain that are featured in this track (and throughout the release) greatly contrast the beauty of the music, but in a very effective and devastating manner.

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    The Konsortium – The Konsortium (2011)

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    With all the craptastic Black Metal releases coming from Norway (and around the world) these days, it is very hard to find quality albums such as The Konsortium’s self-titled debut release. In this album, the band relies on catchy Thrash-infused Black Metal riffing overlaid with different styles of vocals in order to create a very effective almost Avant-garde Black Metal sound.

    Only knowing the identity of one of the band’s mysterious members, we can be assured that the riffing quality is top notch since Teloch handles the guitar duties. The opening number “Gasmask Prince” has a very hectic pace and multi-layered guitars that quickly set this band apart from the rest. The ‘Black Metal vocals’ are pretty standard for the genre, but the combination of whispers and clean sections make them very effective and diverse enough to keep the listener engaged.

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    Frozen Dawn – The Old Prophecy of Winterland (2011)

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    While there is a great resurgence of old school Thrash Metal these days, most Black Metal bands seem to be either stuck in the raw toilet-recorded sound of the past or in the faster-than hell with no real aim side of things. Luckily, Frozen Dawn delivers an excellent release featuring the sound that made Black Metal appealing in the past. Taking influences form the old-school Swedish and Norwegian scenes, more particularly bands like Dissection, Watain, Satyricon and Darth Throne, “The Old Prophecy of Winterland” features nearly 50 minutes of Black Metal you won’t want to miss.

    Focusing on powerful and catchy guitar riffing, rhythmical drums (with blast-beast of course) and ‘manly’ vocals, Frozen Dawn seems to have re-captured the sound of the past and pushes it a bit forward with great production values and catchy songs. After a one minute opening track, “Black Spells” instantly delivers a catchy riff that while used through the whole song, it never get’s old and sounds exactly like what BM should sound like.

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    Atanab – Black Magic (2010)

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    From Spain/Colombia’s Mighty Hordes Productions, today we have a re-issue of a 2006 release that nicely combines brutality with melody and delivers almost 40 minutes of pure fucking Black Metal. “Black Magic” is one of those releases that is very brutal and chaotic, but also excellently mixed and sounds very clean in comparison to most of the bands trying to be as brutal as Atanab.

    Wasting no time, the band starts creating a thick evil atmosphere since the intro track and with “Is Sentence of Satan” they deliver a very impressive first blow. In this track we have hellish vocals, massive drumming and powerful riffing, all delivered at a very high intensity. In a more atmospheric way, “Sons of Evil” delivers the same brutal sound but at a slower and more painful tempo. We particularly enjoy the subtle keyboards that are never overdone and just add the right amount of atmosphere to the music.

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    Eternal Chaos – Dark Gods of the Eternal (2010)

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    Once again the people over at Mighty Hordes productions deliver a very powerful and intense Black Metal release that will quench your thirst for high-paced devastating music. However, “Dark Gods of the Eternal” is one of those releases the clearly sacrifices the quality of the music for high-paced hellish brutality with no clear aim or direction. While this might be exactly your cup of tea, we expected a little more from these excellent musicians.

    Opening with the traditional intro song, the band at least shakes things up a bit and includes some shrieks, some riffing and drumming instead of the cliché keyboard/sample approach. Immediately after, “Lord of Chaos” blows through your speakers with some very intense drumming and bestial riffing creating a purely chaotic and excellent atmosphere. In a more Gorgoroth-like fashion, “The Black Flame Spirit” delivers powerful singing and somewhat entertaining riffing that keeps things fresh and fucking intense.

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    Astarium – Dethroned of Impostor (2011)

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    In the very saturated genre of Atmospheric/Symphonic Black Metal is very hard to standout since most bands sound the same or just sound like shit. However, Astarium from Russia manages to create a positive impression due to the overall sound of their music: not too raw, not too brutal, not too fake (except for the drums). In “Dethroned of Impostor”, we are presented with 40 minutes of engaging music.

    Being a one man band, Astarium is limited to using a drum machine (or similar) and this is probably the weakest element of the release, since when they go ape shit, they sound as fake as Pamela Anderson’s titties look. After the creepy opener intro, “Bloodshed Must Goes On” (some grammar check wouldn’t hurt before making the song titles), delivers a nice and brutal attack of fast ‘drums’, traditional guitar riffs and a combination of pseudo growls with pseudo shrieks. The music is very familiar to Limbonic Art (early) and even some hints of Mysticum, etc.

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    Astarium – Invasion to Forbidden (2011)

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    As we all know most one-man bands suck, with a very few exceptions they are just outlets for untalented people to produce what they call ‘music’. Going with this notion, I was gladly surprised by the quality of Astarium’s music, a one-man band from Novosibirsk, Russia. Getting strange looking envelopes from far away places in the world is one of the thrills of working for Infernal Masquerade and this time, the envelope also delivers good music (something that is not the case at least 50% of the time).

    “Invasion to Forbidden” is the latest EP from this Symphonic/Atmospheric Black Metal band that while not having the best sound quality or musical equipment, it can surely create a eerie atmosphere and deliver 16 minutes of creepy as shit Black Metal.

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