AERA - The Craving Within

#FOR FANS OF: Epic Black, Gorgoroth

Elaborating on its ambition with another drab album cover, AERA pans out from the flush foliage that made up a shroud of dark trees across nearly half of the black-contrasting-grey sky in order to reveal desolation as larger cloud formations impose themselves on shrinking bits of blackened earth. At first glance this enshadowed area is burned and gnarled, as though devastated by conflagration. However, this expanse of sky spans over the rolling hills and mists settle the gullies between. AERA has taken a step back to catch more light in its lens and now shows that even clearer in its latest offering.

With this clarity in an album cover comes a clarity in AERA's direction as well. Twisted and disturbing harmony expresses desolation through biting winds as “Skaldens Død” explodes with percussion sweeping up the treble as synth and screams become the second envelopment of a pincer on the razor sharp foreground. Crying frosty riffing swamps the atmosphere in “Frost Within” with a sound that could easily be accompanied by piano however it instead takes its tearing tone well into “Rite of Odin” keeping a flow together that reaches apogee and then succumbs to silence. While fury is the sound of the day in the first half of the album, ensuring that AERA's uncompromising black metal effect is just as palpable as it was in 'Of Forsworn Vows', the duo has now taken its time in a full-length to show a greater breadth in its music through the latter half that opens up the expanse to some color in this generally drab and flat presentation.

Establishing a new flow with a gruff chant, “Profetien” bears some martial characteristics similar to Gorgoroth's pummeling “Profetens Åpenbaring” before its march becomes blasted away with the airy shrieks and hammering blasting that fills its ethereal atmosphere with hints of Njiqadhha's relentless layering. Breaking into a quiet and somber chant to an acoustic guitar, the song turns from grief to vengeance as it resumes it marching pace. Slightly branching out with a new approach, “Profetien” shows that AERA is capable of creating a second movement within a song that thoroughly switches gears to bring more than one flat emotion to the forefront. Rage becomes supplanted with melancholy for a small sparkling interlude before Satyricon sawing comes through again to remind the listener of just how immersed into its space AERA remains, coming off again as bland and recycled rather than overwhelming, brutal, or evil. Just because the guitar is obnoxiously shrill in the mix, it doesn't make the music match up, especially considering this guitar still doesn't rise to the occasion of the shrillness of a Burzum or Demonaz album. Instead, this production ensures that its hazy sound is as flat as its delivery and the lacking bass end is just audible enough but still not very impactful. The only memorable things about “Profetien” are the pagan chanting at the beginning and the clarity of that almost Agalloch movement, the balls out black metal is boring with uninspired Satyricon scraps passionlessly and predictably performed, employed in strong formula but giving little reason for its application.

Luckily, an astute example of beautality comes in the vicious opening riff to “Join Me Tomorrow” before becoming a scramble of synth, searing cymbals, and shrieks climbing to an apogee of tension and harmony in its timbres to explore cavernous echo as well as a majestic landscape. Vocals as fierce and airy as Njiqadhha's, and an overall pace that shows some dynamism in AERA's approach rather than stagnates and stands in place makes this song hit much better than the samey opening songs while also providing a bit of commercial appeal to an album entranced with its esoteric ritual. The solo in “Join Me Tomorrow” comes through well erupting from the grain and the “wishing and hoping” screaming through the blast beating and wailing guitars calls to a bit of Gaahl era Gorgoroth while also calling to the album's title and elaborating on 'The Craving Within'. Though this song could be a great closer to the album, the zeal of “Norrøn Magi” keeps the album to a more folksy standard and ensures that the ethereal rise behind the fury reeks of Lustre and Alcest becoming beautality as it brings forth harmonious melody from the guitars, making them look to light and begin to stray from the searing tumult of darkness in tremolo ecstasy.

In a heartwarming turn of step, AERA has discovered an anthemic reach within the brutality of its very Satyricon inspired music. Reaching a new precipice in this combination of delicate melody accentuating its all-too-overt approach that has grown into flatness and insipidity has ensured an album balanced enough between its intense edge and its accessible accouterments to bring a meaningful menagerie of metal moments while enduring 'The Craving Within', a deep desire for some sort of inspiration that would make for a band actually worth an audience's time.

AERA knocked this album out of the park in a lot of ways. This is an album that is very bottom heavy in that its end tracks show off more personality and variety than the intense and atonally focused beginning, but that turn from the epic atmosphere and samey Satyricon tearing in “Skaldens Død” and “Frost Within” to the mid-paced and more anthemic sounds of “Profiten” and “Norrøn Magi” makes the album much more listenable and entertaining.

Still, AERA is nearly as dull as its album covers and though the band attempts a few bits of nuance in pagan chanting, clean interludes, a beautiful use of synth as it rises with the guitar in “Join Me Tomorrow”, and finally hits the right notes on “Norrøn Magi”, the finer points of the album are too little too late. The eternity of the first three tracks of near nothingness, the endless repetition of a basic and banal chord progression that was already cemented in 'Pure Holocaust' make for an album as derivative and repetitive as it is uninspired and annoying. AERA needs to become its own band because 'The Craving Within' is just so uncreative that it shows just how much of a hole black metal has dug for itself as all panache and flash is lost to stoically standing still holding a candelabra and pretending you're epic.

In spite of its fury early on and the anthemic turn toward the end of the album, 'The Craving Within' doesn't really ignite much of a passion resulting in an album that leaves as much an empty space as it joins the long list of bland bands that can tie a small interesting knot into another basic noose. (Five_Nails)

(ATMF - 2019)
Score: 70

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/the-craving-within

The Negative Bias - Lamentation of the Chaos Omega

#FOR FANS OF: Atmospheric Black

The Negative Bias is a rather young Austrian band formed in 2016. The band´s core is formed by only three members who are I.F.S (Wallachia and Rauhnåcht), S.T (Golden Dawn) and Florian Musil, but it’s completed by other four members during their live performances. The band´s lyrics are based on the cosmic mysticism, the abysmal darkness of the space and the coexistence between creation and death. Only one year from its inception, the band was able to release a first album entitled 'Lamentation of the Chaos Omega', with a quite eye-catching album artwork. I did like it because it’s a perfect visual representation of the aforementioned band´s conceptual inspiration.

Music wise The Negative Bias could be tagged as atmospheric black metal, but with a quite straightforward approach like the album opener “The Golden Key to a Pandemonium Kingdom” shows us. The guitar lines play a major role, always accompanied by a pretty solid and fast rhythmic section. The first half of the album follows a similar style: long songs with pretty long fast sections with a couple of tempo changes. The length of songs is pretty homogeneous with the exception of the third track, which is a quite short song. This track also differs a little bit from the rest of the compositions, due to the more distorted nature of the main riff. The vocals are the strongest aspect of this album though. I.F.S. achieves a quite strong vocal performance which varies from death metal esque vocals to a more “blackish” shrieks. I personally find the second half of the album the most interesting one, mainly because songs like “The Undisclosed Universe of Atrocities”, have a greater variety. This track has several twits and interesting riffs, besides some atmospheric sections which make it the best song of the cd. The album contains a purely atmospheric track which fails to enhance the album´s atmosphere due to its excessively lengthy duration. It has some good moments but it should have been shorter.

In conclusion, The Negative Bias first release is a decent album with some good moments, but I believe that it fails to represent the incommensurable darkness of the concept behind their music. What is more, when you take a look to the artwork you expect an album much darker than it really is. A good start for sure, but still with a great room to improve. (Alain González Artola)

(ATMF - 2017)

Score: 65

https://thenegativebias.bandcamp.com/releases

Talv - Entering a Timeless Winter

#FOR FANS OF: Depressive Black, Burzum

Talv is an Italian one-man project created back in 2012. Andrea is the sole musician behind this band coming from Milano. The project was previously created with a different name, Trees in the Fog, but he rapidly decided to change it for a much shorter name. Andrea´s purpose was to play black metal with a raw and discordant touch, but keepin always with an atmospheric approach. I am not very familiar with his previous stuff, but there is no doubt that dissonance played a main role on his early works. The vocals, for example, were recorded with several strange effects, though aesthetically they had a clear approach to what we usually can find in several DSBM bands.

Anyway, this third album starts a new era for Talv according to what Andrea says. Has Talv changed that much? Only in some aspects. The album itself is not aesthetically so different in comparison to the previous releases, the songs have again a mainly slow and repetitive tempo and they are quite long. “Dreaming a Funeral in Another Life” is the album opener and it lasts almost ten minutes. Its slow and repetitive tempo is something you will find in the whole album, and its purpose is clearly to create a hypnotic atmosphere. The other three tracks strictly follow the same pattern and the only difference can be found in the fifth song, a cover from the amazing German band Coldworld. This is a purely ambient track which serves as a nice and calm ending for the album. 

The main difference which makes 'Entering a Timeless Winter' a different beast from Talv´s previous efforts, is the production. This new work has a quite much lowered sound, with a quite raw yet atmospheric production. I would say that is the classic low-fi production we can find on bands which play DSBM with an intense atmospheric touch. I am not a great fan of this production, but I must admit that I prefer it over the more dissonant and noisy sound of the previous cds. The vocals sound indeed quite different as this production makes them sound less chaotic, and a little bit more buried in the production, anyway they can easily be listened to. His screams follow the typical pattern, tortured and repetitive screams which fit with the rest of the music. 

In conclusion, my impression is that Talv has left behind his more dissonant and discordant influences, at least if we talk about the production itself, and has immersed in a more traditional and low-fi atmospheric/depressive black metal, obviously influenced, in its repetitive and slow tempo, by Burzum. It’s not by any means an outstanding record but I personally consider it a step forward in the correct direction. Even though a little bit of variety would be more than welcome. Personally, I would strongly recommend a more dynamic instrumentation to make the music more interesting. Anyway, 'Entering a Timeless Winter' can be enjoyed if you dig this style and have the appropriate mood to immerse yourself in this anthem of endless despair. (Alain González Artola)

(ATMF - 2017)

Score: 55

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/entering-a-timeless-winter

Forgotten Woods - The Curse of Mankind

BACK IN TIME:

#FOR FANS OF: Atmospheric Black Metal, Burzum

I discovered this album ten years ago and it was already twelve years old at the time, twenty-two years after its original release and it is still one of the greatest works in black metal history. Along with a few bands such as Burzum, Forgotten Woods was the pioneer of the now called “depressive/suicidal black metal”, but if you listen to this mastodon record, you’ll find barely a gleam of that genre, the most notable being Thomas Torkelsen vocals, but 'The Curse of Mankind' is aggressive, heavy, ever-changing, challenging, epic and captivating.

A black metal masterpiece far away from the DSBM dull records, since it is not focused on those topics proper of this - at the time - unknown genre, 'The Curse of Mankind' is more melancholic, artistic and progressive. Every aspect of this record seems to be there for a specific reason, you can feel that the musicians were comfortable with each other, that the ideas flowed between them naturally. And even when the production was low-fi, you can listen and appreciate every instrument, even the bass line is perfectly listenable, the addition of acoustic guitars mixed with the raw distortion of the electric ones, make a perfect “forest-ish” ambiance. I feel that in this new edition where they improved the mastering a little, and the vocals, at least to me, sound better.

I don’t like labeling Forgotten Woods music as depressive black metal, because as you listen to their catalog, you realize their sound was violent, full of strength and passion, nevertheless they also expressed their sorrows through that music, with beautiful melodies and complex passages, so I have always said, Forgotten Woods plays melancholic black metal, a genre that obviously is non-existent, but I could name bands in the same vein being these ones: Dawn, Peste Noire, Drudkh, In the Woods… (first record), Miserere Luminis, Nagelfar (Germany), Angmar (France), Baptism (Finland), Vinterland and more; all of them share those aspects of aggressiveness, complex compositions, epic long hymns and sadness, but never falling into the depressive/suicidal department. Their music is, as I said, melancholic. Take 'La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la Dégénérescence' the first album by Peste Noire, it is raw, brutal, enigmatic and ruthless and even so there is beauty in the music, acoustic guitars, calm parts, moments of sadness and mourning, just followed by terrific guitar riffs that make you shake your head and start head-banging. And I could say the same of every other band mentioned before.

“Overmotets Pris” is a perfect example of the melancholic black metal genre I was talking about; it starts with a blast beat along with some trve black metal tremolo, after a few compasses it’s followed by a change of pace to let the grim vocals howl your ears, and that’s enough to create ambient, the next you know is they got back to the first tremolo for speed, after that you feel a very dark atmosphere emerging, but out of nowhere the rhythm change again, a beautiful arpeggio in acoustic guitar escorts the electric guitars in a slower tempo, clean spoken vocals hit you like a thunder, a new change, an enjoyable black metal/punk drumming follows, and your head is dancing to the music rhythm; we are only 3 minutes inside an almost 13 minutes length song, and it keeps growing, it keeps amazing you, there is no repetitiveness, no dull song writing, no boring structures in the music, is unpredictable, it is overwhelming. Not even a single second is wasted. There is beauty in darkness.

And the ending… God damn it! That ending! Near the minute nine of the song, you are already familiar with their music, they use that beautiful acoustic arpeggio from the beginning again and you are expecting the end as if an orgasm, as if it enough, but it is never enough for this geniuses, a black metal riff of war, full of power destroys the calm and it gives the song a new path, and it is not over yet, we get a new riff, the drummer is playing as if there is no structure in the music, then blast beats, all the strings creating a harmonic chaos, the vocals calling you from the abyss - silence - a bass line, here we go again with a malevolent riff, and before you know it, the song is over.

To me the only thing DSBM bands learned from Forgotten Woods was the vocal style, I’d like to know a depressive black metal band with such rich songs and complex music. Back then to my time a listened to a lot of DSBM, I know that scene, and there are great bands like Nyktalgia, Gris, Mourning Dawn, Penseés Nocturnes, Hinsidig just to name some of them, but check them in the encyclopaedia or their own pages and they play black metal, melancholic black metal if you ask me. Bands like Happy Days, Make a Change... Kill Yourself or Trist make slow, simple, long tedious songs, even Nocturnal Depression plays black metal! The only two true depressive bands I know capable or greatness are Silencer and Eiserne Dunkelheyt but they are long dead, I could mention Thy Light but they have only one song that is a monument to the genre. Anyway, I can’t see any other aspect DSBM bands took from this particular record to make it its flag as the pioneer of that music style.

One thing you need to know about 'The Curse of Mankind' is that it has a very particular song. “With Swans, I’ll Share My Thirst” is an unexpected piece of music in a black metal album. It is an instrumental song, after a lot of thinking I couldn’t decide on a genre, but it is just beautiful, you could say is classical rock, post-rock (ahead of its time) or even a folk/post-rock/avantgarde song, sounds crazy I know, but musically it is a piece of art, it starts sad and sullen, relaxing almost, but at the end is full of joy and grace, a mouth-organ (or harmonic) is the protagonist of the last part of the song. The first time I listened to it as a fifteen years old who wanted to be trve, I thought it was the weirdest thing it ever happened to an extreme metal album, he even thought it was a mistake, nevertheless he knew it was pure art, he knew it then and he knows it now. One of my lifetime favorite songs.

To close this masterpiece, we get the malevolent “The Velvet Room”, a song with a strong, evil leading guitar riff that takes you to hell, but enough catchy to enjoy and headbang to it. The drums in this song are superb, kind of a jazz effort; I challenge you to predict them even after listening to the song several times. A true masterwork.

In conclusion, 'The Curse Of Mankind' is a must listen not only for black metal enthusiast, but for extreme metal fans in general, as it has everything a metal album must have, great guitar riffs, long songs, terrific vocal efforts, a cohesive collection of tracks, challenging paces and rhythms and some kind of magic it'll make you say it is a classic. (Alejandro Morgoth Valenzuela)

(ATMF - 1996/2018)
Score: 90

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/the-curse-of-mankind

Digir Gidim - I Thought There Was the Sun Awaiting My Awakening

#FOR FANS OF: Cosmic Black, Deathspell Omega

I decided to check this record out for the great cover art and the superb title, I mean 'I Thought There Was the Sun Awaiting My Awakening' sounds truly epic and interesting. However, my expectations were too high for this album. Digir Gidim plays a dissonant black metal with cosmic and space influences from the genre, also evoking bands such as Deathspell Omega and The Ruins of Beverast, just to mention a couple. Their music is dense and complex at times, but repetitive and just too long in some other parts. And this can be a problem, I struggled to listen to the whole album at once, the massive tracks and the music production makes the album way to heavy and boring throughout.

The first track is twelve minutes long, I personally enjoy long anthems and long records, but I couldn’t properly enjoy this one due to the structure of its songs. “The Revelation of the Wandering”, for example, plays with the same idea over and over again, this done properly can create a masterpiece but a gifted and experienced mind is needed to succeed in this craft. "Det Som En Gang Var" from Burzum’s 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' is a great example of a repetitive but great song.

The production and the mix of this work is decent for the genre, nevertheless after several sessions listening to the album with high-quality headsets, I couldn’t determinate if the drums were programmed or played with a proper drum set, at times the sound of the percussions is sharp and organic such as the double bass passages, but the blast beat sounds electronic at full speed. Maybe it is just the mastering and echoing sound they used for the final work, or Utanapištim Ziusudra is a capable drummer I’m misjudging.

“The Glow Inside the Shell” is the highlight of the album, the best song in music, structure and composition. With this track Digim Gidim delivers what — I think — they wanted to do with the whole album: truly enjoyable epic music that invites to reflection and deep thoughts, forcing the listener to put all his attention to every single note they play which are leading our journey. Clean chants, dissonant guitars, bestial drumming and a distant synth create the cosmic ambiance the art cover and the album title evokes.

'I Thought There Was the Sun Awaiting My Awakening' is filled with good ideas and great execution of the black metal art. However, it fails at delivering reflective and meditational long enjoyable anthems, saved for a couple outstanding songs, the album is a good debut album that could have been a marvelous one if they only had shortened some songs and sacrificed some notions and vices of the genre. Anyway, this band is a promising addition we must keep an eye on.(Alejandro Morgoth Valenzuela)

(ATMF - 2017)
Score: 65

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/i-thought-there-was-the-sun-awaiting-my-awakening

Devlsy - Private Suit

#FOR FANS OF: Post Black, Altar of Plagues

Post-black metal is one of those genres that I find too trendy and too hip to listen to. To tell you all frankly, there is only one post-black metal band that I dig, and that is the already split up trio of Ireland’s Altar of Plagues. The band’s first two full-lengths, 'White Tomb' and 'Mammal', are the perfect example of how to create a black metal album that emphasizes more experimentation and a creative expression than other forms.

Today, we have a Lithuanian band named Devlsy who attempted to pull off what Altar of Plagues had achieved with their early releases. However, what Devlsy put out with their sophomore studio record 'Private Suit' had failed to accomplish the standard craftsmanship of their forefather. 'Private Suit' is a record containing a distinctive stylistic blend of post-rock, a little touch of doom along with gothic metal, and of course black metal.

While the album has that upside on its enthralling aura, its overall quality is nothing unique to the post-black metal category. Right from the beginning of the album, the listeners are presented with extensive post-rock strumming which is collaborated with generic blast beats eruption shortly after. There are a reasonable amount of tremolo riffs used in here, but it is just basically to try and catch the listeners attention in an attempt to not make them feel bored. Yes, there is a perceptible presence of black metal ingredient here, but it is not that powerful.

The guitar riffs, while semi-hypnotic in some ways, are very dry and tedious. It is pretty much that generic two-chord riff passages that we can usually hear in a lot of predominant corporate rock-style black metal bands. The riffs are repetitive, irritating, boring, overblown, and just do absolutely nothing special at all. They never progress and they aren’t aggressive. Undoubtedly, the massive sound and sludgy twist of the bass played its part in putting across an emotional meaning behind the tracks in their proposal. It is the only element in the album that gives the whole thing decency. It sets the mood and plays as a solid undercurrent throughout the whole playing time of this release.

We head to the drum part of this material, where it solely depends on the hard-hitting approach of the band’s drummer. There is nothing much exceptional about his style, as the drummer only utilizes those typical blasts that most bands in this genre had engineered and mastered for the duration of their existence. The vocals are also a bit annoying. The roars and spooky wails are kind of bearable, but the soft hissing and clean vocal transition in an effort to change the mood of the songs, ruined the whole thing.

Album mixing is crystal clear, as expected to those records coming out under the post-black metal tag. Almost every instrument is hearable in most of the parts, and their tone holds well together, nothing sounds majorly out of place. The songwriting is tedious, there are no particular frame of mind to the songs, and they don’t have a substantial story to tell. The band undeniably lacks of introspection and presentation while fabricating this material, because the composition of the tracks sounds bland.

To conclude, Devlsy had produced an album not so brilliant, with 'Private Suite'. Maybe if the band had gone to a more straightforward atmospheric black metal manner with this offer, they would have pulled it off and assembled an acceptable release. However, it is evident that these guys have a great potential to become good musicians, it is just disappointing to know that at this point in their career, they are not doing an effort to focus on improving more on the facets that they have odds-on mastering. (Felix Sale)

(ATMF - 2017)
Score: 55

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/private-suite-2

Corpus Diavolis - Atra Lumen

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Death

'Atra Lumen' is the third full-length studio record of the French black/death metal horde Corpus Diavolis. To those of you who haven't heard of the band yet, they have been offering one of the most veiled and dismal extreme music materials in the French underground for nine odious years. But unlike most of the bands playing in the genre of hybridized black and death metal, Corpus Diavolis renders a more catastrophic mixture of black metal and death metal elements; complemented with some heavy amount of ponderous doom segments.

This is actually my first time listening to a whole album produced by the band. I wasn't really aware of their existence until my mate Franz, of The Pit of the Damned, introduced me to them by giving me a copy of the band's third studio offering. The moment I got access to the band's material, I immediately got hooked on their brand of obscure doom-laden black/death metal music.

First thing that one can notice about this album is the dusky and extremely foul ambiance that each song provides. The vibe that the eight tracks carry yields a very heavy feel into the overall output of the album. Both the slow-paced and mid-paced sections of album were impeccably executed by Corpus Diavolis. There are even a number of fast paced moments in the album, where the band has shown quite some skill when they've put their focus on it.

The down-tuned guitars assemble grotesque riffs that flow through the forty-four minute run of the record. These riffs strike hard, and it's as if they shake the earth with such abominable force as to open the gates of hell and sink the whole humanity to dust. But even with its low-tuned pitch, both guitars were still able to deliver some clear death and black metal fragments in the mix.

The drum work in the album might not be the most complex or esoteric drumming that you'll hear in the extreme metal genre, but it bears a dense and igniting zest that will certainly take its audiences to a chest-pumping and headbanging barrage. Plus, the drum blast beats don't stay stagnant the whole time, but show a great variety of form by the drummer, bringing a more varied approach in the whole offering.

Another upside about this release is the ancestral black metal harsh screeches and ritualistic temperament on the vocal part. I love it when a band's front man does not overdo his role in that area. The more straightforward it is, the more it gives a fitting outcome. Production wise, the record also does not fall short in that category. Everything in here was mixed well, and it highlighted every aspect that the band wanted to in the release.

I also find the record's album cover very fascinating. It might not be as radiant or evil as the other art covers in the extreme music realm, but it put on to view the utmost darkness and anguish that one should expect in a material put out by Corpus Diavolis. Well, after all, it does not take an expert on arts to recognize an exquisite handwork.

To cut this review short, 'Atra Lumen' is an opus packed with utter darkness and black art influence. This is worth the money to purchase, and it's one of the finest offerings under the black/death metal genre that I have listened to in a while. (Felix Sale)

(ATMF - 2017)
Score: 75

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/atra-lumen

ÆRA - Of Forsworn Vows

#FOR FANS OF: Black, Emperor, Satyricon

"An Affirmation of Forsworn Vows" astutely builds its intensity to blasting height with a grating guitar texture that becomes a template for devastation later in the song. In regular black metal fashion, the tireless strings fill the air with choking clouds of sawdust as ÆRA extracts beautiful moments out of the ever-shredding grain beneath each riffing stroke. ÆRA 's rough and tumble black metal sound makes for good battle music when it erupts in fury before diving deeper into entangling its lead riff around a trestle table celebrating victory.

With plenty of atmospheric synth, a jagged juxtaposition of dragging tempo and raging temperament, and a hypnotically repetitive style that consistently forces itself onward to the next great change, this band concisely and distinctively demonstrates its handle of some of black metal's most recognizable aspects throughout 'Of Forsworn Vows'. Plenty of cymbal crashes and tinks cut through the wailing walls of guitar in the most intense moments of “Litany of Iron I: Ancient Graves of the Fallen – II: Rekindled Fires” before entering into the hall of a Satyricon style riff. ÆRA lyrically touches on notions of living and dying by the sword while surrounded by fallen brethren, ancestral rites to lands that face relentless savage sabotage, and metaphysical slaughters across mythical worlds that mimic diabolical discord on Earth. Though the band's name may translate to honor in Icelandic, the extensive violence described in “Die Wulvsara (Am Ende der Zeit)” shows that little honor will result from Ragnarok, but with how tremendous the battle is promised to be there is no place that anyone would rather be. There is elegance in this closing track as the percussion hammers home the wailing lead riff and its sobbing rhythm rejoinder while a synth backdrop uplifts the impact of the charge through Emperor's echos. After nearly eight minutes of a slow-moving build to the battle, the pieces are all set to take each other in a fierce exchange that leaves no sword unbloodied and no winner atop the mountain of carnage.

ÆRA has a first start that frequently hits at moments of Satyricon and Drudkh through this hypnotizing EP. With a good handle on their black metal and a raw production that affirms this proud and open-ended atmosphere, it will be an interesting evolution to hear how this group climbs further up the stairs of speed and momentum to materialize a monumental sound in the treble-tinned ears of black metal fans. (Five_Nails)

(ATMF - 2017)
Score: 75

https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/of-forsworn-vows

Bauda - Euphoria… Of Flesh, Men and the Great Escape

#PER CHI AMA: Post Rock/Shoegaze, *Shels, Archive

L’avevo scritto qualche mese fa, in occasione della recensione della loro prima release, che un vocalist avrebbe giusto fatto comodo ai cileni Bauda, ed eccomi accontentato. Il terzetto di Santiago torna con un nuovo lavoro, tra l’altro fuori per l’italianissima ATMF e signori miei, tanto di cappello, per una release finalmente davvero interessante. Apertura affidata a “Ghosts of Panthalassa”, song che sembra estrapolata da un disco dei post rockers inglesi Archive (penso ad “Again” tratto da “You All Look the Same to Me”), traccia estremamente delicata, che esplode solo in un dirompente finale e che mi fa esultare per la nuova direzione artistica intrapresa dall’act sudamericano. Ci siamo sotto tutti i fronti: l’espressività della voce (che richiama appunto il vocalist degli Archive – un plauso quindi a César Màrquez), l’emozionalità della musica, che abbandonate le strumentali divagazioni folk depressive degli esordi, ora resta costantemente ancorata ad ammalianti e malinconici territori post rock/shoegaze, tessendo dei brani stracolmi di un’espressività inaudita e, splendida a tal proposito, “Humanimals”. Preparati anche tecnicamente e dotati di uno spiccato gusto estetico che si esplica attraverso gli otto momenti qui contenuti, i Bauda sanno come stupirmi e come conquistarmi: in “Silouettes” è ad esempio, il magnetico suono di un basso accompagnato da un’aggressiva chitarra acustica mi tengono concentrato sul sound travolgente, di quella che potrei definire la vera sorpresa del 2012. In questa song, il trio sud americano non nasconde neppure il proprio amore per i suoni post metal, con un finale incandescente. Con “Oceanìa”, i nostri tornano a dipingere paesaggi indefiniti, desertici, quasi i Bauda volessero fotografare, attraverso la loro musica, il desolante deserto dell’Atacama, punteggiato da quelle che sono, tra le più alte vette montane del Sud America. Brividi si, percorrono il mio corpo. Questo è l’effetto meraviglioso del sound, estremamente già maturo di quest’ensemble, che in “The Great Escape” invece, coglie gli insegnamenti di un’altra delle mie band favorite, gli *Shels, e offre dei suoni post rock assai evocativi ed ispirati. Nonostante la lunghezza dei brani, i Bauda non annoiano mai, aggrovigliano con la loro musica, i miei pensieri, conducendomi in posti assai lontani. In “Ascension” ecco emergere forte l’eco dei Pink Floyd, con una bellissima base di pianoforte, su cui la seducente voce di César Màrquez concede il meglio di se stessa. “Euphoria… Of Flesh, Men and the Great Escape” riserva una sorpresa dopo l’altra, fino alla conclusiva notturna (direi ambient) “… Mare Nostrvm? (El Llanto de Quintay)” che suggella, a mio parere, uno degli album più intensi dell’ultimo periodo e che va a candidarsi per ricoprire un posto nella mia personale top ten di questo 2012. Un’altra uscita da “top player” targata ATMF. Complimenti! (Francesco Scarci)

(ATMF / A Sad Sadness Song)
Voto: 85

 

http://www.baudarketypes.cl/ 

An Autumn for Crippled Children - Only the Ocean Knows

#PER CHI AMA: Black Shoegaze, Dark, Alcest, Heretoir, Les Discrets

Che il terzo album di una band sia sempre quello della conferma ed eventuale consacrazione, è ormai luogo comune e assai diffuso, pertanto lo riterrò estremamente importante nella valutazione di questo nuovo capitolo degli olandesi An Autumn for Crippled Children, che mi avevano incuriosito con la loro prima prova, “Lost”, addirittura elettrizzato con la seconda release, “Everything”, e ora… E ora prosegue il personalissimo percorso dell’enigmatico trio di Friesland, con “Only the Ocean Knows”, un lavoro che ancora una volta si pone super partes per quanto riguarda la catalogazione del genere proposto. Ascoltando solo la musica infatti, potrei immaginare un fantomatico ibrido costituito dal dark sound dei The Cure, punk e shoegaze; poi non appena Mchl ci mette il suo grugnito malvagio, ecco apparire anche la componente black, per un risultato eccitante per chi adora suoni senza tempo e all’insegna della sperimentazione più avanguardistica. Colpiscono nel segno i nostri, per quanto si rischi di mal digerire l’utilizzo dello screaming, che su questa tipologia di musica sembra talvolta essere fuori posto; l’avrei visto bene infatti alternato con delle vocals pulite simil Alcest o Les Discrets. Ma non è certo un problema, e sicuramente non inficerà la mia valutazione finale, in quanto quello che più mi emoziona sono i suoni oscuri, disperati e tenebrosi che imperversano nel cd. “Past Tense”, ma soprattutto “Yes I know…” danno immediatamente sfoggio della bravura degli AAFCC, bravi nell’amalgamare le sonorità appena citate, con un’attitudine decisamente post rock, identificabile nella carica malinconica di cui è pregno il disco. Ascoltandolo e riascoltandolo, ho identificato nel basso l’elemento catalizzante, un basso che svolge un lavoro incredibile in fase ritmica, sostituendo a tutti gli effetti, quello che normalmente fanno le chitarre, qui decisamente in secondo piano. Di rilievo anche la performance delle keys, capaci di donare un forte pathos all’intero album: basti pensare alla fantastica ariosa apertura posta sul finire di “This Garden These Trees”, che vale da sola l’acquisto del cd. L’avrete già intuito, a me questo cd piace e non poco. Tutti i pezzi hanno qualcosa da donare: “In February” ad esempio è una song estremamente triste, cosi come pure la title track, che vive sul binomio tastiere/basso, su cui finiscono per stagliarsi le urla disumane del vocalist. Decadenti, autunnali, l’ideale colonna sonora dell’autunno che incombe. E io mi lascio avvolgere da queste tiepide sensazioni, come se la musica degli AAFCC, fosse una calda coperta che mi protegge dal freddo, davanti ad uno scoppiettante camino. Ultima citazione per “Uncurable”, una song che porta dentro di sé tutto quel feeling dark di fine anni ’70, che i primissimi The Cure, quelli di “Three Imaginary Boys”, incarnavano. Album estremamente interessante per chi è dotato di ampie vedute. E al traguardo del terzo lavoro, gli An Autumn for Crippled Children passano fortunatamente indenni. Avanti cosi. (Francesco Scarci)

(ATMF)

Voto: 80

https://www.facebook.com/pages/An-Autumn-For-Crippled-Children/108017119243983

Kommandant - The Draconian Archetype

#PER CHI AMA: Black Industrial, Aborym, Marduk

Ecco l’album che mi sarei aspettato come seguito di “Generator” degli Aborym, ma che in realtà non ha mai visto la luce. È il lavoro dei blacksters americani che rispondono al nome di Kommandant, che approdati alla nostrana, e sempre più attenta ATMF, rilasciano questo secondo lp, intitolato “The Draconian Archetype”, che al sottoscritto è piaciuto un botto. Eh si, come non si può notare la componente industrial black tipica della band italica, traslata nel sound ferale dei nostri? “We are the Angels of Death” apre, sgorgando malvagità, da ogni suo pertugio; la ritmica è quella convulsa e serrata di Fabban e soci, un black convulso, nichilista, contrappuntato da oscure melodie. Il maligno si impossessa subito della mia anima, sbarro gli occhi privati della pupilla e dell’iride. Mi sento un androide catapultato in un futuristico mondo, quello immaginario di Ridley Scott, di “Blade Runner”. Magniloquenti le atmosfere nonostante un riffing scarno e acuminato che mi assale con ferocia, non concedendomi il benché minimo attimo di tregua, con le vocals, screaming, cibernetiche, epiche ed evocative che siano, ad affiancare il selvaggio correre della parte strumentistica. Mostruosi. Annichilenti. Magnetici. Le song spazzano via ogni cosa nel loro terrificante incedere: “Victory Through Intolerance” e la granitica quanto mai ipnotica “Downfall”, mi sconquassano con sommo piacere. “Hate is Strenght” ci avvolge con il suo sound cupo, dato dal fragore martellante di un drumming ossessivo ed enigmatico. Il ritmo si fa sempre più oltranzista con le successive tracce, a botte di blast beats e riff glaciali di scuola norvegese; forse è qui che i nostri rischiano di perdere un po’ della propria brillante verve, dimostrata sinora. Niente paura, perché con “Call of the Void”, torna l’anima più spettrale, al contempo spietata, dei Kommandant. Mi piacciono, lo ribadisco senza alcun timore. Sicuramente non condivido la decisione di affrontare tematiche che puzzano lontano un miglio di ideologie politiche estremiste, tuttavia “The Draconian Archetype” merita decisamente un vostro attento ascolto. Militareschi! (Francesco Scarci)

(ATMF)
Voto: 75

http://www.facebook.com/Kommandantofficial

Aquilus - Griseus

#PER CHI AMA: Black Orchestrale, Progressive, Colonne Sonore, Opeth, Morricone

Ne Obliviscaris, Germ, Woods of Desolation ed ora quest’ultimi Aquilus… potremo quasi parlare di New wave of Australian metal, una schiera di band che hanno ricevuto la pesante eredità degli ormai disciolti e fenomenali Alchemist e che portano avanti un discorso di metal assai sofisticato a 360°. Aquilus quindi nelle pagine del Pozzo a soverchiare ogni amante della musica metal, con la loro lunghissima proposta di metal emozionale, che strizza l’occhio al progressive sound degli Opeth, all’ambient di Burzum, alle colonne sonore di Ennio Morricone, senza dimenticare la musica classica dei grandi maestri dell’800. Ragazzi, Aquilus è un progetto che per la sua complessità e per i suoi significati intrinseci, non farà altro che lasciarvi a bocca aperta per le sfumature musicali in grado di emanare, e mi dà enorme gioia vedere come un’altra attenta etichetta italiana abbia potuto fare centro in un modo cosi eclatante. Bravi i ragazzi dell’ATMF Production ad aver assoldato questa one man band che risponde in realtà a Mr. Horace Rosenqvist, uomo dotato di una personalità fuori dal comune, capace di concepire una simile opera d’arte che solo con la prima eccezionale song, “Nihil”, mostra le immense doti a propria disposizione, miscelando un inizio che si barcamena tra sonorità sinfoniche e qualcosa di più estremo, prima di abbandonarsi ad una lunga epica e sontuosa parte orchestrale, da lasciare senza fiato. Sono strabiliato dalla proposta del mastermind australiano, ma la strada per giungere al termine di questa release è lunga e lastricata di splendide sorprese. Ed è cosi che si apre “Loss”, altro brano che fa delle atmosfere sognanti, il suo punto di forza, prima di cedere il passo a parti black sinfoniche, con gracchianti growling vocals, sorrette da ariose e sinuosi parti ambientali, costituite da pianoforte ed eleganti arpeggi. Un po’ più dei Dimmu Borgir più orchestrali, molto vicini alle colonne sonore dei grandi maestri del passato e del presente, più oscuri di entità estrema quali Emperor o Limbonic Art, più strazianti dei gods del death doom, quali My Dying Bride o Saturnus, gli Aquilus sbaragliano in ogni modo la concorrenza, sfoderando una prova a dir poco magistrale, fatta di suadenti melodie, ritmi da brivido, emozioni che a poco a poco scalano i miei sensi fino a raggiungere un’orgasmica vetta, che credevo fino ad oggi irraggiungibile. La successiva “Smokefall” ha tutti gli elementi per evocare il sound degli Opeth e forse nel primo minuto e mezzo, è anche quella che mi convince meno, ma niente paura perché il nostro amico Horace poi, al solito, parte per la tangente e troverà il modo di disorientarci con le sue trovate a dir poco originali. E cosi lentamente si prosegue nell’ascolto di questo lavoro assai camaleontico, che ha il pregio di evolvere brano dopo brano, scaldarmi il cuore, riempirmi di gioia, ma anche tanta malinconia come la struggente “In Lands of Ashes”. Meraviglioso. In Australia deve esserci gran fermento nell’ultimo periodo perché insieme alla Francia rappresenta la nazione che sta sfornando il maggior numero di band interessanti. Con “Latent Thistle” capisco che l’amico “aussie” si trova a proprio agio anche in frangenti più propriamente death metal; certo non pensate di trovarvi chissà che cosa in mano di estremo, tanto è sfuggevole la proposta del bravo Horace, che sguscia come un’anguilla nelle nostre mani, tanto l’eclettismo palesato anche in quest’altra song, come anche nelle successive che via via si susseguono nel corso di un lavoro che stupirà non poco gli addetti ai lavori, ma che mi sento in obbligo di suggerire a tutti gli amanti di sonorità metal, black, prog, death, neo-folk, classic, heavy, thrash, gothic, post o dark che siano… tanto tutto convoglia dentro a questo fantasmagorico lavoro che equiparo senza alcun timore, per classe, idee, originalità e mille altre sfaccettature, all’album d’esordio dei connazionali Ne Obliviscaris. Australia, ultima frontiera per il metal, la fermata è obbligatoria! (Francesco Scarci)

(ATMF)
Voto: 90

 

http://www.facebook.com/AquilusMusic 

Visthia - In Aeternum Deleti

#PER CHI AMA: Misanthropic Black Avantgarde, Aborym

Quando dico che il black metal in Italia è in ascesa, ne ho ben donde, grazie anche a band quali i Visthia, che non temono di andare controcorrente, oltre i confini della sperimentazione. In questo caso stiamo parlando di un black dai tratti abbastanza canonici in fatto di brutalità. Il quartetto siculo propone infatti un sound, la cui fiamma nera arde che è un piacere, ma presenta un tratto distintivo, non da poco: il tutto è infatti cantato rigorosamente in latino e in italiano e tra una sfuriata e l’altra, sono le articolate e dissonanti sonorità a farla da padrone, quasi la proposta dei nostri fosse tinta di suoni avanguardistici. Quel che è certo, è che i Visthia non sono una band comune; sebbene nell’ultimo periodo in Italia impazzi, per mia somma gioia, la moda di cantare in lingua madre, i nostri probabilmente sono tra i primi ad aver inaugurato questo modo di interpretare la musica, ancora diversi anni fa. Tralasciando quelli che sono i tratti tipicamente black dell’album e quindi tutte le consuete ritmiche serrate con la batteria che corre più veloce del fulmine, influenzate dalla tradizione svedese (Dark Funeral), ciò che più cattura maggiormente la mia attenzione e accresce la mia stima nei confronti di questi misantropi della solare Sicilia, sono quelle parti mid tempo assai rallentate, in cui si possono scorgere i tratti tipici di una forma di musica estrema, caratteristica distintiva del patrimonio italico, che ho già potuto scorgere in act, quali Aborym, Inchiuvatu o Deadly Carnage. Ottime le vocals, sia in chiave scream/growl, ma soprattutto in versione pulita, che declamano in modo solenne, una forma di disprezzo cosmico, come una sorta di Virgilio inferocito col mondo. Ammaliante poi quel riffing di matrice nordica, un po’ in stile Unanimated che, al pari di una sega circolare che sta tagliando lentamente le ossa di una gamba, palesa lo stesso stridore, mentre ricama quei lenti riffs assassini. Difficile segnalare una song piuttosto di un’altra, visto che comunque il livello esecutivo e compositivo si mantiene comunque sempre piuttosto elevato. Italia, casa nostra, sinonimo di fierezza; non è più necessario guardare casa altrui con somma invidia, la scena è florida e potente, anche grazie ai Visthia. (Francesco Scarci)

(ATMF)
Voto: 75

 

http://www.facebook.com/visthia