Urgehal - Death Is Complete

 

URGEHAL - Death Is Complete (FOLTER Records - EP 2012)

There are several bands, whose releases I tend to buy blindly, without even pre-checking if the new release will be any good, keeping the faith and hope that the high quality from the previous releases is intact and that once more I’ll get crushed by the music. Urgehal is definitely one of such bands. I own all their full length albums on vinyl plus the killer “Eternal Eclipse” compilation LP and “Rise of the Monument” demo compilation picture LP. One of my favourites Urgehal releases will definitely be the awesome “Demonrape” EP with a couple of excellent tracks. “Death is Complete” is another 7” single from this Norwegian horde and I hope that I don’t need to convince you that the music from it is just as good as any of the previous recordings of Urgehal. With two new, exclusive songs, “Death is Complete” is just a necessary addition to every collection of this band.

I don’t know if I really have to describe the music of Urgehal. It’s almost like if someone didn’t know what Darkthrone plays and wanted me to write what they’re like! Urgehal is a traditional, Norwegian black metal band and yes, definitely Darkthrone have had a huge impact on their style. And that includes also some of the recent Darkthrone releases (even that black’n’roll stuff or however you’ll call it) like from “The Cult is Alive” and “Sardonic Wrath” LPs. Hell, just listen to “Beyond the Nightmare” and the opening riffing from this song and you’ll know what I mean. But the music from “Death is Complete” is excellent. I love the riffs, the cold, freezing atmosphere of these sounds and that ugly, raw production… Man, the booklet says that this EP was recorded in 20 minutes, what means that Urgehal did everything in one or two takes, playing the whole thing 100 % live. You can definitely hear it, but I like the fact that the sound, even if raw and obscure, is still quite good, in the way that you can hear every instrument. The bass is well audible, so are the drums and I love the guitars’ tone, not to mention those killer, raspy vocals of Trondr Nefas. From the two songs I think I like the title one more, but to be honest, both are great and picking one is just pointless. Both are killer black metal tunes and I have no doubt that with such music Urgehal has fully gained the cult status.

Sadly “Death is Complete” is also the last release with Trondr Nefas who passed away this year. I sincerely don’t have a clue whether Enzifer with rest of the band will carry on playing under this moniker – and I don’t wanna make an opinion on that, before any decisions and recordings will be made – but I can only pay may respect for Nefas and his band for years on dedication to the black metal and the great legacy, which he left, including this amazing EP. Definitely you must get a copy, before it’s too late!

Final rate: 90/100

Icethrone - See You in Valhall

ICETHRONE - See You in Valhall (BLACK TEARS OF DEATH - CD 2012)

The Viking legacy does not influence the Scandinavian bands exclusively anymore, as it just infected a certain band from… Italy! Ha, I don’t really know what should I think about this, certainly I would prefer Italian band to deal with their own history, especially if they have such an interesting stuff like the Ancient Rome! But those five metalheads wanted to write something about the Vikings, so here it is: “See You in Valhall”, second CD from Icethrone. It is the first time, when I hear of this band, so I cannot really compare “See You in Valhall” to the previous material. But honestly I’m not even really curious about “Beggar’s Song” so much…

The info sheet from the label compares “See You in Valhall” to such bands as Hypocrisy and Dismember… hmm, I wouldn’t exaggerate so much as I just couldn’t hear much influence from them in the music of Icethrone. There may be some clear traces of other Swedish bands, like Amon Amarth and Unleashed here and there, especially in such tracks as “Pleasure of Hel”, “From the Sea” and “Red Giant Slayer”, some riffs are clearly inspired by these two bands, but there’s something more to Icethrone I think, as the band used also some other styles in their music, like folk and pagan metal for instance, with keyboards, etc, what makes their music more original and not as typical and straight forward as Unleashed’s. This is good of course and I think I can say that I even liked some parts of “See You in Valhall”.

But I’m far from hailing Icethrone and their second album as the most thrilling pieces of music, which I have heard this year. As the whole I’m afraid that this album is quite boring. It takes something more to impress me and there are just too many things on “See You in Valhall”, which I feel could have been done (composed) better. First of all, the material is just mediocre. Sorry to say, but even if such kind of music has been explored a lot, it still is possible to play it in good, passionate way. But I just couldn’t feel the spark here, there’s nothing on “See You in Valhall”, what would really excite me and make scream like possessed “Oh, what a killer riff!”. There are some decent moments, some parts, which I quite liked, but it is just not enough for me. I don’t like the production of this album so much, I’m not so keen on the vocals… When Icethrone plays fast parts I feel like they’re just dull and these more melodic ones are hmm too melodic (hehe) for me. I especially must say that I don’t like most of the keyboards’ stuff in here. Like that instrumental piece called “Dream” – it sounds so fuckin sweet and boring that I’m close puking my guts out. Another not so fine example would be “Fearless”. Or the acoustic passage in “Farewell”. Hmm, definitely Icethrone tried to sound epic and monumental, but I guess they should listen to Bathory or Falkenbach once more, if they really wanna know what epic and monumental should be like. Sorry, I just don’t like it.

So, what can I write in the end? There are definitely better Viking metal themed bands out there, which I wanna listen to. There are also better Italian bands, which I like and listen to. Icethrone is terribly mediocre and honestly I don’t really want to waste much time on “See You in Valhall” anymore. It’s one of those albums, which you listen to three or four times and then just forget about its existence, as there’s so much killer music around that it is stupid to waste your time on something like this. So I’m not gonna really recommend this album to anyone. Those of you, who wanna listen to it, will get it anyway, but if you’re looking for high quality Viking death metal then there are definitely better albums around.

Final rate: 60/100

Infernal - The Infernal Return

 

INFERNAL - The Infernal Return (GOATHORNED Productions - EP 2010)

I always had a lot of sympathy for the person of David Parland, as I just really, really liked his way of playing, his characteristic composing style, with those memorable, but uncompromising riffs and melodies and obviously also his dark, obscure vocals was essential. He was the one, who did the only materials of Dark Funeral, which I have in my collection and which I like. After his departure Dark Funeral was never as good and I just quickly lost my interest in this band. He also did some of the best Necrophobic releases, especially that insanely amazing debut LP “The Nocturnal Silence”. But when he left both bands and formed Infernal I was quite disappointed first, but that was until I’ve listened to “Infernal” MLP and have been totally blown away by the sheer intensity, blasting fury and energy, by all that fantastic aggression and the atmosphere, which this MLP delivers. It still belongs to one of my favourite black metal vinyls, which I have in the collection. But I was so disappointed that Infernal was silent for many years. I mean the announcement of the full length album was many years ago, if I remember, then they released the “Summon Forth the Beast” MLP, which is nowhere to find and nothing else hapened. Finally “The Infernal Return” was released, but it is just a 7”EP with basically two songs plus a short melodic passage. Honestly, for someone like me, who hungers for more music from David Parland, it is not enough!!!!!! But from the other hand I welcomed this release with a smile and quickly purchased a copy. It definitely is a great addition to my collection, but really I hope that it is an announcement of the album, which will hopefully be released one day. I still have hopes, even if the EP was already released over two years ago.

Right when I started to play “The Infernal Return” I was possessed by it, as the main theme in the short song “The Darkside Calls” is just classic Swedish death / black melody and could have easily been taken from either the early Necrophobic or Dark Funeral. And then “Of the Seven Gates” starts and that impression is even bigger! Really, this is fantastic track, maybe not as fast and totally uncompromising as the material on “Infernal” MLP, but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t got a necessary dose of aggression and fast, relentless blasting. It does, only it concentrates more on the melodic aspects of this sort of playing more, which isn’t bad at all and what definitely doesn’t rid the music off the aggression and ferocity. Arrghh, what’s more, I can say that this song really makes me feel like I travelled in time back to the times, when Parland was a member of Necrophobic and as the main composer did the materials for “Spawned by Evil” and “Darkside”. It sounds just incredibly great and I can say that it is yet another proof that the talent of David has been missed for such a long time and also almost wasted, because he hasn’t done an album since such a long time. Side B of the EP has a song titled “Godforsaken (With Hate I Burn)” and this one sounds so close to Dissection’s early outputs that one can make a mistake and think that it is a lost Dissection song. Partly it may be due to the fact that it is even more melodic than “Of the Seven Gates” and it is also slower, without any blasting at all. It is less dynamic and it also ends quite abruptly, making an impression like it wasn’t finished, but if I can say that I like “Of the Seven Gates” more it doesn’t mean that “Godforsaken (With Hate I Burn)” is not good at all. It is also very good, solid song, only not as good as the previous one.

All in all, the whole EP leaves two impressions: one is great satisfaction from hearing some new songs from David Parland and two is lust for more, a hunger, which is difficult to resist and which for now I’ll have satisfy by playing “Infernal” MLP and “The Infernal Return”. I do hope that finally Mr Blackmoon will wake up from his slumber and crush the world with his music. I’m fucking waiting!

Final rate: 90/100

War Possession - Through the Ages

WAR POSSESSION - Through the Ages (HELLTHRASHER - CD 2012)

There’s no doubt that once more the Greek bands prove to have a strong and healthy extreme metal scene and finally, many years since the inception of the so called Greek black metal sound this country spawned a decent number of more extreme acts, mainly within the old styled, dark death / black metal tag. If I mention such names as Embrace of Thorns, Nocturnal Vomit, Dead Congregation, Resurgency, Necrovorous, Acrimonious, etc then you may realize how strong it has become again. And bands like War Possession just show that they’re not giving a shit about the whole financial crisis or whatever problems the Greek nation has met recently; they just focus on bombarding the maniacs with killer metal sounds… and “Through the Ages” is a product, which does that exactly. Prepare for war.

And it (the music, war, etc) will be as merciless and ruthless as you can only imagine. Bands like War Possession do not waste time on melancholic or harmonious parts, instead opting for more cruel, straight forward and simple ways of expression. And that means the music will be just right in the face, with as much throat cutting riffs and aggression as one may hope for… plus there’s the essential morbid and obscure atmosphere, which just has to be present in albums like this. Musically War Possession definitely doesn’t discover any new planets, they just follow the traditions of the bestial death / black metal, without caring too much about the originality or technically effective parts. The music is simple, the riffing is just basic, not primitive, but more if someone combined the early releases of such Bolt Thrower, Incantation, Acheron with the blasphemous spawns of Archgoat and even Blasphemy plus few more recent acts like Grave Miasma or Embrace of Thorns. The music is 666% violent, punishing and aggressive; it is heavy, but also quite primitive, if you listen to many riffs or drums parts. You know, War Possession definitely prefer simple meanings for their music, simple rhythms, but which would crush you instantly, rather than make you wonder for what the hell is going on in the technical show off. So, if you like death / black metal in the old, simple vein, dark and obscure, then I’m sure that “Through the Ages” will be your kind of release.

Personally I can say that I like this MCD, definitely, there are some very good parts, which prove War Possession to be a promising band. From the other hand I must also admit that in the recent months there were better offerings released; many better albums of demos have been spawned, which shouldn’t be a surprise, if you look at the number of old styled death metal releases and bands, which pop up every month. When I compare War Possession to those, which I liked most, then I am afraid that “Through the Ages” is not as effective, but luckily it is still decent enough to give it few spins. I must say that I like the slower parts of War Possession most, while the faster ones are sometimes quite dull. Oh, and if I said that there are no melodies on “Through the Ages” then I am not 100% correct, as the ending part of “In the Shadow of the Ancient Gods” definitely has a nice melodic fragment, in the vein of old Asphyx hehe! Anyway, I am sure that War Possession will satisfy your hunger for archaic death metal, but personally if I would have to recommend you some Hellthrasher releases, then I would probably go for Engulfed or Abysme more, but War Possession is also worth to be collected and listened to.

Standout tracks: “In the Shadow of the Ancient Gods”

Final rate: 70/100

Nefastt - La Malignité Des Astres

 

NEFASTT - La Malignité Des Astres (ATAVISM Records - MC 2012)

Recently I was contacted by French label called Atavism Records, if I can give a listen and possibly also review some of their releases. I honestly never heard of Atavism before, and none of their bands were familiar to me, but I liked the idea that they promote their local scene of Burgundy. When I got two cassettes the first one, which I started to listen to was this one – a debut album “La Malignité Des Astres” from band called Nefastt. I’m already after few spins of their MC and am ready to transfer some of my thoughts about the album on the computer… and I must admit that I am very impressed by the music, which this French band performed. I honestly didn’t have any expectations, but “La Malignité Des Astres” turned out to be a very good, involving and essential black metal release.

Nefastt hails from Burgundy, but one listen to their music and I can point out that the musical roots of their style lay far in the cold North, in Norway. It won’t be a exaggeration if I write that Nefastt sounds like a classic Norwegian black metal band and it also won’t be an accusation, as the songs they composed and arranged for “La Malignité Des Astres” sound not only very good, but also way better than many of the recent Norwegian bands, so I definitely have nothing to complain here.

Nefastt performs something, what I enjoy most, speaking of the black metal styles – which is a mixture of the traditional, harsh, raw black metal, but played in more atmospheric way, with some epic or monumental passages here and there, with a decent dose of melody, but also with a lot of killer blackened aggression and ruthlessness… And if I summon such monikers as Kampfar, Isvind, Kvist, Urgehal, Taake and even some early Satyricon, then you may have some idea for the actual music of Nefastt. And I like it a lot. The album is pretty long (but that’s because it features also the demo), but there is enough variation and good quality to make it interesting all the way through and never annoy with trivial part or something dull and primitive. The riffing of Nefastt is just incredibly good, I like it a lot with such tracks as “Tauriacus” or “Finis Lucis” (I hope I picked up correct titles for the songs, which I have in my mind) – lots of the sort of medieval harmonies, great instrumental passages in the vein of Taake, cold atmosphere… And on top of everything I must admit that the production of “La Malignité Des Astres” is just very good also, with some great vocals performed by two band members (Havoc Vulturus and Guillotine). Ha, I bet that if you call yourself Taake maniac for instance, then Nefastt music will draw your attention as much as it did hook me up. This is kind of black metal I like most!

Side A of the cassette included all new songs, which compile the “La Malignité Des Astres” album and side B contains the 2008 “Nefastt” demo, so it is another great reason to listen to the whole stuff, as this way we can have a complete look at the Nefastt music and see how their style has developed between these two recordings. This demo definitely sounds more primitive and rawer, the production is more crude and the vocals more shrieking, so I can admit that I don’t like it as much as I do the full length album, but that doesn’t mean it is worthless piece of garbage. It’s still a very decent material, with some splendid moments and which provides an expected sinister, eerie and obscure atmosphere… and if the album is better than a demo, then it only means that the band goes the right way and evolves properly.

So, what else can I ask for? Maybe some more killer albums like “La Malignité Des Astres”, as this definitely is one of the highlights of 2012, speaking of black metal for sure. Recommended! But be aware that there are just 150 copies of the cassette, but there will also be a CD version released soon.

Standout tracks: “Tauriacus”, “Finis Lucis”

Final rate: 90/100