Black Edifice - The Miasmic Trance

#PER CHI AMA: Epic Black Old School

Passati quasi in sordina sul finire del 2023, la one-man band norvegese dei Black Edifice, ha visto il suo debutto per la Iron Bonehead Productions. Un EP, questo 'The Miasmic Trance', atto a testimoniare la proposta di questo baldo musicista nordico, tal The Archfiend, membro peraltro di altre quattro sconosciutissime band. Il dischetto si compone di sei tracce, in realtà quattro se escludiamo intro e outro. I contenuti sono parecchio old fashioned, con quello sguardo al passato che punta dritto ai primi lavori dei Bathory, dove coesisteva un'anima putrescente black, ma dove si intravedevano pure le epiche potenzialità di Quorthon e compagni. E cosi, l'ascolto di "Creeping Mists of the Nethertomb" mi ha catapultato indietro nel tempo di oltre 30 anni, facendomi pensare a lavori come 'Under the Sign of the Black Mark' o 'Blood Fire Death' dei godz svedesi. Forti di una registrazione old school, e alfieri di un black mid-tempo dalle tinte cupe e sinistre, The Archfiend ogni tanto si lancia anche in scorribande più ferali (la prima metà della title track), offrendo un ascolto che mostra peculiarità intriganti; e dire che all'inizio non ci avrei scommesso nemmeno un euro. Ma è forte l'aura folklorica che avvolge l'EP, e le note iniziali di "Into Perennial Gloom" lo testimoniano, tra chitarre zanzarose, uno screaming mai fuori posto, delle pompose proto-orchestrazioni che conferiscono un certo valore a questa release che rischiava di cadere nel dimenticatoio più totale. Spazio infine addirittura a una parvenza di assolo nella seconda metà, a rendere il tutto ancora più credibile. Niente male. Certo, non un disco per tutti, viste le sonorità malefiche che permeano un lavoro che in alcuni tratti (le chitarre di "Citadel of the Doomsayer, Swathed in Dusk ") mi hanno evocato un che degli Isengard più epici di 'Vinterskugge', ma qui senza clean vocals. Quindi, amanti della fiamma nera fatevi sotto e date una chance al buon The Archfiend, potreste rimanere piacevolmente sorpresi. (Francesco Scarci)

(Iron Bonehead Records - 2023)
Voto: 70

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/black-edifice-the-miasmic-trance

Temple of the Beast - Geminian Arcana

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Death

Texas-based solo-project Temple of the Beast is a young entity created only two years ago by the quite active musician Alexander Macias, known as Blackthorn in this current project. All his projects have been closely related to the extreme metal scene, and Temple of the Beast is not an exception. It is quite remarkable that with only a demo and a single the project has captured the attention of a well-known label as Iron Bonehead Productions, which for sure made me feel curious about how good its music could be.

 

'Geminian Arcana' is the first effort by Temple of the Beast, which is an EP consisting of five songs. The style is unmistakably a combination of death and black elements, with a quite sinister sound. The production has a clear old-school touch, with a murky sound, particularly in the guitars. In any case, all the instruments are audible, which is always a good point. The vocals undoubtedly follow the classical patterns of the death metal genre. The sound is, truly cavernous and furious, which fits perfectly with the overall sound of this EP. Regarding the production, the compositions have a clear old school feeling, and they go quite straight to the bone. You won’t find here pompous structures or excessive technical stuff, but pure and uncompromised fury. The first track, "Temple I: Through the Trees", opens the EP with a sinister intro followed by the aforementioned combination of death/black metal. The pace is changing, with fast and relentless sections adequately combined with mid-tempo ones, where the riffing is particularly enjoying. The balance in the ups and downs shifts progressive towards an increasing speed until the fourth track, entitled "Temple IV: The Key & The Gate (Sitra Achra)", where speedy sections reign with almost no opposition. As a welcome contrast comes the closer track, where Temple of the Beast shows its calmer yet truly dark face. This is by far the slowest composition which ends in the same way as the EP begins, which an eerie ambience section.

 

'Geminian Arcana' is a solid beginning for Temple of the Beast. The compositions are well-accomplished and have an always enjoyable old-school touch. Apart from that, the project doesn’t offer anything particularly outstanding, and for this reason, I consider that Blackthorn should push a bit further the current boundaries of the project, if he wants to offer a truly worthy full-length debut. (Alain González Artola)

 

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2025)

Score: 70

 

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/temple-of-the-beast-geminian-arcana

Carcass - Heartwork

BACK IN TIME:

http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Techno Death

This is by far the most interesting, noteworthy, original, innovative Carcass release I've ever heard. 'Necroticism...' was excellent, but this release is beyond excellent. Probably one of the most original melodic death metal albums I've ever heard. Those B-tuned guitars, Walker's vocal outputs, Owen's intense drumming and both Michael/Bill amazingly orchestrate on guitars. They came up with such thick riffs but amazingly melodic. Everything seems to fit here, absolutely everything. This album is underrated by people on here (MA), I don't think there's a more perfect melodic death release than this.

 

'Necroticism...' opened up avenues of success for the band the way 'Symphonies...' did for death/grind. And of course, 'Reek...' was at the almost beginning with grindcore as we knew it. Carcass and Napalm Death both. But here came 'Heartwork' with just impeccable originality and likability. Every song on 'Heartwork' to me is good. The leads are probably Michael at his best. They aren't as good with Arch Enemy than they are on this album. And when I say Arch Enemy, I mean all of their albums. Christopher Amott smokes his brother, but Michael is way about feel. You can hear him on the wah-pedal on here. It's so prevalent.

 

So it's great that the band is still active with the tragedy about Ken Owen who cannot play drums for the band because of his brain hemorrhage. It's a darn shame, but I think people can still appreciate his longtime work with the band. Bill kind of lost a little bit of his lead wicked style, but 'Surgical Steel' is still pretty amazing. 'Heartwork' came out when I was a junior in high school, and boy did I fire it up when I heard it. Those were some good times on the guitar, ABSOLUTELY. 'Heartwork' smoked most melodic metal bands in the 90's like At The Gates, In Flames, et al. They blew the scene out of control after this.

 

This will remain to be my favorite Carcass release every and a top melodic metal release ever. You can measure it up to 'Slaughter of the Soul' by At The Gates, 'The Jester Race' by In Flames, et al. I'm not sure who did the bulk of songwriting on this one, it would probably be mutual between Amott and Steer. They put everything together and made a milestone of a record. My favorite parts of the album are the guitars. But I like the vocals and drums too. The production quality is fantastic. I wouldn't trade the guys in from Earache for anyone. They are just all about band's successes. Own this, TODAY! (Death8699)

 

(Earache Records - 1993/2021)

Score: 90

 

https://carcass.bandcamp.com/album/heartwork-full-dynamic-range-edition

Enid - Seelenspiegel

BACK IN TIME: recensione gentilmente concessa da Nihil Zine 

#PER CHI AMA: Symph Black

Sono lieto di potervi riproporre il vecchio album di una band germanica dotata di uno stile personale, di un'identità non riconducibile a un modello predefinito. Proprio così: benché, in alcuni momenti (rari per fortuna), faccia capolino una voce sgraziata d'impostazione black, gli Enid non possono essere catalogati come un gruppo black metal. Le loro canzoni dal sapore malinconico sanno essere fortemente evocative. Se credete nel valore dell'epica e della tradizione, 'Seelenspiegel' saprà emozionarvi, facendo vibrare corde profonde del vostro animo. Delle nove canzoni di questo album, l'unica che non convince è la sesta, "The Forbidden Site", che paga, a livello di performance vocale, un tributo eccessivo al logoro canone black. Chi già conosce gli Enid, sa che per 'Seelenspiegel', loro terzo cd, non necessita di ulteriori ragguagli. Chi li sente nominare per la prima volta, sappia che non possono essere accostati a Falkenbach e Thyrfing, né tanto meno a Graveland o Windir (gruppi ai quali, beninteso, va tutta la mia stima): siamo in altri territori musicali, decisamente. Ma la diversificazione è una virtù, una risorsa preziosa, e le atmosfere di canzoni come "Nexus" e "Patience's Ring", sono talmente affascinanti che dubito possano lasciarvi indifferenti.

 

(Code 666/Self - 2002/2016)

Voto: 75

 

https://enidgermany.bandcamp.com/album/seelenspiegel

Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding

BACK IN TIME:

http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Brutal Death

Killer beat to this one and as Barnes is usually into his low-end bellowing voice it's a little different on here. It's not really guttural voice, he actually sounds just right on this one. It's low-throat, but not like 'Butchered at Birth' or 'Tomb of the Mutilated.' It's actually better than both. Not musically, but his voice doesn't ruin the music. The music with the vocals go hand in hand. The riffs are spot on! This is where he flourishes, especially various different vocals styles. Barnes is at his best on here, he's tops with me. I don't know why he wasn't able to spew out better vocals on the first few releases. They definitely hit their pinnacle here.

The music on here is simply killer! It's a little of the past mixed with the present releases. It's catchy. Every song on here deserves praise. They've just put some juice in these riffs that keeps them ever flowing! Barnes has a little bit of high-end screams, though they're not held with great immensity.

 

The riffs on the guitars mix well with the vocals. It just fits on here. By far, this is Barnes's best output and contribution to the band up until his departure. What an onslaught musically and vocalistically. It's strange that we didn't see this in a part of him when Cannibal was just starting out.

 

I'd have to say that the following outputs with Cannibal like "Vile", "Gallery of Suicide" and "Bloodthirst" were good, but they got even better. I'd say with Corpsegrinder they slay on "Kill", "A Skeletal Domain", "Red Before Black" and without O'brien they needed someone like Rutan to fill O'brien's shoes. The new one "Chaos Horrific" is one of their better with Rutan, not so much on "Violence Unimagined." 'The Bleeding' was able to capture some very good songwriting and is one of their finest. Barnes is at his best, the music just crushes, and the musicianship is astronomical. There will never be a release like this one. Whatever happened to the band was that they were duplicating releases. When Corpsegrinder joined, they had already established themselves as a primordial death metal musicians. And when Jack Owen left, part of Cannibal wasn't the same. Cannibal seemed to duplicate recordings, you sort of knew what to expect. But on 'The Bleeding', they were at their best. Cannibal and Barnes. They tore it up! (Death8699)

 

(Metal Blade Records/Northeast Steel Industry Records - 1994/2022)

Score: 80

 

https://cannibalcorpse.bandcamp.com/album/the-bleeding

Fellwarden - Legend: Forged in Defiance

#FOR FANS OF: Atmospheric Black Metal

Fellwarden is a fascinating project born from the mind of the always creative musician, The Watcher, who is involved in several projects. Fen is, for sure, the most well-known of them and one of my favorite projects out there. While Fen successfully combines atmospheric black metal with some post metal/rock influences, Fellwarden was born with stronger ties to the first subgenre. The project was created back in 2014, and it has released two excellent albums, which are an honest musical proof of The Watcher’s immense talent and passion for this style.

As this year marks the tenth anniversary of Fellwarden, the English solo-project is back with its third installment, which is usually a crucial one because it usually shows if a project is capable of reaching a new point of evolution in its sound. The name of the new opus is 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' and the title itself shows a certain idea of how the album can sound. This is an effort that does not differ dramatically from its predecessors, but it surely has a stronger epic tone in their compositions. A preconceived feeling that is reinforced if you take a look at the majestic artwork, courtesy of the legendary Belgian artist Kris Verwimp. 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' contains six songs (seven if you have the limited edition), in which The Watcher unleashes his creativity with long and rich compositions, where all the traditional elements of this project can abundantly be found. The album opener "Exultance" is for sure a great choice to start listening the album. Ten minutes of pure atmospheric black metal with a majestic tone thanks to the addition of some clean vocals and an excellent powerful riffing. The classic raspy vocals are also there as a great contrast and have a great presence as you could expect. The ups and downs in the pace are excellently placed and make the song flow adequately, never letting it to sound predictable or flat. The combination of fast and slower sections varies in its distribution depending on the composition. In any case, mid-tempo sections, and even slow ones, are more prominent, like you can listen to in compositions like "Despair", which is clearly slower than the album opener. The subsequent track, "Renewed Hope", has a great contrast between the different sections of the composition.

"Desperation" is another excellent song, where the introduction of acoustic guitars, along with some touching clean vocals, creates an undoubtedly solemn and emotional atmosphere, excellently contrasted by the always necessary ferocious moments. The last part of the album follows very similar patterns, although the general pace is here predominantly slow, which is not actually an enormous issue. Nevertheless, at least for me, it leaves me with the feeling that the second half of the album lacks a bit of energy that some faster and heavier parts would give. From my point of view, this contrast between the solemn mid-tempo/slow parts and speedy sections would be beneficial for the album as whole.

All in all, 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' by Fellwarden is an excellent album. The tasteful and enriching compositions, the epic general tone and the great performance by all instruments and vocals, weights more than the occasional feeling in the final part of the album, that this effort lacks some ferocity. (Alain González Artola)

(Eisenwald - 2024)
Score: 82

https://fellwarden.bandcamp.com/album/legend-forged-in-defiance