Ringarë - Under Pale Moon

#FOR FANS OF: Symph Black, Emperor, Limbonic Art

'Under Pale Moon' is the debut album by the new project Ringarë. Have I said new? Well, in fact it’s not by any means a new project. Ringarë is created as a continuation of the long time inactive band Ringar, which was founded in 2004 by Esoterica and Anomalous in Nashville, USA. The duo recorded tons of material for the first effort, which was never released. Some of those compositions were used for Chaos Moon, a side project of Esoterica, while many other creations where laid in rest in shadows. Fortunately, the obscure creature that Ringar was, evolved and resurrected under a new moniker, Ringarë, now with a new member known as Likpredikaren, who takes the duties of the vocals. The reinvigorated duo took those old creations and some new ones and started to record the never born debut album. After months of work and courtesy of the underground label Iron Bonehead Records, 2019 is the year when we can finally taste what the musical vision of those members have to offer. But don´t be fooled by the calendar, once you start listening to 'Under Pale Moon' you begin a time travel back to the '90s.

'Under Pale Moon' could have easily been released alongside classic works like Emperor´s debut, Dimmu Borgir´s 'Stormblast' or Limbonic Art´s imperial debut 'Moon in the Scorpio'. As you can imagine, based on the aforementioned influences, Ringarë’s core sound is a undoubtedly synth-drenched black metal with the distinctive raw production of those old creations. But this first opus has perhaps a more drowning and underground sound, which perfectly fits the monumental and long four creations which conform this impressive debut. The keys are perfectly audible, but they have the necessary subtle nuance not to be overpresented while they are accompanied by the guitars, screams and drums. Anyway, there are moments where the synths have their own moment to shine between the vast darkness, like it happens in several moments of the album. Just listen to the immersive experience that the closing track “Through Forest and Fog” is, where those keys transport you to an ancient castle in a distant realm. This truly hypnotizing and spectral section is also accompanied by some fuzzy guitars, which add a tasteful touch of rawness but without destroying the ethereal and mystic experience. Ringarë surely knows how to mix ferocious sections where the guitars play a major role, while Likpredikaren’s classic yet excellently executed shrieks give us goosebumps, and calmer parts, where the mighty keys have always a distinguishable and excellent melody, which make those memorable tracks even better. All the compositions flow between these aforementioned different sides of Ringarë’s sound with a tasteful naturalness. This aspect makes clear that both members have a remarkable talent to create very well composed songs, which is obviously essential to create a ripping work.

The most obvious conclusion with Ringarë´s debut 'Under Pale Moon' is that the wait was worth of it. This is an excellent debut with purely dark yet truly beautiful and majestic compositions, where the keys play an essential role. Anyway, the compositions themselves are excellent with the classic raw and hypnotic aura of the '90s, which I always welcome. (Alain González Artola)

 

(Iron Bonehead Records - 2019)

Score: 88

https://ringare.bandcamp.com/album/under-pale-moon

Dakhma - Hamkar Atonement

#PER CHI AMA: Esoteric Black/Death/Doom, Aevangelist

Non è la prima volta che dalla Svizzera ci arrivano band dedite ad un metal estremo dai forti connotati esoterici. Era già successo lo scorso anno con i Lvx Hæresis e gli Arkhaeon, accade oggi con i Dakhma, duo proveniente da Zurigo, affiliato all'Helvetic Underground Committee, e dedito, ancor più dei precedenti, ad un ritualistico sound, che sin dall'incipit "The Glorious Fall of Ohrmazd (Hail Death, Triumphant)", sembra voler celebrare un qualche rito legato alla tradizione zoroastra. Il moniker dei nostri si rifà infatti alla lingua avestica, oggi conosciuta come il linguaggio liturgico dello Zoroastrismo, in particolare come lingua dell'Avestā, il libro sacro di tale religione. Qui Dakhma sta ad indicare le Torri del Silenzio, ossia impalcature in legno e argilla esposte all'aria che servivano per l'eliminazione dei cadaveri, esposti ai fenomeni atmosferici e divorati dagli uccelli rapaci. Gli undici minuti e passa dell'opener sono nella prima metà occupati da vocals che, comeanticipavo, sembrano provenire da un qualche rito occulto, mentre nella seconda, ecco scatenarsi l'inferno con un extreme death claustrofobico che strizza l'occhiolino ad Aevangelist, Portal ed Disembowelment, in uno spigoloso e mortifero sound tritaossa che si palesa in spaventose accelerazioni, vocals d'oltretomba e atmosfere mefitiche. A dir poco mostruosi. Eccolo il biglietto da visita di questo 'Hamkar Atonement' che bissa con i quasi dodici minuti di "Akhoman (Spill the Blood)", song bestiale che si affida a delle accelerazioni arrembanti, smorzate da improvvise frenate che spezzano un ritmo incessante ed indemoniato, da cui sono impossessati i due loschi figuri, H.A.T.T. e Kerberos, che si celano dietro a questa tremebonda band. La song è oscura, ne percepisco la malvagità, forse collegata al tema portante del disco. Con "Varun (Of Unnatural Lust)", la musica dei nostri assume connotati etnico-tribali, con la song inizialmente affidata ad un'intensa base percussiva, prima di un veemente assalto death, in cui oltre a decantare l'ottima performance a livello vocale di Kerberos, vorrei sottolineare la prodigiosa tecnica di H.A.T.T. alla batteria, cosi come pure quelle scariche di imbizzarite chitarre scarificanti. Sono senza fiato e non abbiamo nemmeno raggiunto la metà, visto che il disco dura circa 70 minuti e noi siamo a quasi mezz'ora. Eppure, nonostante la monoliticità di un sound ammorbante, grosso e deflagrante, i brani scivolano via piuttosto velocemente. Penso ai devastanti 11 minuti di "Nanghait (Born of Fire)", un perfetto mix di violenza, tecnica e lucida follia, un delirio musicale che vede nelle profonde decelerazioni, i punti di massima espressione dei due musicisti elvetici, quando il loro death/black ferino s'incastra alla perfezione con un doom funerario ed evocative vocals che sembrano calarci in un qualche tempio del fuoco persiano. Suggestivo non poco, ancor di più in "Spendarmad (Holy Devotion)", una vera e propria celebrazione rituale, che prepara al penultimo atto dell'album, "Gannag Menog (Foul Death, Triumphant)" e altri 10 minuti abbondanti di sonorità abominevoli che nelle transizioni chitarristiche, richiamano sempre più evidentemente, i primi Morbid Angel, mentre nel più celebrativo atto conclusivo, colpisce l'attitudine corale dei nostri. A chiudere in modo degno 'Hamkar Atonement', ecco arrivare un'altra maratona musicale, i sedici minuti di "...of Great Prophets", che oscurano definitivamente la luce del sole e ci introducono alla tenebre della notte, con un'altra song paurosa che celebra le enormi doti di questi Dakhma. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2018)
Voto: 75

https://dakhmacavern.bandcamp.com/

Funerary Torch - S/t

#PER CHI AMA: Black/Doom, Disembowelment

Progetto australo (IV dei Ill Omen)/cileno (Daniel Desecrator dei Slaughtbbath) quello dei Funerary Torch che approdano alla Iron Bonehead Productions con questa demotape di due pezzi votati ad un mortifero black death. "Into Fathomless Oblivion" è il biglietto da visita per questo duo internazionale: un sound claustrofobico che prende la vena più plumbea e orrorifica degli Ill Omen e la combina con il black più intransigente degli Slaughtbbath. Il risultato è dato da poco più di 10 minuti di suoni e atmosfere spettrali, in cui le terrificanti vocals del frontman rimbombano come quelle di un fantasma in un castello infestato e le chitarre regalano raggelanti ritmiche da incubo, emulando le precedenti gesta di una band quale i Disembowelment. Il tutto si evince ancor di più ascoltando la seconda "Epiphanies From Misanthropic Slumber" e le sue ambientazioni da brivido, corredate da un riffing corposo e profondo. Peccato solo per una registrazione alquanto casalinga, che sembra essere ormai un marchio di fabbrica per l'etichetta tedesca. Nonostante tutto, intriganti. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Prod. - 2018)
Voto: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/funerary-torch-funerary-torch

Finis - Visions of Doom

#PER CHI AMA: Black/Death, Celtic Frost

'Visions of Doom' è l'EP d'esordio dei teutonici Finis, che arrivano a questo traguardo dopo aver rilasciato un demotape nel 2016, intitolato 'At One with Nothing'. La band tedesca, di cui poco si sa a livello di line-up e città di origine, si affida a tre pezzi per provare a conquistare l'audience. Il genere è un seminale black death che partendo dagli albori dei Celtic Frost sembra poi abbracciare la produzione degli anni '90. Niente di nuovo quindi sotto il sole in questi tre pezzi, tuttavia l'opener, "11 Temple Stones", offre un sound atmosferico all'insegna della cinematografia horror. Splendido infatti il lungo break centrale in cui su una ritmica lisergica, s'instaurano vocals demoniache e delle chitarre dal forte sapore esoterico. Convincenti, davvero. Altrettanto non si può dire della title track, selvaggia e priva di personalità, potrebbe essere infatti un brano di una qualunque band uscita a cavallo tra gli anni '80 e '90, sebbene la band provi a metà brano a sparigliare le carte, aumentando il senso di disagio e di maligno che si percepisce nell'aria, affidando al basso la guida negli oscuri meandri ritualistici della band, raddoppiato poi da delle chitarre tremolanti. Questo è il reale punto di forza per la band, che in "Fosforos" sembra trovare la propria consacrazione attraverso un pezzo strumentale e le sue ipnotiche melodie. Mezzo punto in meno per la sporcizia di suoni che avrebbero reso molto ma molto di più se maggiormente curati. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Records - 2018)
Voto: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/finis-visions-of-doom

Pa Vesh En - A Ghost

#PER CHI AMA: Raw Black

Della serie one-man-band crescono, ecco arrivare dalla Biellorussia il nuovo EP del misterioso Pa Vesh En: due tracce per una quindicina di minuti scarsi dediti ad un black ambient minimalista. Si parte con la spettrale e rumoristica "Haunting and Mourning" per arrivare alla più doomish "Gruesome Exhumation". I suoni dell'opener sono impastati e di pessima qualità con la proposta del musicista biellorusso che si alterna tra il raw black, un suicidal black mid-tempo (grazie anche a delle scream vocals disperate) e rari intermezzi ambient. Il problema sta tuttavia nell'ascoltare una simile accozzaglia di suoni che probabilmente, se registrati come dio comanda, avrebbero potuto suscitare un minimo interesse. Qui invece è tutto caotico, nemmeno fosse il più scarso dei demotape. La storia si conferma anche con la seconda traccia, più orientata ad un sound abissale anche se qui non mancano delle velenose scorribande black. Capisco l'underground, non comprendo invece l'Iron Bonehead Productions che rilascia una simile release. Mah, scelta quanto meno discutibile. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Prod - 2018)
Voto: 50

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/pa-vesh-en-a-ghost

Runespell - Order of Vengeance

#FOR FANS OF: Pagan Black, Primordial, Agalloch

Climbing Celtic riffs clamor for control of an ebbing and flowing meter, as though a man with a small spade attempts to tame a river and is repudiated by the tragic incompatibility of his intentions with reality. Yet there is eventually a turn of the tide, forced by an immense will, a slight intervention of deus ex machina, and an ever flowing artistic license that yearns to realize results from recalcitrant ritual. Honoring its name, “Destiny over Discord” overcomes the powerlessness of the poor soul struggling against the tide, breaking its first movement's confinement with a hard pounding and finding space to deviate and move, as though cutting a secondary estuary to alleviate the flow. In small doses, Runespell abandons the Agalloch appeals above its Bathory base in favor of a Primordial persuasion that, in achieving frustrating expectation, illogically disappoints in a feeble attempt to display artistic agency.

When Runespell made its debut with 'Unhallowed Blood Oath', Nightwolf had no shortage of samey riffs and basic black metal to ascribe to his dingy dominion. With a slight handle on harnessing a hollow atmosphere, humidified by raining guitar notes and barely audible blasting moments into his swampy mix, the Australian newcomer's first attempt made for an unimpressive display of down under diligence. Nevertheless, Nightwolf plunges on with his 2018 attempt in 'Order of Vengeance', an equally milquetoast album with an equally vague title that somehow extinguishes the small and distant flicker of hope that once emanated from this bland bedroom. Where 'Unhallowed Blood Oath' had the potential to presage a pivot after an initial display of prowess, 'Order of Vengeance' plods down the same safe path, fearful of the creatures that creep in the bush and unwilling to undertake the struggle to discover a truer aspect within.

“Retribution in Iron” encapsulates everything you need to hear, to understand, and what to expect from this album. The barely audible swinging rear riffs, hallowed harmonies hailing calls to trigger blast beat charges, and a consistent melancholy lending the generic surface meaning to ferocious music leaves the listener conflicted, wondering whether to weep or shriek at this enraging cage. At the forefront are proclamations from a calm but stern vocal, unintelligible at most times but raspy enough to leave a microphone sopping with unbrushed flavor after an hour. Yet there is a second layer of conflict underpinning 'Order of Vengeance', a conflict that leaves this listener wondering whether he even wants to listen to another bland bedroom black metal band such as this after so many years of consistent, cannibalistic, and incestuous music with so little variation and exploration in this well-hidden sub-culture.

Rather than branch out, Runespell's latest attempt is a far more cloistered display of Nightwolf's vision, consistent to a fault, and leaves a listener yearning for the Agalloch worship and flagging idealism of yesteryear. With a dull and dulcet demo sounding mix that betrays the energy of this album by propelling puttering patters rather than a powerful and passionate punch, the effort and black metal zeal is apparent in some places, but is in a quiet place of studious creation rather than the overt, unsettling, vengeful, and brash individual enterprise typical of the style. Turning his sights from the most obvious groups to simulate and instead scratching somewhat beneath the surface of one of the most placid black metal coves, 'Order of Vengeance' maintains an unwavering Primordial focus that eschews epic ambiances in favor of a gait as uninterrupted by diversity, fresh ideas, and originality as a festival featuring an abandoned fifer who knows only one song. While this creates a sound that must make the album grow on the listener in order to be approached with appreciation, with some great riffing in the background of “Claws of Fate” and tremolos abound, the disheartening lack of originality throughout these forty-six minutes serves as a reminder of the talent that serves so many facets of underground metal and the ease with which a passing posing band wagoner may be spotted. 'Order of Vengeance' is replete with two-riff inanities that wash the ears in so many by-the-numbers, beaten down, and uninspiring reels that it shows Nightwolf as a formulaic well-versed musician phoning in his art and attempting to turn trash into cash.

That being said, Runespell has a sound that is steadily growing on me. In spite of its lacking originality, the pinches of nuance and improvement in formula and pacing have shown that Nighwolf has been studying and adapting his songwriting ever so slightly. In spite of the fact that every song on 'Order of Vengeance' sounds either the same as the last or generically repeats just about every old trope in the black book, underpinning many modern mechanics with a modest low-fi aesthetic, the general gist of the album plays things safe and even enough not to offend, let alone imbue itself into memory. This is best shown in the ambient and acoustic “Night's Gate”, where a most familiar string tinkle joins with the sound of distant cars hitting a freeway bump, almost beat for beat an Agalloch piece, but that would be too easy a comparison to draw. This song strips down some of the Balkan fire of Bethroned, quiets the sound of “Autumn I” by Gallowbraid, and leaves this writer scratching his head, ready to embark on a ten hour search for that single exact example of emulation. It's frustrating when a sound so typical and overdone pings so loud that it conjures a dozen responses on the radar, but this is the eternal plight of the bedroom black metal band. In spite of Occam's razor prevailing in finding the near mirror likeness of “Night's Gate” in another woefully average Australian band, Vaiya's endlessly monotonous “:W i n t e r m o o n:”, there is a larger bottleneck of ideas that needs to be addressed.

Struggling with the issues that plague so many, working in the same styled space as countless others, and attempting to force the individuality inspired by black metal out of such a counterintuitively collective culture stagnates musicians and leaves swaths of scorched earth as common and indistinct from each other as a bass guitar is in a lo-fi mix. Runespell is a product of a much larger endemic issue in the black metal underground. A misguided and misdirected hope to stand out with the crowd leaves so many broken and beaten bands by the wayside for the sole reason that they simply are not interesting or unique enough to deserve more than a cursory glance. In a style so stark in its search for solitude, so willing to praise itself for its population of lone wolves, bedroom black metal musicians seem unable to grasp the reality that they are the dime a dozen worldwide distribution of self-parodying sadness spawned from a once proud, cloistered, under-publicized, and passionate sub-culture. The internet has become the new Sunset Strip. Soundcloud, bandcamp, and Facebook are the new nightclubs filled with musicians caked in make-up hoping for a record deal, and there isn't a chick in sight. Runespell is just another here today and gone tomorrow member of a lost generation with nothing to say, further cheapening the idea of bedroom black metal in spite of some examples of fantastic musicians that Nightwolf may well consider his peers.

Eight years ago Runespell would have been one of many in the long list of listenable but impactless bedroom black metal bands, unable to hold a candle to the few stars seen as transcendent in the realm but considered capable enough to deserve its marginal success and a modest following. Eight years ago this DNA flowed through the veins of musicians in Norway, Sweden, and Germany, Croatia and Slovenia, the United States and Canada, Bahrain and Iran, Russia and Ukraine, and most of them are still around today, saturating a musical landscape with an immense elaboration on the particulars of the style. What makes anything by any of the latest in this Australian branch within this last year any different?

As much as this album starts to grow on me, digging in meek tendrils of roots that lose their grip to even a drizzle, Runespell may as well be holding up the background of a mindless low-tier video game with its music rather than strive for the lofty par set by the likes of Final Fantasy's Nobo Uematsu or Command and Conquer's Frank Klepacki. If Koei decided to create an endless series of viking hack and slash games, Runespell could easily provide the soundtrack with a reverential eruption like “Wolf.Axis” and wouldn't offend in the least after a generation of players hears these endless riffs recycling just under the sound of terribly-voiced awfully translated dialogue. Simply put, Runespell is incredibly boring, inert and soulless in its rage, and it seems this has become a common thread with some of these more atmospherically inclined Australian bedroom bands. The lack of ambiance shows how hollow and lacking in ideas these musicians are while the endless repetition shows how one-dimensional, copy and paste, their outlooks can be. Something needs to change. (Five_Nails)

(Iron Bonehead Records - 2018)
Score: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/runespell-order-of-vengeance

Antichrist - Pax Moriendi

#FOR FANS OF: Death/Funeral Doom

Sincerely, I am not a great expert of the Peruvian metal scene so, I was very curious about 'Pax Moriendi', the long awaited first effort by Antichrist. The band´s discography may not be especially extensive, because only a handful of demos had been released, but the project itself is by no means new. In fact, the band was created in 2002, but for some reasons I don´t know why the project remained inactive until 2012, when the band was revived and started to compose music. Agalariept, who takes the duties for the vocals, is the sole founder of Antichrist but he shares his passion for extreme metal with the guitar player Sargatanaz. Both of them have taken part in another project called Blaspherion, which seemed to be their main project during the years that Antichrist remained silent. Anyway, it seems that they focused again their main efforts on Antichrist, and due to this reinvigorated passion, the band managed to finally release their first opus. Musically speaking Antichrist plays a classic and sometimes minimalistic kind of very slow death metal, which could be described as a blend between funeral doom and the darkest death metal you can imagine. The artwork is a perfect visual representation of this kind of music, depicting which seems to be the head of an angel´s statue. The lyrics deal with Satanism though the song titles imply a more depressive approach. As one can imagine the album contains only a few songs, specifically five, having a remarkable length with a sole exception. Stylistically, the songs are extensive, slow paced and monotonous. The very slow pace and the quite deep growls are reminiscent of the funeral doom metal genre, a style which Antichrist seems to handle very well. The opening track, “Forgotten in Nameless Suffering”, is a perfect example of what we will find through this debut. The aforementioned repeatability and slowness is permanently present, occasionally accompanied by some atmospheric keys which add an interesting touch to the music. I personally like these adds because those evoking keys enhance the oppressive atmosphere of this style, enriching at the same time the music with some melodies. Anyway, Antichrist does not want to restrict itself to the slowest funeral doom-esque tempos and through the album, the music varies from those ultra slow sections to others ones, which also being slow have some more pace. The band even includes some faster sections, with a distinctive old death metal influence, in a track like “Obscurantism”, which I personally find one of the most interesting songs. The track flows from pure funeral doom to faster death metal sections, including also some truly hypnotic atmospheric parts. As already mentioned, most of the songs are pretty long, reaching each of them no less than 7 minutes. The only exception is the most straightforward track, “Screams and Lamentations Drowned”, which has a fast opening section, even though it doesn´t lack the tenebrous and slow dark parts which are a trademark of this album. This song could be a good summary of the whole record. Antichrist´s first opus 'Pax Moriendi' is definitively a work worth of your time. Its combination of death metal and funeral doom has enough quality and variety to keep the listener´s interest alive through the whole record. The atmospheric touches are a good add, as they enrich the album and fit the style perfectly well. A great beginning! (Alain González Artola)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2018)
Score: 80

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/antichrist-pax-moriendi

Horn - Retrograd

#FOR FANS OF: Pagan Black

Over a year since the release of 'Turm am Hang', Horn has returned in proper form with 'Retrograd', promising more incredible and inspiring black metal from a Westphalian bedroom. While this latest album is considerably shorter than the previous release from the dawn of 2017, the album's meatiest moments offer that familiar and glorious electric notation that rises to fury with its slamming snare to truly conquer realms and rule with an iron fist. Nerrath is no stranger to adopting the eclectic, beefing up his black metal ensemble with classical instruments and this comes across well as cello, violin, and folksy drumming introduce and march away with allusions to the intensity they bookend.

The title track comes with the fury of a storm as a howling gale of guitar calls out from drumming thunder to shred windsocks and sails alike, dooming hapless merchants with immense waves while casting their goods into the sea. Despite the misfortune of distant others, the king's flotilla has made landfall intact. On the shore comes the stomp and snare of a winding trail of warriors as Horn violently takes numerous villages, slaughters their inhabitants, and brings a new province into the fold. Glory is there in violin and lute to sing songs of the victorious dead while the reality is a smashing appraisal of the newly acquired realm despite the melancholy of interring the individuals unable to appreciate the riches of the fresh conquest for which they have fallen.

While a tempest conjures a beastly invasion on the coast, “Bocksfuss” sees the invaders and ousted defenders meet in barbaric battle deeper into the wilderness. Walls of spears and shields slam into each other with bone breaking thrusts that stab into each opposing line and are quickly repelled with swift sword swings and axe hacks. In harrowing climax the guitars issue blending notes, thick as blood pouring from mortal wounds as they redouble their efforts to shriek out of this press of battle and be heard above the wails of the defeated. As each side fights to exhaustion, the invaders dig in their back feet in preparation for a second wind of assault. The quick strike of a folksy lilt fires synapses as aching muscles are invigorated by the machinery of masterful men whose discipline drives this determined victory. “Garant” garrotes unit after unit as the conquering army's redoubt routs its foe, now turned into a paltry scramble of fleeing men as the field lies littered with the fallen and writhing with wounded warriors. While one side licks its wounds, punished for its audacity in attempting to defend its land from such an onslaught, “Die Einder” sees that a journey is not finished with a single victory. As Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, declared, “nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won”, and the melancholy of a victory at such expense as this would leave any force demoralized before it plunges onward into continuing its campaign.

Still, the deeper appreciation of such militaristic struggle within Horn could also be surmised by Maynard James Keenan who argued, in the song “Vicarious”, that “we won't give pause until the blood is flowing”. Horn is a band that appreciates the bloodshed necessary to achieve its aims and attempts to honor the victorious dead without forgetting the sorrow of loss that such victory inevitably entails. Unlike in 'Turm am Hang', each moment of celebration is met with sullen realization as this fresh force fights in foreign forests. This balance is met more melancholically in 'Retrograd' as venturing from a homeland hof into hostile territory prophesizes not only numerous dangers ahead but also forces conquerors into costly confrontations resulting in Pyrrhic pushes. (Five_Nails)

(Iron Bonehead Records - 2018)
Score: 85

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/horn-retrograd

Runespell - Unhallowed Blood Oath

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Doom, Agalloch

Hearkening to those halcyon days of black metal's second wave an economical black and white cover captures a solitary figure with a corpse painted face standing twixt the exposed rootage of ancient and shadowy timbers. Nightwolf's neck cranes and his visage upturns towards the sky as though studying the intricate emblem blazoned in the canopy. Axes, spears, and a sword peek out from behind an ornately embellished shield as starkly slashing typeface accentuates the moniker its pointed protrusions conceal. Runespell is somewhere in this vast visual valance of lo-fi ridiculousness intermixed with individual enterprise. This accumulation of stylo swipes and copious colorless cuts completes the busy banner below as a howling wolf, backed by a distant mountain range, presides over the top. With such an eye for detail and a scandalous show of more is more this presentation can easily come to calamity. However intense and overt, the appearance of this cover comes together as astutely brimming with reference and reverence while the sound behind the image strays into acres of Agalloch aesthetic despite imprisonment in a dusty and dingy Australian bush.

'Unhallowed Blood Oath' has a strong start with “Oblivion Winds”, a rather tepid middle section, and comes back with a vengeance in “White Death's Wings” and “All Thrones Perish”. The beginning and end play very closely to Agalloch's atmosphere and attitude, so much so that they have trouble taking flight to glimpse the extent of their own realms of conquest and instead dance through sure and charted jet streams. “Oblivion Winds” creates a gale of diminishing tremolos that weep over wide landscapes and tear through trees. This opus of an opening then slows down with a piano riff in the background, urging the ivories to wail in synchronicity with guitars before rising into a fiddler's melody.

“Bloodlust & Vengeance” sounds like the soundtrack to a cavalry charge across a windswept plain as shining sabres fell fleeing fodder. On a high sea of grass lowlanders fertilize the soil as claymores sever arms from torsos and carve regiments in twain. The under produced echoing vocals dart out from behind a wall of tremolo that should be far more satisfying to the black metal tuned ear. However authenticity is lacking. The high strung bloodlust contorts into a vengeance that fails to hit the expected blistering, almost atonal, shrieking apex so desired after a downpour of harmonies freezes into the tendrils of a river of blood. These apogees find their thunder in a double bass gallop but the snare and cymbal are immobile sentinels in spite of every attempt made by these guitar gusts to breathe some life into their low-end compliment. For a song as ambitiously titled as “Bloodlust & Vengeance” there is no payoff, no cathartic release, there is only a feel of frustrated fortissississimo.

This is where Nightwolf sticks to what is safe rather than goes out on a limb to personalize his music. The presentation of this album has all the trappings of an individual black metaller. Yet the music follows the flock so stolidly that it cannot even envision the extent of the paddock in which it is confined. “As Old Gates Unfurl” is a replicated experiment in atmosphere with a mixture of acoustic distance and that nearly atonal drawn-out chanting Norse vocal that Agalloch so readily employed throughout its storied career. This momentary peace aims the celestial gaze at you before “Heaven In Blood” makes you digest some Venom. Still, this deepest, darkest descent doesn't do more than try to sound evil with a chorus that indistinctly growls as it stumbles into the most mainstream notions of black metal, employing the stereotype rather than playing the style.

A noticeable change in production occurs when a far lower fidelity announces the shrill guitar harmony of “White Death's Wings”. Each instrument calls to the other from distant peaks atop their howling riffs, aligning the intricate notation through celestial curvature in Celtic concert. Here is where beautality arrives and the album reaches its memorable moments. The fury from before was tepid yet this new concentration of will and power finally brings the personality necessary to propel this album from its most average doldrums.

With its lead guitars trumpeting atop a dim and flickering background of dreary harmony “All Thrones Perish” brings long echoing vocal harmonies to fill the middle range as small guitar licks play in folksy candor to the frantic cadence of black metal's hurry. The combination grows with the addition of another guitar, flourishing with a tertiary tangle that wraps the growing vine to passionately penetrate the earth. These first three minutes harness the emotionally exhausting atmosphere of “As Embers Dress the Sky” and with a name like “All Thrones Perish” this rhythm seems to longingly call out in reverence to the now defunct Agalloch with its bass and percussion combination employed in unmistakable mimicry.

Though Nightwolf finds moments to eloquently call forth the fervent and expressive themes expected in a modern black metal release while simultaneously strolling through his own fiefdom of the Australian bush, the majority of this album is forgettable and bland. 'Unhallowed Blood Oath' plays as though a love letter written by a fan who dipped his toe into the black lake rather than as the result of a black metal musician bringing himself into the fold. With sycophantic and reverential tones that fail to personalize the space, despite a keen knowledge of each ingredient necessary for success, the proximity to Agalloch and gushing worship outweigh the aptitude for exploration needed to make this album anything more than an appetizer before venturing back into the likes of 'Ashes Against the Grain'. Befitting of the album's title, this blood oath need not be honored as another average Australian aimlessly appreciates the already accomplished and aggravatingly avoids anything atypical. (Five_Nails)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2017)
Score: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/runespell-unhallowed-blood-oath

Disharmony - Goddamn the Sun

#PER CHI AMA: Hellenic Death Black Metal, Rotting Christ

Ricordo perfettamente quei primissimi anni '90 e il fermento musicale che c'era in Grecia: sul mercato europeo si affacciavano i Rotting Christ e i Zemial con i loro rispettivi EP di debutto, 'Passage to Arcturo' e 'Sleeping Under Tartarus'. Varathron, Thou Art Lord, Septic Flesh e Necromantia muovevano i primi passi attraverso demo e split album, mentre il sottoscritto cercava tapes di band underground quali Dion Fortune e Disharmony. Non sembra essere cambiato nulla da quegli anni, nemmeno musicalmente, il sound ellenico non ha mutato la propria pelle, mantenendosi fedele al proprio stile. A distanza di 27 anni dalla loro fondazione, arriva anche il debut fin troppo agognato dei Disharmony, 'Goddamn the Sun', che mantiene intatto quel magico sound nato quasi tre decadi fa. Sebbene l'intro "Invocation - Troops of Angels" soffra di qualche reminiscenza gotica dei Cradle of Filth di 'The Principle of Evil Made Flesh', risulteranno poi palesi i punti di contatto di "The Gates of Elthon" con i primi Rotting Christ, in un death black ammantato di un mistico alone e che vede punti di contatto con la band di Sakis e compagni, anche nel modo di cantare di Damien King III, l'unico superstite della formazione originale, e nelle ritmiche incentrate su un riffing scarno e su di una tribalità di fondo. "Elochim" è un gran bel pezzo che si muove su di una ritmica a cavallo tra thrash e black, e che a livello solistico, strizza l'occhio al classico heavy metal degli anni '80, questo per ricordare ai fan dove risiedano le origini dei nostri, dimostrato peraltro anche da un sound non propriamente pulito, ma che serve a ristabilire quel mood primordiale che si ritrovava nei loro demotapes. E in "Summon the Legions" sono palesi non solo i riferimenti musicali ad un death black thrash che richiama anche i primissimi Bathory, ma anche lirici, con l'invocazione a tutti gli angeli caduti, Azazel, Samael e Satana. Il disco prosegue piacevolmente in questa direzione con pezzi che mostrano il classico sound ellenico, fortunatamente riservando anche qualche sorpresa ad un tema che rischierebbe di risultare poi davvero scontato: in "War in Heaven" ecco apparire una strana e flebile voce femminile a fare da contraltare al growling del frontman greco. "Rape the Sun" ha un andamento decisamente più lento, quasi doom; però la song, per quanto goda di buoni arrangiamenti a livelli di keys, non è decisamente una delle migliori cose uscite dalla discografia dei Disharmony, che tornano a convincere maggiormente con "Whore of Babylon", un pezzo più breve, decisamente melodico e carico di pathos, cosi come la tradizione ellenica pretende e tra l'altro sciorinando un bell'assolo conclusivo. Ci avviamo verso la conclusione del disco e rimangono da ascoltare "The Voice Divine" e "Third Resurrection": il primo è un normalissimo pezzo black thrash, che non aggiunge granché a quanto detto sinora, anzi rimane sottotono rispetto agli altri brani del disco. Il secondo invece, mostra il lato più epico e magico dei Disharmony che ci riconduce per l'ultima volta a quei primissimi anni '90, quando sarebbe stato più giusto che 'Goddamn the Sun' uscisse, per meritare l'attenzione che realmente meriterebbe oggi. Ora, mi sa che è fuori tempo massimo e farà la gioia probabilmente solo dei vecchi nostalgici di quel mistico e mitico hellenic sound che per molti anni ha rappresentato la culla di un genere unico ed inimitabile. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2017)
Voto: 70

https://disharmony108.bandcamp.com/album/goddamn-the-sun-2

Prisoner Of War - Rot

#PER CHI AMA: Death Old School, Incantation

Il disco di quest'oggi ci conduce direttamente dall'altra parte del mondo, a scoprire una band che il sito Metal Archives mette già "On hold" con le attività, sebbene 'Rot' ne costituisca il debutto in questo 2016. Il terzetto neozelandese si diletta con un sound death metal spaccaculi, con tematiche legate alle Guerre Mondiali. Lo si deduce non solo dal loro monicker ma anche dal titolo della prima traccia, "Slow and Painful Death by Gas", che verosimilmente tratta il tema della morte lenta e dolorosa indotta dal gas nervino nei campi di concentramento nazisti. Queste tematiche forti sono poi accompagnate da un sound altrettanto brutale che ha modo di sfociare anche in territori più thrash metal orientated. "Evil Sky" mostra chitarre taglienti già dal suo incipit, che hanno modo di offrire sprazzi di melodia fin qui tenuti più in secondo piano, per far posto invece a ritmiche serrate, di cui sottolineerei la roboante prova dietro alle pelli di tal MG-42 (anche qui si sprecano i riferimenti all'industria bellica nazista e alle loro mitragliette) e a delle normali growling vocals. I tre di Auckland proseguono a colpire come forsennati anche nelle successive song, delineando un sound che si muove tra partiture più ragionate e mid-tempo con accelerazioni più efferate e brutali, come nella breve e caotica "Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay" o nella title track. 'Rot' è alla fine un disco (in formato 12") di per sé genuino, ma che poco ha da dire ad un mercato sempre più saturo per ciò che concerne le uscite in ambito estremo. Per pochi nostalgici del death metal degli anni '90. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2016)
Voto: 60

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/prisoner-of-war-rot

Light of the Morning Star - Cemetery Glow

#PER CHI AMA: Dark/Doom/Heavy

Sono poche le informazioni disponibili sul web a proposito di questa band: si sa che sono londinesi, questo è il loro EP di debutto, trattano tematiche vampiresche e necromantiche e poc'altro. Partiamo allora con l'inquadrare il sound della band inglese visto che la cover cd mi indurrebbe a pensare a suoni funeral, magari sarà utile per capire qualcosa di più di questi misteriosi Light of the Morning Star: la melodia iniziale di "An Empty Hearse" sembra lasciar presagire a sonorità estreme, tuttavia la performance del vocalist tradisce le mie aspettative visto che propone invece un cantato più votato al gothic, un po' come se i Fields of the Nephilim si mettessero a suonare black metal, suonerebbe strano, anche se sicuramente intrigante. E cosi nel sound nero e circolare della opening track, provano ad emergere anche sonorità più classiche, che accompagnano un cantato che di estremo continua ad aver ben poco. Doom, heavy, gothic e dark si abbinano in modo sinistro alla ritmica glaciale che guida il brano. Dicasi lo stesso per la seconda "Black Throne Ascension", più densa di atmosfere cariche di groove. Le linee di chitarra della finale "Wraith" mischiano ancor di più le carte in tavola: si parte da malinconiche melodie stile Rapture, per poi abbandonarsi in oscuri anfratti doom, passando attraverso sonorità occult horror, grazie ad un utilizzo sapiente dei synth. Alla fine 'Cemetery Glow' è un EP che rischia di rivelarsi addirittura coinvolgente, peccato solo duri una manciata di minuti (12), troppo poco per dare una valutazione definitiva alla proposta del combo inglese. Da rivalutare più dettagliatamente sulla lunga distanza. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2016)
Voto: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/light-of-the-morning-star-cemetery-glow

Ithaqua - The Black Mass Sabbath Pulse

#PER CHI AMA: Black Ellenico, Rotting Christ

Non conosco l'esatto motivo, ma in estate mi sembra di avere per le mani un maggior numero di EP, soprattutto targati Iron Bonehead Productions, forse una coincidenza, mah... Quello di oggi è il 7" di debutto dei greci Ithaqua, un lavoro i cui suoni mi riconducono indietro nel tempo di oltre vent'anni, 23 per la precisione, ossia quando uscì 'Thy Mighty Contract', album immortale dei connazionali Rotting Christ. Un vero back in time per il sottoscritto in quanto "The Black Mass Sabbath Pulse" e "Walpurgis, The Flight Of Spectral Witches", i due brani ivi contenuti, pescano a piene mani proprio dal quel masterpiece. Sedici minuti che si rifanno alle antiche tradizioni e all'occultismo di scuola ellenica che ha dato regali natali a band quali Thou Art Lord, Septicflesh,Varathron e Kawir (di cui Echetleos peraltro, il chitarrista della band, ne è membro). Le atmosfere, i giri di chitarra, le flebili tastiere e le aspre growling vocals incarnano appieno quello spirito di metà anni '90, quando la scena greca era forse assai più florida di oggi. Se il side A riflette pedissequamente quei suoni, il lato B del dischetto aggiunge alla componente black anche un che di heavy doom classico, soprattutto a livello di suoni di chitarra nella prima metà. La seconda no, non potete sbagliare, puzza lontano anni luce di quell'odore di zolfo che impregnava indelebilmente tutti i dischi nati in quella fetta di Mediterraneo. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2016)
Voto: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/ithaqua-the-black-mass-sabbath-pulse

Celestial Grave - Burial Ground Trance

#PER CHI AMA: Black Sperimentale, Oranssi Pazuzu, Horna

Con i Celestial Grave ci trasferiamo in Finlandia per un po' di insano e oscuro black metal, con questo sconosciuto duo, che arriva all'esordio in digitale e in cassetta, grazie alla teutonica Iron Bonehead Productions. Tre le tracce contenute in 'Burial Ground Trance', per un totale di poco meno di un quarto d'ora di musica da godere tutto di un fiato. Se l'apertura "The Heartbeats Drum" sembra di primo acchito consegnarci uno scontato black old school, col passare dei secondi si percepisce, nel ritmo infernale imposto dai due musicisti, una forte vena epico malinconica che esalta la seppur primitiva e semplicista proposta del combo. Melodie lineari, un po' ridondanti, un largo uso di blast beat e di chitarre ronzanti potrebbero ingannare chiunque, ma quando poi uno splendido assolo elettrizza l'atmosfera contenuta nella opening track, un sussulto mi scuote dalla sedia. L'originalità della scuola finlandese si ritrova alla fine anche nel demo più underground che mi sia passato tra le mani nell'ultimo periodo e si conferma con la ritualistica e occulta seconda traccia, "The Bearer Of Death", pregna di melodie glaciali ma anche di tetre atmosfere, contrappuntate dallo screaming malvagio del vocalist. Sinistri e stravaganti seppur propongano black metal, ma si sa che quando si parla di band finlandesi c'è da aspettarsi di tutto, quindi nell'ultima title track non stupitevi di incontrare una ritmica punk (di reminiscenza Impaled Nazarene), stoppata da un break doom e un incandescente finale post black in una malatissima proposta che miscela straordinariamente il sound di Horna, Oranssi Pazuzu e Wolves in the Throne Room. Da seguirne attentamente l'evoluzione. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2016)
Voto: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-grave-burial-ground-trance

Slaughtbbath/III Omen - Pestilential Hierophanies

#PER CHI AMA: Black/Death/Doom/Thrash

Estate 2016, ma per le nostre due band di oggi, si tratta in realtà di inverno, visto che entrambe provengono dall'emisfero australe: gli Slaughtbbath dal Cile e i III Omen dall'Australia, per uno split 7" all'insegna della violenza targata Iron Bonehead Productions. Tocca alla band del Nuovo Galles del Sud aprire il side A del dischetto con "Whited, Pestilent Sepulchre...", lunga song mortifera di oltre otto minuti, fatta di chitarre minimaliste suonate a rallentatore e screaming vocals poste delicatamente in sottofondo a questa litania infernale, che trova modo di esplodere solamente nella sua seconda parte, grazie ad una ritmica serrata, di cui sottolineerei l'affilatissimo rifferama e un chorus epico che mi ha ricondotto ad un che dei primi Arcturus. Niente male affatto, anche se un po' troppo cacofonici in taluni frangenti. Un riffing più pesante e palesemente old school (come da tradizione sud americana) apre invece il side B del disco, quello occupato dagli Slaughtbbath e dalla loro "Inverted Hierophany", una song inizialmente mid-tempo di death metal classico, che ha da offrire tutti i cliché del genere: growling vocals, killer riff e giusto un pizzico di melodia ma che si contraddistingue per un bel finale in crescendo di intensità e brutalità. Un interessante 7" per poter conoscere due nuove band e la loro musica diabolica. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2016)
Voto: 65

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/ill-omen-slaughtbbath-pestilential-hierophanies

Decrepit Soul - The Coming of War

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Death Metal, Abominator, Bestial Warlust

With two albums released back-to-back like these, Aussie war metallers Decrepit Soul could’ve easily burnt themselves out before they started though luckily that is not the case on their second full-length. Like most such groups, this one is predicated around primal, savage-sounding blackened death metal riff-work filled with swirling tremolo rhythms and the occasional mid-tempo atmospheric sprawling section thrown in for the sake of diversity, that all comes from the playbook of the acts typified in the particular genre. The fast rhythms and utterly blasting, filthy drum-work is a dynamic, devastating attack that works really nicely at generating the kind of furious patterns that makes for that wholly fun experience here even with that overly familiar style which is only exacerbated by the main flaw in the overall brevity. This is where the quick turn-around somewhat hurts this as the short running time isn’t really offering the kind of opportunities to explore more here with this one giving it a rather uniform appeal over the short number of tracks. It easily could’ve used some additional tracks to help this one out. The tracks themselves aren’t all that bad. Opener ‘Awaken’ uses a sampled approaching-storm intro that turns into ravenous drumming and blasting, tightly-wound rhythms keeping the frenetic tremolo riffing scalding along through the savage tempo changes as the furious paces gives way to a mid-tempo sprawl leading back into the furious pounding in the final half for an impressive opening effort. ‘Feral Howling Winds’ features rattling tremolo riffing and steady drumming turning into a frantic burst of furious blasting and tight, intense rhythms carrying the swirling rhythms along into ravenous buzzing patterns leading into the swarming riff-work and intense blasting in the final half for a stellar highlight. The title track utilizes frenetic blasting drumming and swirling tremolo riffing into a frantic, intense blast full of blistering up-tempo paces carrying the buzzing tremolo riff-work alongside the blistering drumming as the screeching leads whip through the extended-noise finale for an impressive and dynamic if one-note offering. ‘Perished in Flames’ uses a slow-building intro with plenty of melodic rhythms through a fine mid-tempo buzzing riff-work leading into the tight, furious blasting and swirling tremolo rhythms firing through scalding tempos with frantic leads into the solo section and into the relaxing final half for a solid, enjoyable effort. ‘Piscatorial Death’ takes the storm-cloud intro before gradually coming into the frantic, furious blasting with charging patterns and plenty of swirling tremolo riffing leading along through the sprawling mid-tempo sections filled with the tight rhythms along the finale for another solid track. ‘Black Goats Breath’ uses immediate blasting drumming and steady mid-tempo rhythms running along to the swirling tremolo patterns along the chaotic drumming with the frantic riffing leading through the tight leads with the buzzing patterns holding the intensity throughout the final half for a solid highlight. Lastly, album-closer ‘Storm of Steel’ features an extended melancholic intro with the change-over into tight blasting drumming and furious mid-tempo rhythms holding the tight, frantic patterns along with furious buzzing tremolo riff-work and blasting drumming running through the steady frenetic paces into the extended fade-out finale for an explosive and charging lasting impression. For the most part the songs work, it’s the brevity that holds it back. (Don Anelli)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2016)
Score: 80

https://www.facebook.com/decrepitsoul

Gnosis of the Witch – Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar

#PER CHI AMA: Black old school

L'intro di "Ek Bjóða Inn​.​.​" non può che generare una sola parola in me... occulti. Questo l'esito del mio primo approccio con il MLp degli statunitensi Gnosis of the Witch che anche con la flebile e tremulante (per l'uso del tremulo picking) “Ormar Eitr” non si discosta più di tanto dall'idea che mi sono fatto dei nostri. Anche quando i nostri accelerano con cavalcate caustiche e caotiche, mantengono inalterato il loro atavico feeling occulto. La furia black divampa come in quei demo tape di primi anni '90 che si ritrovavano nei lugubri circuiti underground del nord Europa. Registrazioni casalinghe, assenza di tecnicismi, ma solo feroci e primitive linee di chitarra su cui si impiantano abominevoli screaming ma che incorpora anche alcuni elementi del dark metal e del pagan. Qualche atmosfera lugubre e pomposa, qualche rallentamento apocalittico, nonché l'uso limitato ma ben azzeccato di affascinanti tastiere, mi inducono a non bollare l'album come obsoleto ma anzi mi suggeriscono di invitarvi addirittura all'ascolto di un lavoro che sembra riaprire vecchie strade black che credevo ormai chiuse. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2014)
Voto: 70

https://www.facebook.com/GnosisOfTheWitch

Cemetery Fog - Towards the Gate

#PER CHI AMA: Death old school, Celtic Frost

Non so molto di questo duo finlandese se non che una spettrale intro apre questo 'Towards the Gate', mini Lp di debutto della band (all'attivo anche tre demo), costituito da cinque pezzi (di cui due sono intro e outro). Andiamo allora a dare un ascolto alle tre tracce vere e proprie di questo dischetto: “Withered Dreams of Death” è la prima song che si affaccia con una chitarra old school, che mostra i suoi richiami glaciali al suono primordiale dei Celtic Frost. L'atmosfera è plumbea, l'incedere lento e minaccioso, il lavoro alle sei corde è sorretto da una tastiera mefistofelica e ingannatrice, mentre le growling vocals si rivelano efficaci nel descrivere sogni di morte. Si tratta di un salto indietro nel tempo di almeno vent'anni, quello che ci regala la musica dei Cemetery Fog e il trend occulto dei nostri si conferma anche con la successiva "Embrace of the Darkness", altra song dai forti richiami retrò ma che comunque sa conquistare per il proprio approccio horror, quasi sulla scia dei King Diamond, ma senza la vocina del "Re Diamante". La song trova addirittura il modo di offrire un bellissimo break acustico, con clean vocals sussurrate e delicate note di pianoforte in sottofondo. Niente male ma anche nulla di nuovo. "Shadow of Her Tomb" è il terzo brano, quello dal piglio decisamente più rallentato e inflazionato. Si tratta infatti di un death doom dalle tinte funeral, in cui compare addirittura la celestiale (ma non troppo) voce di una gentil donzella, il tutto per un risultato a tratti scontato. Poco importa; come opera prima questi errori ci possono anche stare, ma per il futuro cerchiamo di trovare una via più personale di dischiudere il proprio sound. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2014)
Voto: 65

https://soundcloud.com/iron-bonehead-productions/cemetery-fog-withered-dreams-of-death

Skelethal - Deathmanicvs Revelations

#FOR FANS OF: Swedish Death Metal, Grave, Dismember, Unleashed

One of the more out-and-unabashed portrayals of Swedish Death Metal not found in Scandinavia, French horde Skelethal’s second release, this 7-track EP is surely one of the high points in the genre this year and positions the group fairly high amongst the next crop to take aim at the almighty pedestal. This isn’t just a national take on the genre but straight-up Swedish Death Metal in its purest, old-school form with the hallmarks of the genre in fine form from the get-go as the guitars manage to play with that specific tone that recalls a grinding buzzsaw gearing for action, loud bass-lines thumping away with intense grooves and a quick, up-tempo pace that adds a lot from the Thrash scene with the tempo work in particular here and not in execution. Of course, the pounding drumming and deep, guttural vocals present here do add to that grimy, crusty Swedish atmosphere just as much as the guitar rhythms and patterns, but there’s a certain energy that runs throughout the work as a whole that manages to rise this one above the level of most traditional Swedish-styled imitators. This is certainly among the faster bands in the style and certainly makes for some blistering speedsters in here that rattle throughout the chaotic tempos and paces quite well while also being able to handle the occasional slow, sprawling epic that creates an atmosphere more akin to the cavernous retro Death Metal acts in places before charging back into raging Swedish tracks. The appropriately-titled "Intro" gets things going on the right note with eerie winds, piano trinkling and tolling bells to get the listener in the right mind-frame. "Macabre Oblivion," the proper first song, gives away the best tricks of the band from the get-go, showing a penchant for deep grooves, blasting drumming and that ever-present buzzsaw riff-work that weaves throughout the varying tempos from tight thrasher to atmospheric crawl and does it quite well as it rages throughout. Follow-up "Putrefaction" is pretty similar in terms of overall appeal and presentation but benefits greatly from the bouncy rhythms from the constant, pounding drumming but still has the same buzzsaw guitars and dark, guttural vocals to go with its intense tone. The title track continues the blaring guitar-work and raging tempos found in "Macabre," and the blistering "Curse of the Neverending" follows along with strong riffing and a breakneck tempo. The album’s best track, the utterly raging "Death Returns" starts with a sprawling Doom-like crawl before letting loose on blasting, fast-paced Swedish Death Metal that continues on the breakneck and relentless "A Violation of Something Sacred" that closes the album off and gives this a solid punch to end things on. Overall, this is a pretty fun and enjoyable blast of Swedish-styled Death Metal that succeeds far more than it fails. While the tracks aren’t so bad, the production-job on this one does the drums no favors at all as it renders them as far back in the mix as possible and really destroys a lot of their power as there’s some killer fills and blasts throughout but is rendered more indecipherable than it should be, and really becomes the only real flaw present in this. (Don Anelli)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2014) 

Score: 85

http://skelethal.bandcamp.com/

Sheol - Sepulchral Ruins Below the Temple

#FOR FANS OF: Death Metal, Incantation, Autopsy, Cruciamentum

Despite the funky lettering that constitutes their given name, the band refers to themselves as Sheol and hail not from the Middle East as expected but rather London, England, in the UK, and while this geography lesson has nothing to do with the music within, the fact remains that this is some pretty deep and intense old-school sounding Death Metal. This is decidedly obvious Incantation style worship from the first minutes as the band plays with that ever-familiar ‘Cavernous’ style of Death Metal filled with simple rhythms, blasting drums and deep, deep growls that are so reverb-laden it produces the effect of being recorded in a cavern below the ground, and with the sludgy guitar patterns, blasting drumming and slimey, wet bass-lines that fill this one so well from the get-go, it produces that old-school sound in rather simple fashion as the continuous assaults from the band generate few other points of inspiration. The Autopsy influence comes from the rather filth-ridden guitar lines that have more sonic clarity than Incantation ever attempted, and resonate with more technical flow as well that again recalls the secondary practitioner of this style, and when it’s all wrapped into that sprawling mass of reverb and charging tempos, the result becomes competent-if-not-exactly original fare this time around for it doesn’t really do anything special with this style that other bands have already been playing with and perfecting for years now. Perhaps this has to do with the overall shortness of the EP for this legitimately only has three original tracks to play with as there’s the cover and two instrumentals among the six tracks, leaving only three proper songs to really give any sustenance to the bands’ original style and it comes off with the same feelings that many others have already. Among the two instrumental cuts, intro "Spiritual Desiccation" really generates a far more appropriate feel and vibe of the music with the eerie droning and gradual build-up of the churning guitars and blasting drumming that really sets an intense, dark stage for the rest of the music, while "Katachthomb" is more Middle Eastern rhythms, chanting and melodies that serves as a fine mid-album breather if a twenty-five minute album could be said to require a breather. The first two full-songs, "Deluge of Tehom" and "Perpetual Descent into She’ol" offer pretty much what the band’s really like, with tight, raging guitars, blasting drums and a series of riffs that sound gigantic and muddied with the production issues that charge forth nicely amid a series of sweeps and dives that alternate tempos nicely and show a lot of potential here. As far as their original cuts goes, though, the best is undoubtedly the title track which recalls their cavernous riffing approach only melded to the intense blasting and frenetic pacing of Blackened Death Metal act Cruciamentum, no small feat with their shared members but this extreme blast of Death is certainly worthwhile and shows there’s something potentially interesting about the bands’ burgeoning sound in the years to come. The final song, a cover of DarkThrone’s seminal "Cromlech" retains the intensity and tight riffing but seems to be out-of-place with its lighter atmosphere and doesn’t offer the riffing patterns that fit in with their style attempted here as the tremolo-picked melodies don’t translate too well for this sludgy, down-tuned offering. Again, this is certainly competent material when it comes down to it, but it’s just a misguided teaser when it’s equaled by other factors here that should be ironed out and ready to destroy come the next release. (Don Anelli)

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2013)

Score: 70

http://sheoldeath.bandcamp.com/album/sepulchral-ruins-below-the-temple