Monomakh- MMXII(2012)

Monomakh- MMXII

Monomakh are a new project from(where else) Australia, and with MMXII, the projects new demo, is their contribution to the Blackened Death Metal resurgence that has taken place over the last several years.  Yet those expecting cavernous and overwhelming ambient atmosphere or warp speed blasting and war machine riffs are in for a bit of a wake up call here, as Monomakh bring a somewhat unique approach to the sound.  Bands like Incantation and Archgoat come to mind when listening to Monomakh no doubt, but this one piece project offers a fairly fresh perspective on the Blackened Death Metal sound from a country which has already defined and progressed the genre a dozen times over the last decade.

It's not to say that MMXII doesn't have it's share of doom-laden, tremolo picked riffs, occasional ambiance or war torn imagery(the cover art is literally of a battle after all).  It's what with all of these well worn elements, Monomakh brings both a more riff-oriented and diverse song writing template to the table, complete with a slightly greater focus on melody, and a more expansive, busy song-writing style.  Only "Barbaros" clocks in at under five minutes, and both "Kokytos" and "Deathabomination" exceed seven minutes running time.  Yet despite this, neither track ever feels under-developed, self-indulgent or tired.  Monomakh never resort to pointless, boring Funeral Doom or over-the-top keyboards to pad the running time... hell, riffs are barely ever re-used.  Each track on MMXII is jam packed with ideas, yet all of them remain cohesive and brutal from beginning to end.  "Barbaros" in particular is as savage and deadly as they come, starting out with a mighty scream and some fantastic drumming, while the whirlwind of riffs and melodic undercurrents bring to mind an unholy mix of Deiphago and Arghoslent.  Then it ends in a suffocating cloud of demonic plague spores that would feel right at home on an Antediluvian or Grave Upheaval release.

There is this wonderful yet subtle mix of modern, atmospheric Blackened Death Metal/Incantation worship and seemingly out of place old-school 80's/90's Death/Thrash on MMXII that may not quite hit the listener through the first few listens, but the more time one spends with it the more these elements show themselves in the compositions.  "Deathabominations" features plenty of old-school, Thrash-y sections and melodic leads what will remind many of the previously mentioned Arghoslent, as well as fellow Australians Destroyer 666 and Vomitor, yet it's so lost in the minutia of the cavernous production style as to feel organic and like a natural progression of the composition, as opposed to merely thrown into the song for "old-skull credibility." This focused thematic and musical attack is as impressive as they come, and makes MMXII one of the most listenable and powerful Death Metal releases this year.

And as if it couldn't get any better, MMXII is free of charge on the bands Bandcamp page, which makes the wonderful, heavy and catchy as fuck demo a must listen for everyone involved.  MMXII may not blow you away on initial listens(it sure didn't with me) due to a feeling of deja vu, but its the kind of complex, active album which requires multiple listens to appreciate and will eventually worm its way into your skull as it did mine.  Monomakh have come up with a new approach to Blackened Death Metal in a time in which the genre is dominated by clones and imitators, and that is something everyone should be able to appreciate.

Rating: 9/10

Download MMXII 100% Free on Monomakh's Bandcamp Page.

Hic Iacet- Hedonist of the Death(2011)

Hic Iacet- Hedonist of the Death

I missed Hedonist of the Death, from Spanish warlocks Hic Iacet, in 2011 despite near-universal praise for the bands debut demo.  Slow to catch on as always, I was never-the-less intrigued by the demo's glorious cover art and promises of Blackened, occult Death Metal in the vein of recent releases from Muknal and Temple Nightside.  Another occult themed Blackened Death Metal band seemed a bit... redundant at this point, but it was hard to say no to that cover art(I mean look at that shit.  I bought the recent vinyl re-release of the album from Hell's Headbangers just because of that album cover).

Luckily in this case judging a book by it's cover didn't blow up in my face(here's looking at you Sleepers in the Rift), and Hedonist of the Death delivers on most of it's promise for occult devastation and disgusting swarms of black locusts.  I would not go so far as to put this demo among the best the genre has had to offer over the past few years, and it's a demo that lacks many of the typical occult bells-and-whistles that their peers have taken to new extremes.  But despite a complete lack of anything that would be labeled "Dark Ambient" or "avant-garde," Hic Iacet still manage to invoke the ancient spirits and create thick, demonic atmospheres through strong, concise and effective song-writing.  Tracks usually run on the short side, avoiding self-indulgent stretches of lazy Funeral Doom or atmospheric keyboard-driven ambiance, and instead focus on driving rhythms and aggressive, simplistic guitar work.  Simplistic, but not overly repetitive either, as even the shortest tracks are heavy with riffs and tempo changes.  "Brevity of Congenital Rot" pretty much sums this album up perfectly: raw, simplistic and highly aggressive, with several killer riffs(particularly the opening riff) and lots of tempo changes that happen organically and not spastically.  The production is also superb, and although I'm normally not a fan of thin guitar production, it works here.  The drums are insanely raw and are devoid of any studio magic, while the bass brings all the needed power and thickness to compensate for the cold, thin guitar sound.  It's not much more than a mix of Angelcorpse, Incantation and Blasphemy, but with song-writing this good it's hard to complain with the final result.

It's a bit shocking however that despite the very simplistic riffs and song-writing on Hedonist of the Death that Hic Iacet don't sound tighter here.  The album is not obnoxiously sloppy by any stretch, but it's not like the material here is nearing Spawn of Possession levels of complexity.  At times the guitar players struggle to keep up and the drums and the whole group will stutter a bit . Part of the appeal of Hedonist of the Death is the simplistic, raw and primitive song-writing, but one has to wonder if the band took maximum time to get these songs 100% solid or rushed the album out.  Or perhaps this was a conscious decision by the band, though having only recently formed in 2010, it seems more likely the band were not as tight as they wanted to be when they released Hedonist of the Death.  And judging by the bands new upcoming material and it's lack of anything resembling sloppiness, it seems even more likely that the band were not yet completely comfortable playing with each other on Hedonist of the Death.  The sloppiness of this demo didn't really bother me personally, but it bares mentioning for those discerning listeners who don't care for anything less than perfection.
 

Hedonist of the Death is immensely charming, listenable and above all fucking heavy.  It's a stripped down, no frills take on Occult Black/Death that works due to fundamental song-writing which places riffs and timely tempo changes over abstract ritualism.  Truth be told, I actually prefer the abstract ritualism and avant-garde tendencies of their peers, but Hic Iacet have certainly carved out a somewhat unique take on the Occult Black/Death sound, even if it doesn't sound like it from the initial listens.  It's easy to appreciate the bands approach, and as the band grow together as musicians, I have no doubt that Hic Iacet will produce some pretty amazing stuff in the near future.  As it is, Hedonist of the Death is a stellar beginning, and highly recommended.

 

Rating: 8/10

Spawn of Possession- Incurso(2012)

Spawn of Possession- Incurso

Since we last saw Spawn of Possession in 2006 with Noctambulant, the landscape of Death Metal has seen a drastic change.  Let's step into the Way-Back Machine, to a different era with a different sound.  It's not quite the TARDIS, but it will do.

When Spawn of Possession were in their heyday during the early part of the century, Death Metal was a genre where pushing the limits of speed, technicality and tempo were the standard, not the exception.  Bands like Necrophagist, Augury, Lykathea Aflame and Anata were the modern Titans, and most Death Metal fans( at least the ones I knew) worshiped at the altars of Suffocation, Gorguts, Atheist and Cryptopsy.  Death Metal didn't just flirt with Jazz and Classical music, they were starting to become attached at the hip.  Rampant experimentation was commonplace, and the sheer technical prowess of the musicians in these bands rivaled musicians in any genre.  Death Metal was becoming a bit of a thinking man's genre, much to the chagrin of old-school purists, who quickly and loudly decried the end of Death Metal.

But the times have changed, or perhaps more accurately reverted.  Those temples to the likes of Suffocation and Gorguts have long been sacked and torn asunder.  Now the land is once again filled with monuments to Incantation, Angelcorpse and Entombed, and Death Metal has largely returned to the sounds of the late 80's and early 90's.  Experimentation still exists, but even these bands have roots in classic, well worn sounds long ago established by a group of aging musicians, whose bands now seem to be reforming left and right(Purtenance, Dominus Xul and Uncanny have all returned from the grave very recently).

Now, I'm not going to argue about whether this is a good or a bad thing(in this writers opinion, it's both), but it is the reality of the current Death Metal scene.  And needless to say, it's strange timing for Spawn of Possession to return with their first new material in six long years.  It begs the question: does anyone care anymore?  Recent forays by many current Technical Death Metal band closer to the sound Spawn of Possession helped establish have been at best sub-par.  Artist like Obscura, Anomalous and Archspire have not done much to help set up Spawn of Possession's glorious return to the realm, and with Old-School Death Metal now so trendy, how could these members of the Old-New-Guard do much to make an impact?

Incurso does make and impact though.  Boy does it ever, mostly by reminding everyone that the "Death Metal" part is still more important than the "Technical" part, no matter how brain-meltingly technical an album is.  And trust me, Incurso is just that: inhumanly precise,  Jazzy and wonderfully complex.  Tempos and riffs shift at light-speed, tearing across a galaxy of immeasurable complexity, eviscerating quasars and spewing their luminescence across the galactic horizon.  The bass work is, as to be expected, is beyond compare: Erland Caspersen dominates this record, and the intro to "Spiritual Deception" is just incredibly awesome thanks to his effortlessly technical style.  The rest of the instruments follow suit, and there is little doubt that the members of Spawn of Possession are some of the finest musicians on the planet.

Still, there are a lot of amazing musicians out there, and just because you can play doesn't mean you can write.  But it's the writing on Incurso that makes stand head and shoulders above many of the bands modern contemporaries within this style of Death Metal.  For starters, Incurso stays brutal, heavy and aggressive through-out.  Sure, things get Jazzy and melodic, but the album never stops being heavy and nasty from a song-writing perspective.  Spawn of Possession also find a way to keep things drenched in a layer of atmosphere, effectively using dissonance, melody and even the rare electronic or keyboard segment to give the entire album an air of cosmic creepiness.  "Apparition" makes the most effective use of these elements, and it proves to be one of the most atmospheric and creepy songs on the album, evoking a chorus of alien horrors in a chapel made from the dead husks of ancient moons. From a technical and song-writing perspective, Incurso delivers where releases from bands like Obscura and Fleshgod Apocalypse have failed miserably.

The same issue I had with the unquestionably brilliant Noctambulant rears it's head once again on Incurso however: an obnoxiously clean guitar sound that takes more from the album than it gives back.  I understand why this happens: if you work this hard and this long on writing some of the most complex riffs in existence, you want people to able to make out each note without losing any in a sea of reverb or distortion.  But some of the very best Technical Death Metal albums in history, if not the best, featured a filthy and nasty production sound: Nespithe, None So Vile, Effigy of the Forgotten, Onset of Putrefaction.  Even Spawn of Possession's first full length album Cabinet was no where near so clean or sterile sounding.  Thankfully, Incurso is not quite as slick sounding as Noctambulant and the drum triggers are far less obnoxious, but Incurso is clean enough to be occasionally annoying

That said, beyond the guitar sound and the ugly cover art(I really cannot stand these Dan Seagrave-inspired covers so many Tech Death and Brutal Death Metal bands use), Incurso is a wonderful return to form for Spawn of Possession.  Death Metal as a scene has no doubt changed since they left, but quality Death Metal will always be the rule that we all go by.  Without a doubt, Incurso is an album of unquestionable quality, brutality and complexity.

Rating: 9/10

The Great Old Ones- Al Azif(2012)

The Great Old Ones- Al Azif

How strange it is that one of the most influential creative forces that has helped shape Metal in all it's forms would  be a long dead horror writer from Providence, Rhode Island with one of history's truly great ironic monikers.  H.P. Lovecraft and his cosmic, esoteric Cthulhu Mythos is among the most referenced subject's in Extreme Metal's historically limited lyrical pantheon(also featuring a little cloaked man with horns and various naked, mutilated women), yet seems to carry a certain air of class about it.  Anybody can write a song about Satan or goats or gore, but in order to Lovecraft-up your lyrics, it means you had to actually read what is now considered classic literature(though Lovecraft was only mildly successful in his own lifetime).  Pretty classy, and the main draw behind The Great Old One's newest album, Al Azif.  Though French, The Great Old One's sound is distinctly American; specifically, the new breed of atmospheric, Shoegaze-and-Doom influenced Black Metal popularized by the likes of Weakling, Wolves in the Throne Room and Krallice.  Being French and all, you would hope that The Great Old One's would have some fresh new ideas to bring to a very trendy, very popular genre, other than the whole Lovecraft thing.

Well... no, not really.

Frankly, Al Azif comes and goes, leaving little in the way of extra-dimensional terror or cosmic infestations.  Hell, it barely lifts a tentacle as it plods along at typical Depressive Black Metal tempos and thick, admittedly inviting Black/gaze/Krallice riffs rule the day.  This is just very typical, very mild stuff The Great Old One's are showcasing as dynamic, progressive Atmospheric Black Metal.  Song's follow predictable progressions, usually alternative between a soft intro followed by lots of fast bits, with softer compositions popping in just on time to break the monotony before the fast stuff starts again... usually for excessively long play-times.  Memory fails when trying to find a single highlight in the haze, and the haze itself is pretty bland: more a smokey, smelly mess then a true thickening of the air that causes the lungs to struggle against inhaling it.  The only aspect of the album that stands out in anyway is the wonderful production: I'm a big fan of the thick, static heavy approach to Black Metal, and it does work here, if only to provide the lone bright light in a sea of dimness.  Al Azif struggles to give the listener much of anything: riffs, atmosphere, or even delivering on the promise of it's subject matter.

This is the thing I understand the least about Al Azif: why even bother going with a Lovecraftian theme if all you are going to write are typical, generic Blackgaze songs that Leucosis and Ash Borer did better last year?  Truth is, I know little about Lovecraft as a writer, but it seems to me the man had a really cool vision.  The whole idea of cosmic horror and esoteric, ethereal old spirits slowly devouring our souls and minds sounds pretty fucking twisted, especially considering the age in which Lovecraft wrote these stories.  If your concept band is going to make a concept album about this kind of shit, it better be as demented and perverse as the concept itself.  Compare this tripe to Brown Jenkins, another Lovecraftian themed Atmospheric Black Metal band(now essentially called The Ash Eaters), and it's like comparing an infant wearing a Cthulhu mask to the real thing's massive, tentacle cloaked member.  We could compare this also to the works of Thergothon or Catacombs, but it's pretty much the same result.  Al Azif might as well be titled Al Franken or Al Capone, because in the end there will be no "visions of R'lyeh" to haunt your dreams after listening to this chore.

Al Azif is not a poorly played album.  It doesn't sound bad, in fact it sounds utterly fantastic.  And it really isn't even a poorly written one.  It follows all the established guidelines of the genre to their well-tread ends, on time and with gusto.  It's that none of it feels unique, memorable or intense in anyway: everything is a blur, and the twisted chants of the star cult are completely obscured by the dime-a-dozen Blackgaze eclipse wonderfully suggested on the albums (brilliant looking) cover art.  The rites of Cthulhu this is most certainly not.

Rating: 3.5/10

Putrevore- Macabre Kingdom(2012)

Putrevore- Macabre Kingdom

Late in 2010, I discovered Putrevore's debut album Morphed From Deadbreath, and it was love at fist listen.  Tearing itself from the primordial ooze, drenched in slime and embryonic diffuse, Morphed From Deadbreath was a Precambrian beast to be feared.  Firmly entrenched in the Rottrevore school of down-tuned, gut-bucket brutality, it was a worship album that felt more like an extension of the sound than mere imitation.  Rogga Johansson and Dave Rotten, two titans in their own right, had created the single most impressive love-letters to a sadly under-utilized sound I've ever had the pleasure of being skull-fucked by, and it left me wanting more.

But like all primeval, primordial beasts, evolution must take it's course.  Since we last left Putrevore stewing in a pit of bile and muck, much has changed: the claws have become sharper, the teeth more serrated, the hunting techniques more advanced.  Macabre Kingdom is the definition of a nightmarish predator: massive and hulking indeed, but also in possession of a frightful, instinctual intelligence that sends shivers down one's spine.  Rogga and Rotten have brought their collective experience to the project, writing songs which offer a more diverse pallet of Old-School sensibilities and good ol' American brutality(not bad for a Swede and a Spaniard) than Morphed From Deadbreath.  Rottrevore's trademark sound, revisionist Swedish Death Metal cut free of cheese-tastic melody and guitars tuned to "Black Hole" mixed with strong Proto-Brutal Death Metal elements, remains the core of Putrevore's sound and Macabre Kingdom's devastating assault.  But the two opening tracks, "Mysteries of the Worm Part I and II," give clear indication that this is not more of the same.  Rogga brings his patented Swedish Death Metal vibe to the entire package, but shows a strong understanding of the material by never over-doing it: melody slinks below the torrential riff storms and Rotten's incredible guttural vocal assault, and occasional guitar solos add more to the material than detract from it.  Also present is a healthy dose of Incantation style tremolo picking and Doom-laden devastation, perhaps a bit token for the current era of Death Metal, but executed beautifully here.

That would be more than enough innovation for any band from one album to the next, but Rogga and Rotten must not have been content with even that, and sought to push Putrevore's sound further into new directions.  "Mysteries of the Worm Part II" fit's right in with the modern Occult Death Metal scene, featuring atmospheric keyboards and dark, serpentine riffs that would give Antediluvian nightmares, while "Awaiting Awakening Again" grooves and rumbles like Bolt Thrower and Grave after blowing through two thirty-packs.  Macabre Kingdom doesn't really maintain a consistent tone throughout the album, and instead goes for an all-encompassing view of Death Metal as a whole; it's past and it's present.  There really is something here for everyone, and the fact that Rogga and Rotten can keep the whole album focused and utterly uncompromising over all eight tracks is a monumental achievement.  Rogga has always been known as a "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" kind of guy through his various SwedDeath worship acts, but Macabre Kingdom feels like a coming out party for the gifted guitarist: he deftly and expertly dances between styles and riffs with impressive dexterity and real understanding of the material and the sound.  I never would have guessed that a Putrevore album would be Rogga's most impressive and multifaceted performance, but that's exactly what has happened.  As for Rotten, there is little to be said: this is arguably the most impressive guttural vocal performance on an album since Antti Boman first blew the world's collective dome with his inhuman vocalizations on Nespithe.

I can't imagine Putrevore will remain in the periphery of Death Metal any longer with this release.  Morphed From Deadbreath was brilliant but very niche, as only hardcore fans of the already generally obscure Rottrevore would get much from it.  Macabre Kingdom is truly an appropriate title: the vast appeal of this album will, if justice be served, crown Putrevore as one of the best projects the modern Death Metal scene has to offer.  May they rule with an iron, gory fist.

Rating: 9.5/10

Father Befouled- Revulsion of Seraphic Grace(2012)

Father Befouled- Revulsion of Seraphic Grace

Whether he is summoning pestilential spirits in Black Funeral, divining the bloody remnants of the unborn in Prosanctus Inferi or merely eviscerating the weak in Father Befouled, Jake Kohn is an easy man to figure out: all brutality and death all the time.  Perhaps not the most breathtaking career, but one that has endeared him to the Ross Bay Cult-types and aging Death Metal fans who still think that Technical Death Metal is killing the genre.  Of all three projects, Father Befouled(which he joined after the band formed) stands out as the most "brass-tacks": while Black Funeral routinely delve into dark, creepy ambiance, and Prosanctus Inferi are so brutal and fast as to be alien, Father Befouled... sound exactly like Incantation.  Revulsion of Seraphic Grace is the bands third full-length album of what essentially amount to Incantation-derivatives, as doomy and subterranean as anything Incantation have released, if not anywhere near as classic or intense.  And in fairness, Father Befouled have never tried to be anything but an Incantation clone.  Artwork, song-titles, lyrics; all none-too-clever nods to the Old New Yorkers and their revolutionary and now endlessly imitated style.  So perhaps it's unfair to judge Revulsion of Seraphic Grace as anything but a worship album, a send up to those ancient monsters whom gave life to many a nightmarish soundscape.  If we judge it on this criteria, then were does it stand?

It stands, but barely.

It's not all on the album: Incantation worship has grown painfully stale at this point.  The market has been thoroughly flooded with albums that sound exactly like this, to the point that it's value and listenability has dropped to almost zero.  I'm personally so sick of Incantation worship, it's starting to make it hard to listen to the real thing.  But even taking Incantation out of the equation and merely comparing Revulsion of Seraphic Grace to previous Father Befouled albums, it still comes off as trite and de-fanged.  Compared to 2010's Morbid Destitution of Covenant, Revulsion sounds positively pussy-footed: the production is the bands cleanest and weakest to date, while the tired and breathy vocals are now loud enough to be annoying rather than scenery.  The songs are also universally slower and LONGER, including the ridiculously boring "Triumvirate of Liturgical Desecration," which crawls like a leper with two broken legs across pine-tar for almost 10 minutes.  Such self-indulgent song length for what amounts to a tribute album is just completely unnecessary and even worse, god-damn boring.  Morbid Destitution of Covenant kept things short and simple, allowing for maximum slaughter at maximum efficiency, which is why it remains a favorite among Incantation-worship albums.  For moments at a time, Revulsion delivers some punishing riffs, but the album begins and ends in a blur of "why bother" which is difficult to shake.

At this point, it's hard to imagine we will get much of anything different from Father Befouled: it's what their fans want and it's what these guys want to play.  The cycle is in place and no one is really interested in breaking it, including me.  Death Metal doesn't get much more dank and rotten than it does on Revulsion of Seraphic Grace, so the question becomes: is dank and rotten enough?  Or more importantly, when does dank and rotten just start to mean it stinks like a dead cat by the roadside?

Rating: 5.5/10

Fuck Computers

So my video card melted.

Having freshly moved in to my brand new shitty apartment, complete with poorly painted walls and doors put in backwards, I endeavored to get my out-dated rig set up and ready for late nights of writing reviews in a drunken stupor.

And then my video card melted.

So as of right now, I'm mostly out of commission until next Friday, aka pay-day.

I shall return.  The Curse lives on.

Cheers,
HeySharpshooter

So, Who Wants To Come Over And Help Me Move?

Just a quick update to let readers know that I will be away from the blog for a few weeks while I get moved to a new dank, pest-infested pit of unholy suffering... also known as an apartment.  Between moving preparations, school preparations, work and listening to an ungodly amount of Kate Bush, I just don't have the time at this moment to write terrible reviews about Old-Skull Deth Methul bands.  But once I've finished gathering twigs and dead animal furr for my new nest. expect the Curse to be back in full swing.

Cheers,
HeySharpshooter

Review Round-Up: Raw as Fvck in the VSA

This whole review thing can be a real pain in the ass.  For one, you always need to be on top of the newest releases, yet because of this annoying little thing that keeps forcing me to do things like go to work and bathe, I never have any time to review them. I think it's called "real life" or something, and I'm not too fond of it.  Unfortunately, homelessness limits my Wi-Fi options, otherwise I would sleep in the alley behind the grocery store and listen to obscure shitty Black Metal albums all day, stopping only occasionally to fight off the packs of feral cats.  We all can dream...

The Rain in Endless Fall- Weald of Introspection(2011-2012)

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, The Rain in Endless Fall is the second project of Lord Vast and Grond Nefarious, also of Wylve and the masterful Blut Der Nacht.  With a more Depressive Black Metal slant, The Rain in Endless Fall are not as powerful and primitive as Blut Der Nacht, but it's still a solid project.  Grimm yet oddly melodic, Weald of Introspection does offer some uniqueness in its structure: the opening track "Ashes Left of a Flame That Once Burned Within" is the true song, the final three tracks making up a solid grimm outro of acoustic guitar passages and the hypnotic whispers of rainfall.  It's still pretty standard stuff, but well played and perfectly produced to satisfy your cravings for cold, thin, frozen Black Metal.

Rating: 7/10

Wylve- Wylve(2012)

And here we have Wylve's debut s/t demo, which isn't all the different from the stuff done by The Rain in Endless Fall: melodic, atmospheric and raw.  There is a bit more speed here, but it's all about the repetition and cold, frozen atmosphere.  It's also the cleanest material this duo have produced, but whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on personal preference.  Truth is, neither of this projects hold a candle to Blut Der Nacht, but then again few bands in modern Raw Black Metal do.

Rating: 6.5/10

Grinning Death's Head- Golden Dawn(2012)

Grinning Death's Head have been teetering the line between primitive, skull fucking Black Metal and sloppy, unlistenable Crust Punk better then just about anyone else since their 2008 debut demo, and Golden Dawn isn't much of a departure from the bands previous material.  Brain-injury may result from the raw, incomprehensible production, but sifting through the static waves of pain reveals a deep under-current of crusty, filthy riffs and ruinous, tortured screams.  Songs are simple and catchy, breaking bones and rending flesh with an effective mid-paced tempo, but I imagine the production will scare away more then a few listeners.

Rating: 7.5/10

Torture Chain- Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator(2012)

If one band in modern Black Metal can make a claim to being the next Darkthrone, my vote would go to Torture Chain hands down.  Easily one of the finest projects in Black Metal today, Torture Chain are a defining modern act, and Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator is 23 minutes of frozen bliss.  Equal parts unchained aggression and spine-tingling melody, Time devastates the very air, turning into a toxic, flesh-melting mist.  It's all heavily inspired by Norwegian masters as the aforementioned Darkthrone, Mayhem and even a bit of Emperor, but it also brings a bit of that American spirit to the song-writing with it's  crusty, powerful guitar sound and full-throated vocal attack.  Time is easily the bands best material since the nearly flawless Humbling Isolation Terror, and a must listen

Rating: 8.5/10

Nightbringer/Acherontas-The Ruins of Edom (2012)

Nightbringer/Acherontas-The Ruins of Edom

Considering that I have been voraciously devouring anything and everything American black metal luminaries Nightbringer have put out since the day Lucifer Trismegistus first viciously carved the sigils of Satan unto my unsuspecting mortal form, it is needless that amid a sea of terrific releases I was anticipating this year, this was high upon the list.  Nightbringer is, quite simply, one of the greatest American black metal bands currently still in operation, utilizing vile yet grandiose riffing that takes the usual chthonic atmosphere of black metal to a far more dangerous level.   Acherontas too, is no mere acolyte in the scene, crafting darkly melodic overtures that draw heavily upon the riffs of such Swedish legends as Dissection and Necrophobic, while adding a more dissonant aspect that puts them firmly in the “Orthodox” black metal camp. 

The resulting split could in some sense be considered a display of consistency on both bands’ part, yet I could not help but feel that for me personally, it represented the hitting of a creative rut that most great bands eventually stumble upon in their careers.  The split opens on the Nightbringer side with a cavernous, ritualistic dark ambient piece that serves as an effective, haunting introduction to Mare, the first true metallic track on the release.  In the tried and true spirit of a Nightbringer song, tremolo-picked melodies whirl (dare I say waltz?) like possessed dervishes over a blood-soaked mountaintop, equal parts nocturnal and blistering, while blasting drums simultaneously hammer away at the foundations of your sanity. 

The race towards perdition eventually slows down and culminates in a paean of dark triumph, providing a satisfying conclusion to this blasphemous assault.  While Mare was undoubtedly the most enjoyable piece on the split for me, in the end it still felt like an inferior rehashing of the scorching style they had perfected on Apocalypse Sun, albeit with every element that made the latter release great toned-down and condensed into more accessible form.  The song’s relative predictability and straightforward song structure ended up only making me crave the more mystical, jarring realms of their past releases, despite it being in all regards a solid track.

That being said, the second Nightbringer track would prove far more lackluster in form.  The Grave-Earth’s Son drags itself into nonexistence with its lack of song dynamics and plodding pace.  While similar, slower numbers had worked well for Nightbringer in the past through the sheer majesty of their melodic fervor, Grave-Earth’s Son simply just sits there and stews in menace, but ultimately doesn’t deliver the conclusive bite that would have made the song stand out for me.  While certainly not lacking in the trademark Nightbringer atmosphere, the song proved to be a narrative to nowhere, not aggressive or purposeful enough for its own good. 

After another long dark ambient interlude that, while serving its purpose effectively, felt anticlimactic as the epilogue of a below-average Nightbringer performance, it’s finally Acherontas’s turn to spread their miasma over hallowed ground.  And they do so, in great form.  Layil is a monstrous track that takes the mystical diabolism of Vamachara and adds a degree of dissonant urgency not unlike what we have heard in French luminaries Deathspell Omega’s work.  The riffs are relentless in their shifting nature and pummel the listener like molten meteorites.  Yet they never become too convoluted for their own good, and ultimately serve as mere conduits for a powerful atmosphere of unearthly blackness.  The track eventually pulls itself into a subtle yet beautiful melodic riff that draws this symphony of darkness to a close.  In contrast to Naas Alcameth’s monstrous howls however, Acherontas’s vocalist seemed rather meek, especially in the context of Layil’s more bombastic nature.  This minor irritant only slightly detracted from my overall appreciation of the track. 

Alas, the moment of triumph is all too ephemeral, as the Acherontas side draws to a close with yet another ambient outro that seems all too anticlimactic.  In the end, The Ruins of Edom falls prey to its own lack of ambition, yet is framed in a grandiose manner that belies the rather brief moments of triumph within its enclosure.  While the release does contains its flashes of brilliance, I cannot help but feel that so much more could have been accomplished through this unholy alliance.

7/10