Obsequiae - Suspended in the Brume of Eos (2011)

Conceived originally as Autumnal Winds back in '98, AW released six demos before going on hiatus in '05 and then reforming under the Obsequiae moniker in '07. In '09 a limited demo cassette was released followed by this their debut album, 'Suspended in the Brume of Eos' just a few months ago.

With warm, rich and reflective guitar melodies, harsh raspy blackened vocals, mid-tempo playing and lyrics based around nature, 'Suspended in the Brume of Eos' is a unique and impressive album. Upon hearing the first song, 'Altars of Moss' you'd probably have thought this band to be from Finland or at least somewhere in northern Europe, but they hail from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and in a way it warms my heart to hear something different in the mid-west and in my case something fairly close to home too.

The duo of Blondel de Nesle (AKA Tanner Anderson of Celestiial) and Neidhart von Reuental create something along the lines of melodic folk influenced dark metal, and oddly not reminding me of anything dark or grim but as I touched upon earlier the highly melodic guitar melodies have a very reflective sort of vibe to them. In fact they actually sort of sound upbeat to my ears and remind me of warmth and good times with friends. I have no idea if that's what these folky melodic riffs were intended to sound like but that's what comes to mind every time I listen.

The songs generally move at a mid-tempo pace, but some parts and songs do move at a hastier pace, which may induce flying hair, but either way the songs are all very, very catchy with the melodious riffs and the overall atmosphere is immense too. After each metal song there's an acoustic interlude, which seems to carry that similar warm vibe to them, but with maybe just a slight bit of melancholy on these numbers as well. The raspy vocals are the only connection to anything really dark on this record and while they are fairly standard sounding I think they work quite well with the music they play. Maybe my only complaint would be that the production is a bit lacking, but its underground metal so not everything is going to be perfect.

In the end Obsequiae has created a memorable and exciting debut, which will certainly please anyone that's into exceptionally melodic and folky sounding metal and I can say without a doubt that this one will make my top ten list at the end of the year.

Watain - Lawless Darkness (2010)

If you caught my Watain review from a few months ago you may recall that I was a bit of a late bloomer to this Swedish black metal band. Well, its been a few months, I've purchased all of the bands albums, I proudly wear their t-shirt on my skin and I can officially say this, 'I FUCKING LOVE THIS BAND!'

'Lawless Darkness' continues the Watain legacy adequately in a very similar music direction and it serves as the perfect follow-up to the massive, 'Sworn to the Dark' from '07. What I find to be generally a bit different or even better about this record is that its a lot catchier and the musicianship seems even further improved.

As far as catchiness is concerned there are many parts on this album that just simply require you to scream out, headbang and pump your fists along with the songs. This is especially true in cuts like, 'Reaping Death' or 'Four Thrones' where I find it almost impossible to resist shouting out, "Hail Lucifer!" along with vocalist Erik Danielsson. However they are surely not the only ones as I feel that every single song on this record has at least some small part or chorus where I've found myself doing this. Can you tell that I want to see this band live or what?!

Also once again there are some insanely memorable riffs, leads and absolutely killer solos throughout this record. 'Malfeitor' stands out as one of the albums best melodically guitar driven songs, likewise, 'Wolves Curse' has an absolutely beautiful solo mid-way through it. The instrumental, 'Lawless Darkness' is also stunning and although its mostly slower than most Watain songs they still manage to achieve the same outstanding level of unrivaled excellence. 'Waters of Ain' is the albums epic (fourteen minutes long) number and bleeding fucking Christ is it ever impressive, though I'm still debating if its better than, 'Stellavore.'

Case and point though, if you like hard driven, energetic and melodic black metal with clear inspiration from classic Bathory, Mayhem and Dissection then you'll be blown away by this album just as I continue to be with each subsequent listen.

Additionally I have to say the booklet is absolutely marvelous with some of the best artwork I've ever seen in a metal album. Each song has a morbid drawing next to the songs lyrics and I have to say a lot of these grim illustrations are very tempting for future tattoos. Also as usual the band photos are superb and creative and I honestly hope I can hunt down the collector's edition of the album in the leather book without having to sell one of my kidney's to come up with the fundage for it.

In the end there's probably a bit more I could say, but honestly I'd sooner get back to the headbanging and all that other stuff I mentioned above instead. Anyway, hail, 'Lawless Darkness' and hail WATAIN!

Thyrane - Black Harmony (1997)

Formed in the early 90's in Kemi, Finland as Thornmoon (but quickly changed to Thyrane), the foursome of Blasmor, Daemon, Avather and R. Grönholm originally released their debut demo, 'Black Harmony' in '97 and due to its overwhelmingly awesome sound it was subsequently re-released by Woodcut Records shortly thereafter.

Clocking in at a little over thirty five minutes and four songs total, 'Black Harmony' is in my opinion one of the best black metal demos ever created. Quite different to every single other BM demo out there, Black Harmony is produced adequately and the musicians abilities and song writing is beyond exceptional. Thyrane's music falls into the symphonic black metal sub-genre, though the synths are used more so as a backing instrument to generate more atmosphere while the main focus is on the highly melodic guitar work.

Since all of the songs are over seven minutes (one over eleven) you'd expect some of the usual BM monotony to take place during this demo, but largely the songs are quite progressive and rarely repeat structure or riffs and just continue onward. For the most part the demo is on fire and full of energy from start to finish and as a result of that this is one of those recordings where I could headbang my head to for its entire length, but some calmer ambient and purely acoustic moments due pop up here and there for a quick breather. Seriously though the drive behind these four songs, especially, 'Enthroned by Antichrist' is just fantastic! Interestingly there's also an underlining thrash characteristic to aid this drive and with the melodic guitars of Daemon and Avather being full of interesting riffs, leads and solos the ability for various parts of these songs to get caught in your brain is always there too.

The drum work is also quite well performed with plenty of rolls, fills and blast beats, but Blastmor's speeds definitely vary throughout each of these four songs. He also handles the vocals, which frankly sound great since they are full of raspy blackened emotion and his cleanly spoken parts sound ominous and commanding.

'Black Harmony' as a whole is stunning and if you can find the original tape, the Woodcut release or even the split with The Dead Beginners you'll definitely be on the right path to hearing some superior sounding symphonic black metal music.

After this demo Thyrane released their debut, 'Symphonies of Infernality,' which was quite similar and as such was quite a good recording too. 'The Spirit of Rebellion' however showed a band losing its blackness in favor of something else and by the time they released, 'Hypnotic' in 2003 they'd turn to complete shit with industrial and techno crap in the music. Apparently their last album in 2005, 'Travesty of Heavenly Essence' was a return to form, but I haven't heard that one yet...

Abigor - Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age (1994)

I don't remember how or why but Abigor was one of the first black metal bands I heard years and years ago and by the blessing of Satan I'm glad it was made so since Abigor remains one of my absolute favorite bands still to this day.

After releasing no less than four demos and one promo between late '93 and during '94, 'Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age' struck in November and as far as I know it stood as the first real black metal release from Austria, though of course many would follow them soon enough. Abigor’s music has always been rooted in the more brutal side of the genre however this release as well as its follow-up, 'Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)' are likely the bands most accessible recordings since things just got more brutal, malevolent, abrasive and eventually just plain weird later on.

The intricate assortment of hectic trebly melodious guitars and impressive solos, brutal diverse drumming, hellish vocals and fascinating lyrics, with a slight usage of calm acoustic guitars and haunting keyboards largely characterize this album and gives it a feeling that was quite unique at the time and different from the Scandinavian scene. Interestingly also is the fact that no bass guitar was used at all, but rather the band used some sort of layered guitar technique.

This is also Abigor at their most atmospheric since songs like, 'Universe of Black Divine' or 'Kingdom of Darkness' are mostly fast and angry whereas, 'My Soft Vision in Blood' is slower and has a haunting presence, when finally, 'Weeping Midwintertears' truly has a dark and dismal vibe to a good portion of it. The band also made use of some samples here and there to enhance the mood too. The riffs, leads and solos which are highly melodic are also something to take notice of since some of them are absolutely beautiful in their deliver, whereas others are absolutely pummeling and show more of an influence from Dissection than say Mayhem or Immortal, but things would change a few years down the road.

Throughout this entire nine song forty two minute release I find very little fault save for maybe the two instrumental keyboard tracks, which sound a little wanky, but are certainly not awful. Otherwise though all of the black metal tracks are on fire from start to finish and are absolutely impressive the whole way through.

I've enjoyed this album for over a decade now and its one of those rare gems where I felt inclined to buy it on vinyl as well when it was re-pressed a few years ago. Unfortunately though it seems still to this day this album and Abigor in general don't get the respect they rightly deserve, therefore I'd have to suggest checking out one of the finer black metal albums to be released in the early 90's.

Incubus / Necrovore - God Died on His Knees / Divus De Mortuus (1994)

It seems I've spent the past month and some days reviewing just new stuff, therefore I think its about time I turn the clock back to thee most ancient of times and start reviewing some older stuff, again!

A very common bootleg, this one, it pairs up two ultra cult demos from 1987 from Incubus and Necrovore (sometimes with Morbid Angel's, 'Thy Kingdom Come' demo too).

The first three songs come from Incubus' one and only 1987 demo, 'God Died on His Knees.' This Incubus (not to be confused with a few others) had its origins in Georgia, but sometime in '86, Sterling Von Scarborough moved to Florida to join Morbid Angel as their bassist when shortly thereafter things finally took off for Incubus. Musically this is absolutely primal filthy death metal in the frantic blasphemic direction of early Possessed, Morbid Angel and Death. Mike Browning's drumming is a barrage of pummeling chaos, Steve "Skully" Shoemaker's rabid guitar work is highly similar to that of Trey Azagthoth's, so much so that it gives the impression that he was the one who had previously played with them, while Sterling's bass is actually audible underneath the harsh production. Sterling's vocal work is also notable since he was surely one of the first true growlers out there and his mix between low guttural roars and agonized screams is just fucking killer!

Necrovore on the other hand was from New Braunfels, Texas, but similarly they only released one demo in '87 titled, 'Divus De Mortuus.' Although somewhat similar in sound Necrovore was considerably more extreme and frenzied than Incubus, and, well pretty much everything else out there at the time. Although comparable to Morbid Angel, Possessed, Sepultura, Sarcofago and even Von, Necrovore was absolutely ahead of their time. Were talking about utter Satanic chaos committed to tape here and I'm quite sure nothing was even close to this in '87. The sound is very lo-fi with the guitars and drums usually being buried under a layer of distortion and Jon DePlachett's malevolent screams. Jon sounds absolutely sinister throughout this entire demo as he screams and growls fourth the minions of Hell and frankly I'm not sure if anyone has ever sounded as demented since.

'Mutilated Death' opens with an eerie keyboard passage and spoken part, which then leads into a berserking Possessed like riff and insane scream that's followed up death metal disarray like you've never heard before. 'Slaughtered Remains' is the most known track on the demo because it appeared on a compilation called, 'Satan's Revenge Part 2,' while, 'Divus De Mortuus' and 'Toxic Decay' are similar it just is amazing how extreme this stuff truly is. Sure, its simple, and there's lots of typical 80's thrash characteristics present too, but by fucking Satan is it ever maniacal. The comp. version of, ''Slaughtered Remains' and a live version of the title track are also included though they are not quite as infectious as the four demo tracks.

Unfortunately neither of these bands made it past one demo as Incubus broke-up shortly after, 'God Died on His Knees,' although Mike Browning went onto the most awesome band, Nocturnus, while Sterling reformed Incubus in '92 under the name Usurper, but it never went anywhere and years later Sterling took his own life. Likewise Necrovore quit sometime after this demo, although its been said that the band is back together again today and they plan to finally do a real album, which would definitely be interesting to hear.

As you know from some of my other reviews of early pioneering extreme music that I've got a thing for this youthful aggression and frankly these two bands are among some of the most elite in the 80's. It's not for everyone but for those that are into fiery spearheaded music straight from the abyss then these two demos are for you! Who cares if the production is shit or if perhaps the musicians were not even that good?! Fuck it, I don't care, I goddamn love this kind of shit, mother fucker! RAAAARRRRRAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Ghost - Opus Eponymous (2010)

I guess by now everyone has either heard or at least knows a little bit of the Swedish band known as Ghost, which features six unknown individuals. Cloaked in mystery five of them play the instruments while the dark unholy priest himself, known as, 'A Ghoul Writer' sings and writes all of the lyrics. While the anonymous line-up and their stage and promo attire may have instantly drawn attention to them it goes without saying that, 'Opus Eponymous' is a special album that has made Ghost one of the most talked about bands out there currently.

Musically Ghost is a throwback band all the way, which combines the hard rock/heavy metal sounds of Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath with the vocal and lyrical styling of Mercyful Fate plus a keyboard sound that's quite similar to Goblin. There's hardly anything original about Ghost, but I don't think they were trying to be original. Its all about bringing back a style of music that was lost long ago and through this debut album they pull is off wonderfully.

Although all nine songs pass by in thirty five minutes I find that just about every last second is worthwhile. Filled with great guitar riffs, classic feel good solos, vibrant bass guitar, horror-ish proggy keyboards, cleanly sung soaring semi-operatic vocals and Satanic themed lyrics have made Ghost a force to be reckoned with. Not to mention that every song (even the two instrumentals) are ridiculously infectious and its pretty likely that songs, such as, 'Con Clavi Con Dio,' 'Ritual' or 'Death Knell' will be doing overtime in your head after you put the CD back in the jewel case.

While I'm sure other throwback bands like, Graveyard, The Devil's Blood, In Solitude or Blood Ceremony (note to self: check these bands out!) are fantastic too it seems Ghost and its enigmatic members have stolen the lead for now. Having also seen the band perform live a few months ago I can also say these guys are not a band to miss since the onstage atmosphere is quite high and they put on a fantastic performance.

But, yeah, like I said in the beginning I suppose you know Ghost already, so, get back to enjoying, 'Opus Eponymous' as I surely will too.

Ulver - War of the Roses (2011)

I've been following Ulver since early 2001 when I introduced myself to the band through their 1995 debut, 'Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler,' which I absolutely still consider their finest accomplishment and truly one of the best black metal records ever.

Sometime after that I took notice of the fact that they had released a new album the previous year, which lead me to, 'Perdition City.' Expecting more folk tinged black metal I got something quite different, but something I still immensely enjoyed. The same could be said for everything Ulver has done since then and even before. Its been immensely enjoyable for me regardless of the fact that the band has constantly switched genres or made up their own while pressing onward.

Their 10th studio album, 'War of the Roses' is once again something quite different to their previous releases although after giving it numerous spins I'm really not sure how I feel about the whole thing. Its an interesting release since Kristoffer's singing is used largely throughout the record and as usual he sounds fantastic, although its often mixed with ambient, electronic and neo classical styled music with a pop/rock underlining to it all. As a result I think some possibility of catchiness exists within some of these songs, but since its Ulver it does still have a very unique flow to it.

The record does also seem to carry on in a similar dark and melancholic mood as their previous album, 'Shadows of the Sun,' although, 'February MMX' is an exception since it's light, active and to my ears sounds like a potential song to hit the charts (not here, there). 'Providence' is another interesting song since the female vocals of Siri Stranger sound very diva-ish (or something) and in any case are not really the sort of thing I'm used to hearing, but I can't say I dislike the way they sound either.

I think the album truly hits its peak with the last three songs, 'England,' 'Island' and 'Stone Angels' since this is where the album truly hits a point of melancholy. Stone Angels especially brings to mind some of the old Coil songs, such as, 'Batwings' from their album, 'Musick To Play In The Dark Volume 2.' Musically this one has an airy ambient backdrop (with random other instruments here and there) to it while someone calmly speaks over the music for nearly fifteen minutes and while that may seem boring its actually quite enjoyable.

Ulver records are never easy to get into and it could just be that I need to save this one for the autumn or winter season since its hardly summer music. Perhaps under the right conditions or mood this one will click into my system better, but for now I'm only slightly awed.