Ravensblood - From the Tumulus Depths (2004)

Ravensblood was a short lived ('01-'04) black metal duo from Metz, Lorraine, France. Guided by multi-instrumentalist Stéphane Casier and vocalist Christophe "Wolfnacht" Straub, this pair released a split cassette in '03 as well a demo in early '04 and finally their one and only album, 'From the Tumulus Depths' in the summer of the same year through Christhunt Productions.

Conceptually the album is related to Norse Mythology, though of course both men are of French origin, which isn't as bad as say an American band with Viking or Norse mythology lyrics, but it just seems odd having Frenchmen delivering a retelling of tales that has probably nothing to do with their heritage. Speaking of which the lyrics are wrote in English, German and French, which just further proves that these lads are a bit confused, but when Wolfnacht starts screaming it doesn't matter much, anyway.

As far as their brand of black metal is concerned, were talking hyper speed black metal on this debut with a drum machine that's played at a velocity honestly comparable to a band like Mortician. The bulk of the album is just a rumbling double bass sound, snare hits and the occasional rolls. This is of course matched up with ridiculously hasty played tremolo chords, some minor melodic touches and a few neat leads, and the already mentioned harshly screamed vocals as well as some epic narration.

The music also offers some brief slower moments, which serve to build up momentum before molliwopping the begjesus out of the listener again as well the music will very briefly touch upon some epic territories. There are also a few short instrumental pieces, such as the acoustic, 'Echoes From The Past' or the little majestic number, 'The Way to Victory...,' which also has swords clanking around in the background. No keyboards are used either, which is good or band depending on your preference for their presence in black metal.

The whole album is a totally simple affair that's said and done within thirty nine minutes and although what I described above could be viewed as negativity its really not a bad album at all. With such rapid acceleration the music is overly energetic and even in an odd sort of way catchy, because the songs are not really poorly wrote at all. Its just the drum programming will be hit or miss, but either way, this is hardly an everyday album or anything I'd see anyone getting completely obsessed over. But you never know...

Ravensblood called it a day after this album and neither men continued playing music either. As a final note, the album seems a bit hard to find, but is certainly worth the hunt if you're the sort of black metal listener that needs to be completely trampled by barbaric black metal decimating force.