Sirius - Aeons of Magick (2000)

Sirius was a short lived ('98-'02) black metal band from Portugal who released two albums during their short but intriguing run. After two demos in '98 the band signed with Samoth's (Emperor, Zyklon) Nocturnal Art's Productions and unleashed their debut, 'Aeons of Magick' in 2000. I remember when this album initially came out I had (for whatever reason) and enormous struggle actually finding a copy on the internet, but I eventually tracked one down two years later at the 2002 Milwaukee Metalfest.

Musically Sirius was comparable to bands like Limbonic Art and Obsidian Gate with an additional bit of influence drawn from the first two Emperor records as well. Therefore were dealing with symphonic black metal here that places the largest emphasis on the keyboard orchestrations while the guitar and bass are nearly absent from the recording, while the drums relentlessly blast away and the vocalist screams in a hellish fury as well as occasional using an epic narrative voice over the chaos. With the guitars/bass being reduced to merely just a distant ambiance some might think the music would be utterly boring, but it's the orchestral synths that really make Sirius so stunning. The synths hold a very epic and ethereal, cosmic and brooding characteristic to them, which at least in my opinion makes the music very gripping when mixed with the raging drum work and black metal vocals.

As far as actual highlights are concerned I honestly wouldn't hesitate to say that most if not all of the songs stand out of significantly, but, 'Travellers of the Stellar Ocean' has always stuck among the others and it shows the Emperor influences I mentioned earlier. I'm also quite fond of the title track since it's a nearly ten minute epic, which shows off everything that made Sirius so good and, 'Beyond the Scarlet Horizon' is an exceptional pure orchestral synth piece that ends this journey quite well.

After this album the band released, 'Spectral Transition - Dimension Sirius' in '01, which I never got my hands on, but I hear it was less symphonic and also used a death metal voice instead. Some time after the recording some of the members moved to Norway and Lars Sorensen (Red Harvest) and Cato Bekkevold (Enslaved) joined, but nothing was ever created together. A few years later drummer Daniel Cardoso formed a band with Garm from Ulver under the name Head Control System.

It's been ten years since it's initial release and I still feel this is one of the finest entries ever in the symphonic black metal sub-genre. Aeons of Magick is surely not an album to miss, especially if you have any love for the bands mentioned above or just the genre in general. Absolutely stunning work is to be found within this one.

Luctus / Argharus - Sonitus Caeli Ardentis (2007)

Released back in 2007 through Lithuania’s Ledo Takis Records is a split between Lithuanian bands Luctus and Argharus. Luctus, which is basically the solo project of the man of the same name has been around since 2001 and to date has released two demos, two EPs, a best of compilation and recently his first full length album. While, yes, this band is regarded as solo endeavor there are session live members and a session drummer participated for this particular recording.

Musically Luctus is fast hard hitting brutal blackened thrash metal that’s not entirely different from such acts as Carpathian Forest, Melechesh or Absu, but Luctus seems to be a bit faster and I think they definitely have their own identity. What makes them similar is the use of full-on harsh black metal screaming and the large amount of absolutely killer head banging riffs and quality drumming. Other similarities I see to Carpathian Forest would be the rocking groove riffs that at least for me really manage to get me going until the band hits with more brutal music. I really can’t say which song is best because frankly they are all completely excellent, but, 'Filthy Blood, Guts and Shit' has often times been a song to turn to when I'm in a foul mood and need some intense music to cleanse my mind. Luctus demolishes their listeners with superb speedy musicianship, a great sense of catchiness, insanely killer vocals and they offer up a large amount of hate, and frankly its incredible. Luctus excels at their craft marvelously and I can definitely tell you I really need to finally get my hands on the bands 2009 debut, 'Jaučiant Pabaigą Arti.' If brutal energetic blackened thrash is your thing than definitely don't miss out on this band. I fucking love the six songs on this split!

Argharus formed back in 2004, although they have no demos behind them they did however release their debut album, 'Plei'tas' last year. Musically these guys offer up a more traditional black metal approach that is both speedy to mid-paced in range. Their music basically alternates between blistering fast playing to a slightly less speedy style that is filled with decent melodic riffs and great tormented screams. Their performance isn’t as stunning as Luctus’, but the four songs here are still great and I can definitely sense Argharus has much more to offer and perhaps they shine through on their debut. In any case, these guys are another band I really need to catch up with and hopefully soon I'll get my hands on their debut and see where they are at nowadays.

The Stompcrash - Requiem Rosa (2007)

The Stompcrash is a Gothic band from Milan, Italy, which has equal parts of classic 80’s English Gothic rock, post punk and some darkwave characteristics to form a diverse, transfixing and catchy release.

As it usually goes with this sort of music, the vocals alternate between Chris’ lead bassy male voice to Dany’s female voice, which sound great, especially with her Italian accent very much intact. The music, although showing some clear influences from artists like The Cure, Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and the Banshees is still way above average. Through the fair usage of keyboards the songs have a strong atmospheric and dreamy sort of quality I like quite a bit. As it also goes with this sort of music the bass guitar is rather audible and the guitar work is well done with plenty of interesting riffs, some of which sound a bit melancholic to my ears.

I really like most of the songs on this album, but in particular, ‘Like a Noise,’ ‘Dorian’ and ‘Modern Slaves’ are the best, filled with great melodies and tons of catchiness to keep me coming back for more and more.

At forty three minutes and twelve songs strong, this is definitely a must for anyone that enjoys classic Gothic music. Likewise it’s always pleasing to see modern day artists still creating this sort of music, and even if you didn’t grow up with music like this you’ll quickly fall in love with it once you hear it.

Nordic Metal - A Tribute To Euronymous (1996)

The concept for the Nordic Metal compilation was first brought to mind back in 1992 by Euronymous of Mayhem and Paul 'Typhon' Thind, the founder of Necropolis Records. The idea was to release an elite compilation of Nordic black/death metal bands to spread the word over in America and even possibly get Mayhem and other bands to the states to play some shows. Unfortunately, as you may know, Euronymous was murdered in the Summer of '93 and this compilation was eventually shelved. A few years later folks started asking what happened to the comp. and eventually in 1996 it was released as not only a fitting document of the early black/death metal scene in Norway & Sweden but also as a final tribute to Euronymous.

The compilation features fifteen songs from eleven different bands, namely; Abruptum, Mayhem, Dissection, Emperor, Mysticum, Marduk, Thorns, Ophthalamia, Enslaved, Arcturus and Mortiis. Within the booklet there's old photos, information on each band as well as many comments and detailed memories of Euronymous and the scene back in these early days from key members of the scene. However it's the music that is most important and on this particular compilation you'll surely find plenty of classic songs.

One of the true highlights of the comp. come from Abruptum who open the album with their song, 'De Profundis Mors Vas Consumet,' which is a bizarre, dark and completely twisted sounding piece of black metal that still to this day sounds very original. Mayhem are featured with two songs; one being an old rehearsal from '89 with Dead on vocals and the other being a rehearsal from '95 when the band was reformed with Maniac as the lead vocalist. Both are of outstanding quality of course too. Dissection makes an appearance twice with their songs, 'Where Dead Angels Lie' & 'Elizabeth Bathori,' both of which would later resurface on an EP in that same year. The two Emperor songs are of the most supreme quality, even if they are old and very raw rehearsals, while the two Mysticum songs are industrial black metal at it's finest that's still unmatched to this day.

The Marduk song, 'Untrodden Paths (Wolves Pt. II)' is taken from their, 'Opus Nocturne' album, which is arguably their finest hour, Whilst the Thorns rehearsal song, 'Ærie Descent' shows that even in the early 90's some bands were not afraid to make experimental and weird black metal sometimes. The Ophthalamia cover version of Mayhem's, 'Deathcrush' has always stood out as being stunning to me and actually far better than the original while Enslaved's song, 'Loke' from their album, 'Frost' is a most intense viking/black metal song, which I've enjoyed for many years now. The early Arcturus song, 'Rodt og Svart' has always given me this sleepy weird feeling, but it's an interesting experience nonetheless and the, 'Unreleased Outro' from Mortiis is very, very similar to his work on his debut, but again it's quite enjoyable.

When I bought this compilation ten years ago it was a blue print of sorts as it introduced me to new bands like Mysticum, Thorns and Opathalamia and of course provoked me to instantly get my hands on their albums as well as finding all the other releases from the bands on this comp. that I had not found just yet. If you're new to black metal or are just curious about the early scene then this is indeed a fine comp. to pick up and since it's been re-released numerous times I don't suppose it's hard to track down either. Be it for the music or for the interesting quote and stories within, 'Nordic Metal - A Tribute To Euronymous' is definitely worth getting your hands on.

Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra - Equinox (2009)

After a ten day hiatus from writing due to the downfall of my laptop, I'm back with an new/old desktop computer and ready to resume my work on this blog with more interesting releases for all you audiophiles and music maniacs out there.

In early September of last year, Hypnotic Dirge released this split album between Old Forgotten Lands and Ancient Tundra. Old Forgotten Lands is up first on this split and this solo project from a guy named Elan offers up three dreamy and surreal sounding ambient pieces that really manage to fully capture my mind and take me to an ethereal world that's filled with both beauty and melancholy. There's also definitely a ghostly like quality to this music that gives the music a chilling sort of feeling. Somehow in my mind I can picture myself walking through a forest shrouded in fog without any way to escape. I always like when music is able to create strange feelings like this and I must admit Elan achieves these sentiments with flying colors. There's also a variety of nature samples mingled into the music, which just makes the visions in my brain expand further and take me to even greater worlds of wonder. I don't believe there are any Old Forgotten Lands full-length albums just yet, but I will surely keep my ears open and ready for one when it arrives.

Ancient Tundra was already mentioned on this blog a few months ago, but I'll surely have no problem reviewing this exciting act once again. Ancient Tundra's music (like Old Forgotten Lands) is within the ambient genre, but where OFL is otherworldly and dreamy AT is far more despondent in it's delivery with a cold wave of freezing bitterness added to the mix. AT much like OFL seems to tell a story within these four compositions and although there are only a few spoken passages I find that the music speaks to me and I'm able to conjure up a mysterious icy cold world when listening to this music. Again I can picture myself wandering within this world; in this case some sort of frozen castle forgotten by humans and betrayed by time. Melodic, melancholy and truly cold in it's delivery; Ancient Tundra is truly not an ambient artist to miss and definitely another one to keep in mind.

At just a little under fifty minutes and featuring seven quality songs, 'Equinox' is a fantastic ambient record to add to your collection and one I think I'll even appreciate more so once the weather turns cold again and snow starts falling from the sky.

Computer Death

Back on the 16th, shortly after making my most recent update to this blog, my computer died. This is why there have been no updates from me since then. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a working computer until yesterday and even this computer is nothing special since it's five years old and moves at a turtle like speed. The loading time on most websites is just ridiculous and of course posting this blog has been a lengthy chore too. Fortunately a friend is going to give me a computer, which I hope will move at least a little bit faster than this one. Hopefully I'll be able to do my regular updates from that point on. At this time I can't afford a new computer since I'm going to England in early August and although using a Credit Card is an option it's one I'd rather avoid for the moment. So, hopefully I'll get that new/old computer soon and be able to continue on with this blog and do as I've always done. Again sorry for the absence, but stuff happens. I shall return.

Rammstein @ Festival d’Été de Québec, QC, Canada 07.18.2010

It’s 5:30 AM on Saturday, July 17, 2010. I am getting ready to hit the road to meet with my very good friend as we’re about to drive down to Quebec City to attend a very special concert. And we are not alone. As a matter of fact, hundreds if not thousands of people across North America, not to mention other parts of the world, are heading to or are already in Quebec City, impatiently waiting to see Rammstein! On the music scene, this is probably one of the biggest event in North America this year. Their last visit was 9 years ago to support their sensational Mutter album and have not set foot on this side of the Atlantic (except South America?) since then for reasons I do not want to debate here.

July 18 2010, I’m excited. On this last day of the Festival d’Été de Québec (Quebec Summer Festival), the crowd is rapidly increasing as people are gathering near the gates blocking access to the Plains of Abraham where the concert will be held. Some have been sleeping near the gates since the 00:00 AM to ensure a great spot near the massive stage. I am not that committed and preferred waiting with my friends near Tourny Fountain, right in front of Parliament Hill, while drinking a few cold beers. 5:55 PM, the gates opened and this was welcome with thunderous cheers and rounds of applause. Thanks to a great organization, things moved relatively fast even though each and every one got searched prior to going through the gates that lead to a massive sea of people. My friends and I hurried to find a good spot where we will get to see Rammstein as close as possible. Closer is always better but knowing that there will be an arsenal of pyrotechnics unleashed before us, and a pair of giant screens, I was happy with the spot we got.

Apocalyptica took the stage first and they played a good set. I honestly believe that it would have been odd and borderline disastrous if they haven’t played their renditions of Metallica's Wherever I May Roam, Fight Fire with Fire and Seek & Destroy. That got things moving as the crowd sang along as if the songs played by Apocalyptica where karaoke tracks. For me, the set was okay. Nothing more. The highlight in my opinion was their cover of Hall of the Mountain King which was a pure delight of furious cello playing culminating into an explosion of musical notes, basically limited by how fast these musicians can play their instruments.

Then there was a pause. A long one as Rammstein delayed their stage presence by 30 minutes. But that was quickly forgotten when all the lights went out to the sound of ‘Rammlied’ and as a black curtain fell only to reveal an enormous German flag in the background. Rammstein delivered an amazing performance doing what they do best with great theatrics, lighting and stage, bombastic and over the top pyrotechnics, and of course, great music. It was said that 400 pyrotechnic effects were used through their 100 minutes set. From Till Lindemann’s mouth shooting beams of light to the usual flame bombs shooting up and/or down the stage, to fireworks shot to/from the stage, and let’s not forget the flame throwers. There was even a choreographed fight between Lindemann (singer) and Christian "Flake" Lorenz (keyboardist). The later lost the fight and got thrown into a metallic bath by Lindemann who then got elevated 20 feet from the stage floor via some kind of a hydraulic pedestal. And it is from there that he got to poor some liquid flames and sparks into the metallic bath where Flake’s body was lying. Then Lindemann got back on stage and walked away. Flake, who was wearing some sort of latex body suit prior to getting thrown into the metallic bath emerged wearing a suit full of glitters. That alone was amazing to see! The set went something like this: Rammlied, Bückstabü, Waidmanns Heil, Keine Lust, Feuer Frei!, Wiener Blut, Frühling in Paris, Ich Tu Dir Weh, Du Riechst So Gut, Benzin, Links 2-3-4, Du Hast and Pussy. It was awesome to hear the crowd sing the French section of the chorus on Frühling in Paris and even more thrilling to hear the deafening crowd on Du Hast which was chock full of pyrotechnics and light effects. Also worthy of mention is the huge canon of a phalic nature that was used by Lindemann on Pussy to shoot, err, a thick load of foam bath mixed with some sort of rectangular paper confetti all over the crowd, the 100 000 if not more that we were. Rammstein then walked off stage up until the crowd was loud enough for them to come back for the encore. Yeah, right after they played Pussy, cuz we all wanted more. They went on to play Sonne, and then the guys from Apocalyptica joined them to play Haifisch and Ich Will which put an end to an unforgettable concert night and the 2010 Edition of Quebec Summer Festival.

It would have been nice to hear more songs, like Engel for example, but I will not go there as I am content with their entire set and the simple fact that I was there to see them. Because who knows when they will be back here. Fan or not, that was the place to be.

Inlaid Rust - Machinery in the Dark (2007)

Initiated back in 2006, Inlaid Rust is lead solely by one Roland La Goy from Salinas, California. Back in 2007 he released this absolutely stunning three track demo titled, 'Machinery in the Dark.'

Inlaid Rust could probably best be described as industrialized black metal. Roland blends together a fair amount of both brutal black metal riffs with slower doomy parts and industrial and ambient characteristics that reminds me of such stand-out acts as Blut Aus Nord and The Axis of Perdition, but even as there are similarities Inlaid Rust definitely has its own identity. I was surprised to find that the guitar work is quite melodic actually with some very interesting and mighty sinister sounding riffs and even a few solos. There doesn’t seem to be any real vocals or words to be communicated to the listener on this demo, but rather just completely inhuman growls and brief whispers can be heard in the background giving me the feeling that something is hunting me down in the dark. Interestingly for a demo the production is basically perfect. I honestly can’t find anything negative to say about this fantastic work.

Unfortunately things have been quiet around Inlaid Rust since this release though mentioning of a full-length did surface back in May of 2009, but nothing has appeared just yet.

If the idea of frightening sounding black metal fussed with some doom as well as industrial and ambient parts sounds like your thing than by all means make sure to check out this exciting demo.

DOWNLOAD HERE

The Skaden - You Will Hope I Had Died (2009)

The Skaden (The Shield) was originally formed under the banner of Eikenskaden (Oaken Shield) back in 1998 in Metz, Lorraine, France by multi-instrumentalist Stefan Kozak. During Eikenskaden’s ten year run Stefan released four albums, but last year he decided to change the band’s name to The Skaden and continue onwards in a different manner.

As far as memory serves me the last Eikenskaden album I heard, ‘There is No Light at the End of the Tunnel’ was a somewhat straight forward black metal release with a raw guitar tone, vicious screams and a slightly progressive touch to it. On ‘You Will Hope I Had Died’ Stefan is much more inclined to experiment and take his music (performed entirely by himself BTW) in a more avant-garde direction that’s possibly influenced by other notable French bands like Alcest and Peste Noire.

Within we find the typical black metal tremolo picked guitars with a raw tone to them, but there is plenty of melody from the lead guitar with interesting riffs/solos and you’ll also quickly discover some shoe gaze, post rock and progressive touches to this music too. There’s also some not so classic black metal instrumentation like violins and woodwind instruments, which honestly make the music sound a bit wild, weird and slightly fruity at times, but somehow it works out. There are also five unknown souls (unknown to me at least) who contribute lyrics and backing vocals and where it truly shines is on the last song, ‘貴様らは俺の死を望む’ simply because it has spoken vocals in Japanese alongside some rather grim music.

All in all this is a fairly strong and avant-garde album that probably won’t be a big hit for black metal purists, but for those that desire something a little different then this is certainly worth investigating further.

Alcest - Écailles de lune (2010)

Back in 2007 Alcest debuted with, ‘Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde,’ which was an album that caused quite a stir, both charming people and disgusting others. So, what would Neige, the bands sole mastermind, have in store for us on his sophomore release, ‘Écailles de lune?’

Somewhat expectantly he continues to blend post rock and shoe gaze music with minimal black metal influences, though this time around he actually uses some black metal style screams as well new drummer Winterhalter even has some blast beat moments on the double bass pedal. That aside you can expect to hear absolutely beautiful and memorable melodies from Neige’s guitar and frankly speaking the first three songs are absolutely the best he’s ever created.

As soon as the sounds of, ‘Écailles de lune – part 1’ flood into my room I’m absolutely immersed in this album and I’m not let go until the third song, ‘Percées De Lumière.’ Each of these songs is crafted so well that you’re drawn in every time and these songs stick with you after you leave them behind too. As stunning as the music is it must be noted that Neige’s clean vocals are among some of the best out there and his black metal screams are honestly some of the most vicious I’ve heard recently too.

The music of Alcest has always said to be influenced by some sort of dream world Neige created as a child and much like the previous album this release has that ability to completely capture your mind and take you to this place. It’s strange how his music carries such diverse emotions too. Sometimes it’s dark and mysterious at other times melancholic and dreamy and even within a few places on this album he sounds completely evil and full of hatred.

Even as the album does start out quite well it unfortunately takes a plunge with the fourth song, ‘Abysses,’ which is a low point for Alcest since it’s just a minute and a half of droning ambiance which does nothing to enhance the album at all and the following song, ‘Solar Song’ is the most shoe gaze sounding piece Neige has recorded to date, but it does very little for me. Fortunately the album comes back in a strong way with the final song, ‘Sur l'océan couleur de fer,’ which is a slow acoustic piece with a very melancholic mood and enormously breathtaking vocals.

Clocking in at just a little over forty one minutes, Écailles de lune is a fairly good album, though I wish perhaps it had been slightly longer. Nevertheless Neige has written another gripping album which will no doubt continue to get plenty of plays from me as well as the rest of his listeners out there.

Lady Morphia - Essence And Infinity (2006)

Lady Morphia, the band centered around Nick and Chris Nedzynski, both from England, haven't been that productive over their fourteen years making music together, but usually when they do release something it is of great quality. The bands last release was back in 2000, and it has taken six years for this their sophomore album to be released, but the band was not completely silent as they did record a number of compilation tracks and also Nick collaborated with Werkraum on their, ‘Kristalle’ MCD. So obviously the band is a bit overdue, but ‘Essence And Infinity’ has definitely been deliverying since its release four years ago.

If your not familiar with Lady Morphia they had in the past normally played a mix between dark folk and ambient music, but on Essence they’ve added a bit more to their repertoire. Much to my surprise and probably the surprise of fans that heard their older work is that on this new album there are some songs that are in a hard rock almost metal sounding vein. For me they reminded me of Ostara and Nick’s voice even sounded similar to Richard Leviathan’s, but where nowadays Ostara mixes electronics in their harder edge rock music, Lady Morphia adds classical elements. Another surprise for me was, ‘Sterbende Landschaft,’ which, well, frankly could have passed as a Von Thronstahl song. It’s got the usual military percussion, epic orchestral keyboards and sternly spoken vocals in German. ‘A Faustian Summer’ is another standout surprise since it’s just a short melancholic piano ballad. Besides the ambient opener, ‘Im Schoß Der Welt,’ the additional rocking song called, ‘Carmen Ad Occidentem,’ and another Von Thronstahl styled piece titled ‘Sturmjahre,’ the remaining songs are in a typical Death in June-ish neo folk style.

I happen to really like the bands neo folk style above all other styles on this album and while it is in the best World Serpent tradition it still doesn’t effect my appreciation for them. Most of the songs feature light acoustic guitars, keyboards, trumpets, violins and backing female vocals, so it shouldn’t be too hard to form an idea in your head as to what they sound like. A difference however is where guys like Douglas Pearce and Tony Wakeford don’t exactly have the best singing ability I find that Nick’s voice is way above average and is pleasing to hear.

Essence And Infinity is indeed an enjoyable record, but I feel that the harder rocking songs may divide the fans among this band a bit. I say this only because I’ve come across some neo folk listeners who hate metal and rock music with a burning passion. However fortunately I love both and the mix of neo folk, ambient, rock/metal and martial symphonic is a near perfect concoction for me. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you desire a bit more diversity then what the usual neo folk band brings to the table.

Astral Luminous - Lunaric Tide (2009)

Astral Luminous is an ambient/black metal project from Texarkana, Texas, USA lead solely by multi instrumentalist Scott Johnson. At forty minutes in length and consisting of four songs, ‘Lunaric Tide’ features two ambient songs and two lengthy black metal compositions.

The album opens with the title track, which is a nearly four minute ambient piece that carries a very cosmic sort of spacey vibe to it, which certainly lives up to both its title and the bands name. The second song, ‘Astral Luminous’ clocks in at thirteen minutes and continues in a black metal style. While the music does contain the traditional trebly raw rhythm guitar that many black metal bands employ there is also a lead guitar which plays some absolutely beautiful and clean sounding melodies which are both very dark and melancholic in character, but regardless very pleasing to the ear. The bass guitar is even audible at times and some acoustic guitars are also used at the end of the song, which really allow this one to end on a positive note. The vocals, although limited, are actually handled by a session musician and while they are somewhat typical grim raspy black metal growls they do at least fit the music fairly well.

The third song, ‘Binaural Vibrancy’ is another epic at just a little under thirteen minutes, but this song I find takes the music in a much darker direction and generally eschews some of the melody from the previous song as well as the more sorrowful tendencies in favor of a misanthropic approach (at times). The final four minutes of this song then conclude in a sort of ritualistic like ambient manner. The final song, ‘Cosmic Death’ is a ten minute pure ambient piece, which is dark and droning and sort of gives that vibe of just drifting endlessly through space or some sort of celestial void at least. Trippy stuff indeed.

After some time, I’ve come to realize that this is quite a good release, though I think the vocals could stand to be slightly more original and perhaps adding at least one more black metal song wouldn’t have been a bad idea either. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing a cleaner production to bring out all the melodies clearly, but what is done on this album certainly works fine. Lunaric Tide offers up some excellent ambient/black metal music here and it really will be interesting to see what Scott comes up with next.

Bloodstock Open Air Festival

A buddy and I will be attending this year’s Bloodstock open air festival in England on August 13-15. This will be my first time in Europe and of course my first visit to England. So, needless to say, I’m quite excited about this. With bands like Gorgoroth, Amorphis, Ensiferum, Behemoth and Opeth set to play, I’m predicting one bad ass metal weekend. Of course the journey will be an expensive one, but after a vacation I took last year I told myself that from this moment onwards I would have one fucking awesome new experience every year and I intend to keep that personal promise to myself regardless of cost. This also explains why I haven’t made any updates to the zine in a few days now (been finalizing the plans and paying for everything) and I’ve also recently had some computer issues, which can only be explained as being wacky. Hopefully things will continue on smoothly from here on.

Anyway, if perchance any readers are attending then definitely let me know. Will get drunk and enjoy some metal together. Other than that look forward to a full report after the festival with hopefully some cool photos to share as well.

http://www.bloodstock.uk.com/

Naglfar - Diabolical (1998)

Back in the 90’s damn near every band coming out of Sweden, which carried a black or death metal tag was way above average and absolutely enormous in sound, musicianship and atmosphere. One such band that sticks out the most for me is Umeå based band Naglfar, which released a sheer slaughter of raging black/death metal in 1998 called, ‘Diabolical.’

On Diabolical, Naglfar rips through forty four minutes of furious melodic black metal with death influences and an enormously darkened atmosphere unlike few else out there. With a loud, vibrant and nearly perfect production job, Andreas Nilsson and Mad Morgan Hansson’s guitar work is captured beautifully and devastatingly assault’s the ears with their sheer speed, melodic touches and technical ability. Kristoffer Olivius’ heavy bass attack is also clearly audible and completely kills in the song, ‘When Autumn Storms Come’ and Mattias Grahn’s rampant brutal drumming is like the infernal legions of hell all coming at you at once. There’s also some inclusion of acoustic guitars and magnificent backing synth passages on this album, but, of course, one of the best aspects of the early Naglfar records is the lead vocals of Jens Ryden. There’s few (if any) that come close to sounding as malevolent and lethal as Jens did on those first two Naglfar records and I’m quite sure once you hear his hellish screams you’ll agree that he was indeed one of the best in the 90’s.

With this album Naglfar created what I believe to be one of the most pissed off, flesh peeling, bone breaking recordings of sonic black metal torment ever conceived. From the opening cut, ‘Horncrowned Majesty’ to ‘When Autumn Storms Come’ this record is absolutely on fire, but then takes a quick break for, ‘A Departure in Solitude,’ which is an ambient/symphonic piece, but then comes back just as vicious with the final song, ‘Diabolical – The Devil’s Child.’

This is one of those records you put on when the world fucks you over and hard, it’s a record to play when you need to wake yourself up, it’s just an ideal, absolutely priceless brutally melodic black metal recording. Put your hands in the air and bang your head for Satan! I fucking love this album!

After this album Naglfar took another five years before unleashing their third album, ‘Sheol,’ which was very similar but failed to capture the same amount of anger and violent brutality that Diabolical had, and unfortunately everything they’ve done after Sheol was damn near worthless, mostly because of the drastic line-up changes. Fortunately I caught Naglfar live back in 2003 when they were still cranking out some of the best black metal these ears have ever heard. Furthermore, all I can really say is if you’ve ignored Naglfar or this album then definitely add this classic to your list of albums to get.

Immundus - Haunted Memories (2009)

Immundus is the solo endeavor of Bruno Duarte who has been recording under this banner since he moved to Norway (originally from Portugal) back in 2003. During these past seven years he’s released two full-length albums, one EP, a 3’ single and has appeared on numerous compilations, but let us focus in on his second album, ‘Haunted Memories’ from 2009, which is surely one of the finest ambient records I’ve heard in recent years.

Bruno labels his music as ghost ambient, which will surely raise an eyebrow or two, but once you hear it you’ll definitely understand. His brand of ambiance carries a creepy and otherworldly sentiment, which at least to my ears sounds like it’s been partially influenced by classic 70’s/80’s horror movies and perhaps even some video game music. Therefore, the music is considerably more melodic and diverse from track to track and since the album only runs for forty two minutes it’s also obviously shorter than most ambient records. It is however definitely dark ambient music and you can surely listen to this album while relaxing, sleeping or reading, though you might feel yourself drifting to a different world and leaving behind your current whereabouts.

It’s Immundus’ goal to transport the listener to the darker side of life and through these ten songs he surely does do that. I’ve listened to this album a few times with the lights out with a few candles burning and the atmospheric effect as been quite colossal to say the least. It really gives me that feeling that something might be out there and when I feel those hairs on the back of my neck rising I can’t help but wonder if I’m alone or someone else is in my apartment with me. There are also some samples thrown in to his work like water dripping, chains being dragged on the ground, indistinguishable voices, children’s laughter, music boxes, violent winds and so on, which all add to the experience wonderfully. I’ve also often times detected a sense of beauty within this record, which perhaps is just one of the many factors that’s kept me coming back for more.

Immundus’, Haunted Memories is without doubt a work of genius in an otherwise overcrowded and often times stale genre that only has a few true standouts. I’ll make it simple though, if you like dark ambient music, this is the record to hear. Go h(a)unt a copy down soon.

Hammock - Kenotic (2005)

Tennessee's finest ambient/post-rock duo Hammock first gained exposure with their 2005 debut album Kenotic and successfully proved those who think Nashville is only made up of adored gospel choirs and country singer-songwriters wrong. Although compared to minimalistic artists such as Eluvium and Stars of Lid, Hammock's music is structured and strung together by textures upon textures of evolving synths, intimate drum beats and guitars that whisper with distortion, drone, reverberation, delay, phase, etc., etc. Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson's success comes from their ability to create relaxingly sluggish waves of tonal color that may stimulate the listener's desire to gaze upon the stars hanging in an autumn / winter night. Each song on this album--predominantly 'Through a Glass Darkly,' 'Winter Light,' (think Bergman) and 'Miles to Go Before Sleep,'--are repetitive yet contain a substantial amount of chord arpeggios played on guitar and crystal-clear synth work: the two most important aspects of this album that make it a truly appreciated masterpiece floating under the radar in the atmospheric music scene. Each second of the 70 minutes this album contains is as breath-taking as it is intelligent both in theory and in thought. Expect to hear about this band more in the future...

Kvelertak - Kvelertak (2010)

Kvelertak are a fairly new band that hail from the dark music Mecca that is Norway. Their self-titled release is their first full length, with 11 tracks clocking in at 48 minutes.

I must admit, when I first came across this album, I was skeptical about how it would sound. When you use a John Baizley painting as your album art, you unintentionally peg yourself under a Baroness tag. However, these Norwegian rockers are quite far removed from the Georgian sludge some might try to lump them with. Kvelertak mix a thick, raw black metal sound with punk/thrash vibe and a bit of good old drunken rock and roll. Now, this description perhaps is a bit off-putting to some elitists, but these guys actually create well thought out music with riffs to blow your head off. And that's what makes this album so good: the riffs aren't all 'black metal' or 'thrash' or 'punk'. They mix and match and fuse different genres into an incredibly catchy album. Opener 'Ulvetid' starts with a chunky rock and roll riff before ripping into a familiar black metal sound; the track switches back and forth between the genres, but the transitions feel natural, not forced like in a lot albums trying to meld styles. A bit later in the album, 'Liktorn' is pure black metal to start, but then it turns into a pure drunk rock jam. Halfway through the same track, you get a viking metal-esque clean, harmonized chorus and a power chord-laden body. The album closer, 'Ultrydd dei Svake', finishes with an uplifting acoustic outro.

'Kvelertak' has an undeniable core to it's entire sound: an attitude of "we're going to play what we want, mixing what genres we want, fuck you if you don't like it." It's this attitude that makes this album fantastic, and hell, I'll say it: this is a fun album to listen to.

Decameron - My Shadow... (1996)

Decameron was a Swedish melodic death/thrash (slightly black) metal band, which released a couple demos in the early 90’s and one single album in 1996 called, ‘My Shadow…’ before breaking up permanently. Like so many others, the band’s sound was clearly influenced and at times mimicked Dissection’s two classic early albums though I hardly find that to be a negative thing since everyone back then was influenced by their creations and pretty much everyone produced absolute masterpieces as a result. Decameron was no exception.

‘My Shadow’ is loaded with some absolutely massive solos/riffs that have plenty of rhythm changes with thrashy/death metal melodies from Johannes Losbäck and Jonny Lehto, harshly screamed vocals and audible bass work from Johaanes’ brother Alex and a fine drum performance from Tobias Kellgren. Each and every song truly stands out with the overflow of melody, energy and overall conviction these guys put into their music though to be fair the true stand outs are, ‘Carpe Nocem,’ ‘Our Time Has Come,’ ‘Sexual Immortality’ and ‘Satanized;’ in fact this last song is a cover version of sorts of a song from a band of same name that Tobias played in back in ’91 with Jon Nödtveidt.

Unfortunately when most people discuss classic Swedish death metal this release rarely comes up, which is an honest mystery to me since it’s not only technically impressive it’s also down right catchy the whole way through. Also it’s never been re-released so actually finding an original copy could really prove to be both a challenge and expensive adventure. Personally I secured a copy of this album about eight years ago on eBay from some dumb bastard that sold it for a mere $8.

So, what happened to Decameron? Good question. Tobias went on to play for bands like Soulreaper, Seventh One and in 2005 as In Flames touring drummer. Jonny continued doing vocals and guitar in Grief of Emerald, while Johannes did Wolf and Seventh One as well, and most recently Alex emerged once again as the vocalist for a melodic death metal band named, Despite.

I have absolutely no idea what lead to the bands demise, but they left behind one of my honest true favorites from the classic Swedish melodic death metal scene.

Procer Veneficus - Ghostvoices (2006)

Since 2004, California resident, David M. Schultz has been (in his own words),"Converting dreams (both waking and sleeping) and an attitude of absolute dedication to the whole of nature throughout the universe into an audio format."

Nowadays with eleven full-length albums behind him he's explored this thought through various forms of music, such as raw black metal, dark ambient and here on his fourth album he took an entirely acoustic path. On, ‘Ghostvoices’ we get forty six minutes of foggy inducing experimental acoustic guitar music and throughout this recoding the listener is treated to light slowly strummed acoustic guitars with a damp backing ambiance and off in the distance incoherent whispers are heard.

The music gives me the feeling of slowly walking through nameless lands of complete desolation while rain lightly drizzles to my head. As I look onward I see endless fogginess, which seems to consume everything around. The remote unintelligible voices around me send shivers throughout my body, letting me know that something is out there. What it is I ask; that isn’t to be easily answered as it doesn’t sound of this world. Moving further in I come to an old creaky bridge, the wind blows hard where I fall into a psychedelic daze, just to wake up in my own bed and soon realize it was all just a reverie…or was it?

Ghostvoices is an ideal record to play late at night with rain lightly falling or a just a beautifully eerie creation to put on as you pass into sleep. Or if you're a bit more daring I highly suggest listening to this album while wandering through a forest late at night or early in the morning. I even once took this album with me down to the beach very early in the morning while most everything I saw was shrouded in fog. As I walked along the music, although basically instrumental, really spoke to me in a way I hadn't previously felt it. The effect was quite mesmerizing to say the least.

I unfortunately haven't really kept up with Mr. Schultz's work, but after throwing this album on again I've realized I really need to pick up and see what other strange and wonderful musical paths this guy has taken his listeners on in recent years.