Black Metal

  • Shroud of Despondency – Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion (2011)

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    It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Shroud of Despondency and with “Dark Meditation in Monastic Seclusion” we can say the wait was not in vain. Featuring seven tracks of Black Metal and an atmospheric passages, the band returns with full force to make an impact on the USBM scene.

    Mixed between acoustic passages, “Dark Meditations” has some excellent Black Metal sections with very creepy atmospheres that will haunt your dreams for months. A fine example of this is the use of choirs in the track “Homo Homini Lupus”, a chaotic 8 minute long track.

  • Srodek – Förfall (2011)

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    Featuring a session member of Svarti Loghin, Srodek brings us with their second full-length “Förfall”, a total of 37 minutes of bleak and depressive Post-Black Metal. While Srodek is not as good as Svarti Loghin and genre heroes Lantlôs, this one man project does a pretty solid job in creating desolate landscapes and populates them with Post-Rock/Black Metal elements.

    With the eloquent name of Nekrofucker, the band mastermind gives us 7 tracks that have a very familiar Svarti Loghin sound. While this is not completely bad, we can’t help but wonder where the creativity presented in “En Hälsning Till Döden” has gone. But it’s not all bad news since some moments of this release set it apart and make up for a good album.

  • Burzum – Fallen (2011)

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    Looks like Varg Vikernes was very active writing music in the last few years and delivers the second post-prison Burzum album in two years. With “Fallen”, Varg seems to dig back into the early Burzum material and delivers a very solid and impressive release with some upgrades to the older sound.

    One thing that will come as a huge shock for people expecting pure and raw Black Metal is the use of some clean vocals and humming. While this might seem confusing at first, it actually enhances the mood of the album greatly and makes the harsh vocal sections more grim and meaningful.

  • Svartpest – Mjodfest (2010)

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    With a story that reads like a soap opera (according to the press kit), today we have Norway’s Svartpest and their latest release “Modfest”. In this album we get 7 tracks of a mixture of Black Metal with some Viking/Folk influences that feels somewhat a bit undercooked, but decent enough to make an ok album.

    Taking 3 songs from their 99 demo (with the same title), the band gives us a total of 7 tracks that dramatically vary in quality, but have a few decent ones to call this album a ‘lukewarm’ success. We have nothing against such releases, but we think is kind of lame to rehash older songs for newer releases (unless you are a band with a long (and recognized) trajectory).

  • Liktjern - Kulde, Pest & Død (2011)

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    Hailing from Norway, today we have another Black Metal band popping out of the woods. Liktjern has been around since 1996 but due to tons of line-up changes and everything you can imagine, the band has never released any music until “Kulde, Pest & Død”, a very raw and ‘traditional sounding’ Black Metal MCD.

    As we are reviewing this album during a winter storm, we can surely state that this kind of Black Metal is just right for these moments. All 4 songs are raw and basic, a simplistic but rather traditional approach to the genre, but then again who said Black Metal is supposed to be pretty.

  • Helrunar – Sól (2011)

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    Today we have in our review queue Helrunar’s latest and most ambitious offering “Sól” a double-album that features 90 minutes of Black Metal with Folk elements and a great production in the hands of Markus Stock (Empyrium, The Vision Bleak). While the band has never been quite up there with the greats of the genre, this album has enough ambition to get them more attention.

    After a clam introduction, the CD1 quickly explodes into the anthemic “Kollapsar”. This song sets a very furious pace that unluckily the band is only able to keep up for some moments in the next tracks. Featuring very long songs (half of the band’s songs are over 8 minutes long) there are some moments of brilliance here and there, but they are drowned with mind numbing filler and traditional BM/Folk clichés.

  • Dornenreich – Flammentriebe (2011)

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    After gaining widespread popularity with their “Bitter ist's dem Tod zu dienen” album, one of the first ones to introduce Folkish elements with Black Metal back in 1999, the band has been constantly experimenting and releasing more and more interesting album every time. While plenty of people never understand the path of a band like this, we have loved almost every single album this band has put out.

    On “Flammentriebe”, the band returns to some of their most brutal roots and delivers one hell of an album.  Featuring 8 tracks of atmospheric neo-folk/classical metal with Black Metal attacks, Dornenreich makes it very hard for us to find a band that has done it before as graciously as them in this release. Each track is beautifully adorned with the amazing violin skills of Thomas Riesner and with Moritz Neuner back on drums, the sonic aggression never stops.

  • Ptahil – The Black Fire (2010)

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    In preparation for their upcoming full-length CD for Wraith Productions "For His Satanic Majesty's Glory", we get 3 crushing tracks of nihilistic Black/Doom Metal from one of USA’s newest and most diabolical bands. For 13 minutes we are transported to the depts. of hell, thanks to a raw and thick atmosphere that evolves you in full darkness.  

    With two new tracks and a cover of Beherit’s “Gate of Nanna”, this demo CD has enough sauce to keep fans going until their new album gets released. The crushing track “World Ablaze” kicks off this CD and immediately starts with blasting drums, hellish vocals and a very raw nature to the song that makes it highly effective. We are not sure that this will be the final mix and how the CD will sound, but we dig the rawness of this track.

  • Ptahil – Anti-Flesh Existence (2010)

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    “Anti-Flesh Existence” marks the band’s debut full-length album, but it only includes 3 tracks and the version we got for review has the two tracks of their “Ortus” EP (which we reviewed here http://www.infernalmasquerade.com/?q=reviews/00743-ptahil-ortus-2010). With such a weird way of presenting your first full-length, we will discuss these three brutal tacks in depth as part of this review.

    “In Ritual to Yam” we get an old school Black Metal track in the vein of Bathory, Venom, Hellhamer, etc. With such a raw and powerful sound it quickly makes and impact on the listener, but we feel that it’s somewhat sub-par compared to their songs in “Ortus”. However, this track does set the tone for the following aural assaults that will shake you out of your seat.

  • Belphegor – Blood Magick Necromance (2011)

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    On Belphegor’s 9th full-length studio release we found a very interesting dilemma, this album sounds crushing and in the same vein as the last few albums of the band, but yet we seem to be falling asleep while listening to it. While the band sounds as good as ever, we think that there is a big chunk of soul missing in this release.

    “Blood Magick Necromance” features another 40 minutes of Blephegor’s brutality and technical proficiency in the shape of devilish compositions that will rattle Christian souls, but it also lacks the raw energy and power they used to have in their earlier days. We have to agree that the album is not bad, but it’s by far one of the best of the band, since it seems like 70% filler and 30% ‘good shit’ only.

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