Maugrim / Thō - Nothing, Bare / Frail (2012)

A friend of mine said to me recently, "depressive black metal is the last bastion of quality in the world." In a lot of ways he's spot on.

As a genre, depressive black metal almost always comes off as the emo scene gone too far, a lame joke that never ends and generally speaking just a bunch of overly depressive cunts ripping off each other. Frankly, I'm not sure where the genre has its roots; maybe its with that pig hoofed weirdo in Silencer howling like a schizo mental patient greatly in need of his daily dosage of thorazine so he'll calm down and shut the fuck up or maybe it goes back to Niklas Kvarforth hanging out of his bathtub slathered in blood from his own self inflicted knife wounds. I really don't know, but as my friend pointed out this isn't a genre that thrives on quality.

Curiously, the only bands within the genre that have come up with anything worthwhile all hail from Quebec, but even bands like Gris and Sombres Forêts don't sound typical of the genre, no, they just write profoundly dark and melancholic black metal that is absolutely genuine in its delivery... But what about Maugrim?

Formed back in 2008 by the young Alexander James, whom resides in Connecticut, USA, the band has its roots as being a dark ambient solo project with biblical themes that even had its releases through Christian labels. In 2010 Élan O'neal (yes, that guy again) stepped into the band offering his guitar services and the band shifted gears towards depressive black metal, dropping the Christian themes, of course. This short split CD with Thō (James' other project) served as the bands official shift towards DBM, although the material was recorded in 2010.

To my ears, Maugrim is rather typical of the genre with a lo-fi production, heavily fuzzed up guitars, a bleak as all fuck mood and mostly high pitched shrill screams, though some growled and spoken parts are also present. Forsaking the tendencies to sound overly doomy, the music moves at a slightly more speedier pace, but it certainly has its fair share of slower passages, as well as occasionally being augmented by some keys and acoustic parts. Yes, the music is moody in its delivery, and yes, Alexander surely does sound like a crazed individual or some spectral soul caught in an everlasting state of torment, but I'm quite sure the vocals will be entirely hit or miss for most. The bands five songs are what they are though. The music is effective enough with its intentions, but the melodies are not nearly as cleanly heard as they should be with a production that rivals a rehearsal tape.

These five songs are followed up by two songs from, Thō. Alexander again handles vocals, with Garry Brents of Cara Neir and Parabstruseon on guitar and drums and Vandor of Wék taking up bass duties. Described as being Shoegaze/Post-rock/Black Metal, Thō doesn't sound especially far removed from what I just heard - their short three minute song has everything heard above. The last song, I guess, is a rehearsal of 'Frail,' which as far as I can tell was recorded within an underwater meatlocker and someone just above the surface managed to capture a smidgen of noise penetrating the surface. Pointless.

In the end, depressive black metal yet again fails to make any major impact on my ears or inner being. Still, since I'm friends with one of the members and fancy the record label operated by the other I'd be curious to hear what they come up with in the future. I'd say spend more time with the albums, 'Il était une forêt...' & 'Royaume De Glace' before moving onwards guys.