Formed in 1990 as Darkfeast, but quickly changed to Barathrum, Janne "Demonos" Sova's long running band is among with Beherit, Archgoat and Impaled Nazarene as some of the first black metal bands to emerge out of Finland. Mainly Demonos own project with several previous members (including folks from Finntroll, Gloomy Grim, Ensiferum and Flame), Barathrum had issued seven albums before this eighth release, 'Anno Aspera: 2003 Years After Bastard's Birth,' which is also the bands most recent full-length. Barathrum has always been a bit odd by traditional black metal standards and this release is surely no different as the intro, 'Antikristus Neutronstar' sounds like a horde of drunken Satanic Gremlins about to set a church ablaze, complete with loud chatter and howling noises, things are off to a bizarre start. 'Corpse Desecration' on the other hand is fast hard hitting old school Bathory-ish jam with one hell of a drive and damn catchy chorus to boot. 'Into Maze Of Nightmares' is slow and hypnotic in the beginning but kicks up in speed and devilry midway through before alternating back to the slower pace and then fast again. 'Angelraper' is a brawling head banging fist pumping bass heavy track, which absolutely kills and thrills, while, 'G.I.D.' is more mid-paced yet still quite similar overall in its catchiness.
The remaining five tracks don't differ much (other than the title track, which is longer and doomier) from these earlier songs, although the fast to mid-paced old school Bathory-ish vibes remain with plenty of memorability as well as an always very audible bass guitar, which gives the whole damn thing a unique feel. I also pick up some strong Impaled Nazarene vibes when I listen to this record though since both bands formed in the same year and since I'm completely unfamiliar with Barathrum's early efforts its hard to say who might be copying who, if at all.
It should also be pointed out that the lyrics are totally simple tales of necrophilia, terror, rape, blasphemy, goat worship and death all with a morbid sense of humor and a fucking hell of a lot of fun too. I don't think Barathrum is meant to be taking too seriously though and as a result this is just one of those quick (thirty seven minute) drinking and head banging records to enjoy with your metal comrades alongside you. Speaking of drinking, why am I not doing so now?
I've known about Barathrum for many years now and other than, 'Legions of Perkele' I've completely neglected this band, which I think I'm going to change since I absolutely get a kick out of this one. If you're looking for some fun, simple, short and rockin' tunes you can't go wrong with this one or Barathrum in general. Hails and nails, motherfuckers!
The early Barathrum material is quite a bit more sinister and the early albums tend to have a bit more challenging production. I've some demo/rehearsal material on my blog, as for albums I'd say try "Inferno" to hear them be more evil and doomy and maybe "Saatana" for more slightly silly and rocking material. Though all Barathrum albums feature very old material as well, here on Anno... it's "Into Maze of Nightmares" which was originally already on the "Witchmaster" demo (1991).
ReplyDeleteBarathrum is also a very entertaining live band.
I'll definitely have to try and hunt those albums down as well as looking up the demo stuff from your blog. Would definitely like to see them live someday too. I'd imagine they put on a fun and rockin' good show.
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