Blodskut - Forgotten Remains

BLODSKUT - Forgotten Remains (SCHATTENKULT Produktionen CD 2017)

A new pile of Schattenkult Produktionen releases just arrived to my headquarters and first CD from the stack, which I started to listen to was Blodskut's debut album "Forgotten Remains". This band, formed by members of some lesser known German projects, truly impressed me and I have to say that I liked this album from the first listen. Even though there's nothing extraordinary or special about "Forgotten Remains", it still is a very solid and also worthy piece of black metal, which is always good to listen to. 

I have to say that "Forgotten Remains" is one of those albums, which you start to like immediately. From the first song, Blodskut attacks with a good dose of killer black metal riffs, where the aggressive and vicious side has been nicely combined with a more harmonious and catchy parts. Blodskut successfully uses old school influences, but do not limit themselves to them only, so this is why the music can easily change into melodic and from fast to slower. And in "Fire Burning Hate" there's even a strong thrashing vibe, which makes this song sound a lot like Desaster from their most interesting times. And it's a very good song indeed, I almost wish there was more of that thrashing stuff here. But Blodskut's music is very diverse, as I mentioned, their songs can sometimes have quite Swedish style for example, so there's plenty of interesting stuff, which caught my attention and which I liked a lot. Even the fact that some songs are around ten minutes long doesn't disturb. Just give a listen to such "Break Apart", what a great song it is! 

The only bigger objection I would probably have is for the drum sound - or maybe rather drum machine? Because to me it's like machine with that synthetic sound, rather than a real drumming. It's especially hearable in the fastest parts, in songs like "Distance". Not that it bothers me much, I am not even sure if I'm right about my guess of using drum machine... But the fact is that I like that aspect of "Forgotten Remains" least, I don't like so much how it sounds and would change it, if I could. Other than that, the production is surprisingly clean, yet vicious and powerful, I like the guitars' tone a lot, so maybe it's one more reason why Blodskut music is so easy to get into and almost pleasant to listen to. It's just great melodic, yet aggressive and slightly harsh black metal. Very good indeed! 

Standout tracks: "Fire Burning Hate", "Break Apart" 

Verdict: 75/100