1349: The Infernal Pathway (2019)

1349 is a throwback to the time when black metal was truly extreme and chaotic.  The band is essentially frozen in time in the early 1990's, still dressing in spikes and chains and Satanic images and still wearing corpse paint in concert and in pictures.  The music too is much more similar to the sound of Norwegian second-wave black metal. 

This is the band's seventh album and, for the most part, they have never messed with the formula that has gotten them here.  I say "for the most part" because there was Revelations of the Black Flame when they took the rare step to try to go for a more atmospheric sound.  That was roundly criticized and they went back a year later.  A 1349 album is supposed to be utterly chaotic.  Luckily, this one is.

This is true, evil black metal with lightning fast riffs and blasting drums.  The legendary Frost beats the skins for 1349 and he is absolutely peerless.  His fills, blasts and time-keeping are simply incredible, and have been for as long as he has been going.  Elsewhere, the vocals are delivered in a typical blackened shriek.  1349 utterly annihilates anything in their path, only occasionally stopping for a few short, lighter interludes, but those quickly lead into more pummeling brutality.

Most of the time, one knows what to expect from 1349.  And yet, each time, the album is well worth it.  The band has long ago learned not to mess with the formula.  The result is yet another terrific throwback to when black metal was truly dangerous.

Abbath: Outstrider (2019)

Several years back, Immortal death panda Abbath formed a side project with other members of Immortal and Enslaved with the online search nightmare name of I.  The band was more of a blackened heavy metal band, featuring riffs that could have been found in releases by Accept or Judas Priest, but with Abbath's gravelly vocals.  I released just one album, Between Two Worlds, which I thought was a great release.  That seems to have been the jumping off point for Abbath upon leaving Immortal and starting his own eponymous band. 

Abbath has recruited three new musicians who have shockingly never served time in Immortal before.  He released his first album a couple of years back, named after himself of course.  I enjoyed that album quite a bit, and of course Abbath has always been one of my favorite members in Immortal.  The black metal Gene Simmons is completely ridiculous and it is hard not to find humor in most things he does.  But he also has one of the more iconic voices in black metal, so I am always willing to give his releases a chance.

Just as with the previous Abbath album and the I album, the style here is traditional heavy metal, with the occasional black metal riff.  Abbath continues to deliver his trademarked croaking vocals.  The band does an outstanding job of performing music that bears a resemblance to Iron Maiden playing Immortal songs.  The songs are generally short and compact, but with a lot of energy and power. 

This is one of the catchiest albums of the year.  Abbath has done it once again.  He continues to put out terrific music this far into his career, and even after leaving Immortal.  I will continue to check out anything he releases.

Gaahls WYRD: GastiR - Ghosts Invited (2019)

One of the most highly-anticipated and hyped albums of the year is the debut release from Gaahls Wyrd, the recently-formed band by former Gorgoroth vocalist and wine-drinking Satan enthusiast Gaahl.  The band previously released a live album, featuring covers of songs by Gaahl's other bands God Seed and Trelldom and a couple of singles to preview this album.

The album starts off with the traditional black metal stomp of "Ek Erilar" and one would be forgiven for believing that this was going to be just another Gorgoroth ripoff.  But things get weird and challenging fast.  "From the Spear" starts off fairly normally, but then Gaahl's vocals go from typical black metal shrieking to some impressive clean vocals, a thrash metal riff is thrown in and then the band heads in an almost Agalloch-esque post-black metal direction.  "Ghosts Invited" features some almost soothing, crooning vocals from Gaahl, a far cry from the style for which he is most famous.  And the offbeat sound continues through "Carving the Voices", which features some chanting vocals over surprisingly pretty melodies, sounding more like a black metal version of The Cure, before blowing everything up near the end. 

The second half returns a bit to more of a safe, traditional black metal sound with "Veiztu Hve", which is still kind of weird, but fits in well with some of the latter Gorgoroth material, though the group vocals near the end take an odd turn.  The Agalloch-isms return on the folky "The Speech and the Self" before giving way to the crushing riffs in "Through and Past and Past", which may be the closest the band comes to a speed metal track.  Finally, there is the sprawling weirdness of "Within the Voice of Existence" which is more of a mellow, plodding meditative track, featuring moaning and chanted vocals that could be saying just about anything.  Then a riff comes charging through and the chanting becomes more intense and frenzied, leading into the end of the song, and the album. 

The hype was well worth it.  This is a remarkable album that never veers too far into safe territory before throwing the listener for a complete loop.  Every listen reveals a new wrinkle to the music.  And it never goes too far in a soft or meandering direction, maintaining interest throughout the entire runtime.  I have not frequently been a big fan of Gaahl, but his new band really intrigues me.  This is a truly impressive, unpredictable album. 

Persecutor: Demo 2018 (2018)

Well, as the name of this release says, this is a demo from the Norwegian thrashers Persecutor.  It is the band's first demo in fact, though both members have been in other bands previously.  I have not personally heard any of those bands, but all I really cared about when deciding to check out the band is that they are a Norwegian thrash metal band.  I was sold.

I heard about this one from Decibel's Demo:Listen feature.  The feature has steered me into a few other great bands.  But Persecutor may be the best of them all thus far.

The demo consists of just two songs and barely passes the five minute mark.  But that does not matter when the music is as raw and savage as this is.  This is an absolutely punishing release with the two band members making as much noise as possible.  Of the two tracks, "Fester in Slime" is probably the best, as it is pure power from start to finish. 

Persecutor definitely has a strong future.  I am looking forward to hearing more from them, particularly if a full-length is coming. 

Darkthrone: Old Star (2019)

I am not really sure what Darkthrone is anymore.  Of course, during the Norwegian duo's long career, it has often been hard to really nail them down.  This is the band's 18th album and that is incredible.  At one time, they created the blueprint for every single lo-fi and bedroom black metal band with Transilvanian Hunger.  But despite that, Darkthrone has never really released the same album twice in a row.  At this point in their history, Darkthrone releases a new album every few years and remain champions of underground metal (the band did after all have a hand in the emergence of Ghost from obscurity).

Old Star sees Darkthrone utilize their standard format.  Fenriz and Nocturno Culto each contributed three songs to the album, and it is often somewhat easy to tell which song was written by which member.  Fenriz's songs generally exhibit more of an old school metal influence, while there are moments in the Nocturno Culto tracks that call back to the more black metal style of the early days of the band.  There is also a lot of German thrash and Celtic Frost influence in some of the riffs.

The biggest musical shift on this release is the heavy doom metal influence.  Fenriz did boast that the album had a lot of Candlemass-style riffs, and that is accurate.  The songs on this release tend to be much longer and slower than on albums that have come before.  There are a couple of much faster tracks, with some impressive galloping riffs, such as on "Duke of Gloat" and "The Hardship of the Scots".  Of course even Candlemass had some faster songs, so this is not totally foreign to doom metal. 

It is not all positive however.  Some of the songs do tend to drag a little bit, and in general the Fenriz tracks are not quite as good as the ones penned by Nocturno Culto.  Several songs are on the longer side, and the slower tempo make them seem even longer.  Obviously a big part of this is the doom metal influence, which is a little new on a Darkthrone album.

I try to check out every new Darkthrone album, but I have missed several.  That being said, I love the classic metal influences Darkthrone has been incorporating over the last several releases.  This is a terrific release, though I do still prefer Circle the Wagons for latter-era Darkthrone. 

Mayhem: Grand Declaration of War (2000)

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is quite possibly the greatest black metal album of all time.  So the big question is: how the hell do you follow it?  Do you try to replicate its success?  Do you try to top it?  Or do you do something completely off the wall and weird?  Well, Mayhem tried the last one, releasing an album completely different than the previous album.

Anyone with a general knowledge of Mayhem knows that a lot of things happened with the band after their landmark release.  Guitarist Euronymous was murdered by bassist Varg Vikernes.  Vikernes went to prison for his crimes.  The band was embroiled in controversy after controversy.  It is unsurprising that it took six years before the band was able to release anything new.  And of course by that point, for obvious reasons, the band looked significantly different.  Only Hellhammer remained from the lineup that released the previous album.  Blasphemer and Necrobutcher took over on guitar and bass respectively.  Maniac returned to the fold as the vocalist.  And with a new lineup, the band's sound changed as well.

The change is evident from the beginning of the album.  The music is slower and doomier.  The vocals are the biggest change and likely caused a lot of "What the fuck?" reactions.  There are some typical black metal shrieks, but they are mostly relegated to backing vocals behind spoken word vocals delivered in an almost campfire horror story tone and cadence.  These take the form of dramatic speeches about warfare and philosophy.  It takes some getting used to, but these are generally the better parts of the album.

There are some major missteps along the way.  "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun" is almost completely worthless.  Featuring menacing whispers over an electronica beat, it sounds completely out of place with everything else that is going on in the album.  There are other moments where the experimentation goes off the rails as well.  The use of robotic vocals in a few places sounds ridiculous and off-putting.

Despite the weirdness, missteps and the unexpected general sound, this is a decent enough release.  It does not hold a candle to what came before, but Mayhem still put out an intriguing release.  Perhaps it is better to think of this as a completely different band, or to acknowledge that some bands are not content staying in one place musically.  That definitely seems to be the case with Mayhem after the issues with Dead, Euronymous and Varg.

Kampfar: Ofidians Manifest (2019)

Kampfar is yet another one of those black metal bands that I have heard good things about for a very long time, yet never got around to checking them out (like Shining and Drudkh).  They have been around since the mid 1990's and have released eight full-length albums, yet this is the first album I have heard.  Part of that may have been due to the language barrier.  Otherwise, it is likely they just were not completely on my radar.  As a result of this discovery of the band, I am hearing them fresh and do not have the reference points in the band's career to compare this.

In a couple of ways, this release reminds me of Theogonia by Rotting Christ.  First of all, musically.  Kampfar combines traditional Norwegian black metal with pagan and folk influences, including chanted vocals.  Now obviously the pagan and folk influences on this Kampfar release differ in origin to the Rotting Christ album.  Kampfar, being Norwegian, would obviously have different folk music to pull influence from than the Greek band Rotting Christ.  The folk elements complement the otherwise dark and grim black metal riffing quite well, making this a very intriguing listen.

The second way in which this album reminds me of Theogonia is due to my own personal experience with it.  Like Theogonia for Rotting Christ, this is my first experience with Kampfar and is their newest release.  I had the same response to this album, being one of awe and amazement, for the most part.  The album does tend to drag a little bit toward the end.  And so time will tell if I get into Kampfar as much as I did Rotting Christ.

I found myself extremely impressed by this release by Kampfar.  It is a terrific example of taking disparate influences like black metal and traditional folk music and combining them into something beautiful and powerful.  Obviously many bands have been doing this for quite some time, and of course Kampfar is one of them, but they still make it sound new and fresh.

Aura Noir: Aura Noire (2018)

Aura Noir is one of those bands who I have accumulated a few albums by, but rarely really target when a new album is released.  In fact, I had no idea this album came out last year.  The last one I remember was 2012's Out to Die.  Part of the issue probably is that the band takes a long time between releases.  It is odd though, because this is definitely the type of band I should be more into, given their blackened thrash metal sound and featuring the guitar work of the notorious Blasphemer, formerly of Mayhem.

The band presents more of a stripped-down and raw sound this time around.  The sound is reminiscent of a combination of early Sodom and Venom with some Nocturnal Breed thrown in.  Track "Mordant Wind" even has some early Voivod influence to it.  Many of the riffs, particularly that in the aforementioned song and "Demoniac Flow", have a rusty, mechanical quality to them.  It sounds like the rampage of a 70 ton war machine.  The vocals, which sound as if Aggressor has been gargling with battery acid, fit well with the war anthems within.  It is an interesting classic metal feel that is quite a bit different than the band's earlier material.

It is kind of a tough call as to whether I prefer this album or the previous one.  They are very different takes on the blackened thrash metal sound.  This one is more comparable to the earliest days of black metal when thrash was just crossing over.  The previous album is a much more modern take.  I guess it all depends on what kind of mood I am in.  Sometimes, I want some 80's style blackened thrash, and when that is the case, this album will do quite nicely.

Burzum: Burzum/Aske (1995)

Look, I am not going to waste a lot of space and time discussing Varg Vikernes.  Everyone has their opinion on the man.  Certainly there are a lot of reasons to never want to listen to Burzum.  From the church burnings to the murder of Euronymous to the NS leanings, Vikernes is not exactly a positive role model.  Among all the reasons to avoid Burzum's music, there is one reason to check it out: the music is generally amazing and was legendary in the burgeoning black metal scene of Norway in the early 1990's.

I am a particular fan of Burzum's early material, before Filosofem, when the black metal material outweighed the ambient material.  In fact, Det som engang var is the only album by Burzum I have picked up.  Until now.  This is a compilation of Burzum's earliest major material: the first full-length from 1992, and the follow-up EP in 1993.  It is the period I prefer from Burzum, and it was recorded before most of the truly objectionable events in the life of Vikernes, with one notable exception.  At this point, Vikernes was far more interested in Tolkien and Lovecraft than in race relations or anything of that sort.

The aforementioned exception is the church burning.  The original cover of Aske when it was released on its own was a photo of the burned-out church.  So, Vikernes was on his way down the rabbit hole at this point, but most of the worst things he had ever done was yet to come.

Much of the music on this compilation is raw black metal, performed entirely by Vikernes.  The riffs are fairly simplistic, yet hypnotizing, and the vocals are typically delivered in harsh shrieks.  There are a few more ambient tracks, but it is not close to the focus.  Some of Burzum's most potent songs appear on this release, including "War" and "Ea, Lord of the Depths". 

This is by no means a perfect release.  Varg's songwriting and musicianship were very raw, but the potential is definitely there.  Obviously a lot of people have chosen to avoid Burzum and I will not tell them they are wrong to do so.  I understand why people would avoid anything with Vikernes's name attached.  I will not defend his ideologies or actions, both of which I find deplorable.  But it is possible to respect the art that a horrible person has created, and that is where I find myself.

Hades: ...Again Shall Be (1994)

Hades is kind of a forgotten band among the Norwegian black metal scene of the early 1990's.  I know I forgot about them.  I have a split of theirs that they did recently with Drudkh and did not realize it was the same band as this one.  I blame the fact that they are now called Hades Almighty after some legal issues with another band called Hades.  It was only after thinking this logo was vaguely familiar-looking that I realized the mistake. 

This album is much more similar to groups like Enslaved and the recently-reviewed Borknagar than to some of the more raw and aggressive black metal bands from the scene.  As such, Hades is an early band whose music could have been lumped into the "Viking metal" sub-subgenre.  The songs tend to plod along and have melodic keyboards and almost chanted vocals at times.  The riffs however are massive and the sound is monolithic.  It is an absolutely huge and impressive sound that can be beautiful and harsh at the same time.

This is a terrific album that should be considered among the classic albums of the Norwegian black metal scene.  Unfortunately, Hades never reached the heights of their brethren in Darkthrone, Emperor, Mayhem, Immortal, Enslaved, Satyricon and others.  They were just kind of forgotten, even though the band is actually still active.  It is a shame, because Hades was easily the equal of those bands back then and, if that split with Drudkh is any indication, still putting out great music today.

Borknagar: Borknagar (1996)

Borknagar started out as something of a supergroup.  Øystein Garnes Brun, who had previously been in death metal band Molested, formed the band as a way to explore more melodic music.  He contributed guitar and songwriting and enlisted the help of Garm for vocals (Arcturus and Ulver), Ivar Bjørnson for keyboards (Enslaved),  and Grim and Infernus for drums and bass respectively (Gorgoroth).  Later incarnations of the band would feature ICS Vortex (Dimmu Borgir) on vocals.

Oddly enough, Borknagar was probably one of the first four or five black metal-related bands I ever checked out via buying an album.  It was early one while I was in college that I was just exploring the tip of the iceberg that is Norwegian black metal and Swedish death metal.  I was checking out groups like Dissection and Emperor on the black metal side (yes, I am well aware Dissection is Swedish) and Opeth and Dark Tranquillity on the death metal side.  It was among those groups that I picked up Empiricism, Borknagar's fifth album.  Yet though I thoroughly enjoyed the album, I never bought another one.  I decided to go backwards, picking up the band's debut album, which is a much different beast than Empiricism.

The music presented on Borknagar's debut album is a little bit different while still be recognizable as the same band that created the terrific album I was exposed to in college.  For the most part this is a far more typical black metal release, though there are definite moments where the band strays into the more melodic Viking metal sound they had in future releases.  The use of keyboards, particularly in "Tanker mot tind (Kvelding)" and "Dauden", and the clean vocals used on "Dauden" are dead giveaways that this is in fact an earlier version of Borknagar.  These are the moments that are the most compelling from the band, and remind that there are members from Enslaved and Ulver here.

I really do not know why I have not checked out more of Borknagar's work.  Maybe this will be the kick I need to get back into them.  I have loved both of their releases I have heard so far. 

Old Man's Child: Born of the Flickering (1996)

Old Man's Child is the solo project of Galder, the former guitarist and now bassist for Dimmu Borgir.  The band changed greatly from the time of their inception, starting out as a band covering Slayer and Metallica, then morphing into a death metal band, before releasing this album, their debut, in 1996.  At this point, there was still more of a push to make this a legitimate band, instead of just Galder's solo project.  That came much later.

This release finds Old Man's Child essentially taking on the musical form they would retain into the present.  It is a sound that owes much more to Dissection than to the aforementioned Metallica and Slayer.  Although there are definitely some thrash elements still present here, such as the opening riff into "Demons of the Thorncastle".  That opening track is a microcosm of the album as a whole, featuring blackened thrash riffs slowly melding into much more melodic gothic keyboard strains.  Some songs tend to emphasize the more melodic moments while others the more obviously metallic ones.  This is far from being a Dissection or Emperor rip-off.  Old Man's Child has some top-notch songwriting.

The production is terrific on the album, particularly for a mid-90's black metal release.  Everything can be heard well and the guitars have a great tone.  The keyboards are not as prominent as they would become in later Old Man's Child releases.

The most surprising aspect of this album is that it is a debut.  Old Man's Child sounds like a group of seasoned veterans.  Obviously Galder had some experience, but Dimmu Borgir had not been around for a real long time at this point.  This is a great example of a debut album done right.

Black Viper: Hellions of Fire (2018)

How could you not get sucked in by that album cover?  That thing is ridiculous, insane and awesome all at once.  It helps to justify picking up the album that the drummer was in Deathhammer at one point, so I am fully on board now.

From the opening strains leading into the siren howl of vocalist Salvador Armijo, it is very clear that this is a direct call back to speed/heavy metal classics of the 1980's.  It is a breathtaking cavalcade of riffs and melodies that flies by at blinding speeds.  In fact, the speed is so intense and breakneck, it is a wonder that the individual musicians are able to keep up.  At the backbone of all of this is the aforementioned Deathhammer drummer, one Cato Stormoen.  His ability to keep time while propelling the band forward is amazing and is the biggest highlight of the album.

On first listen, it seems like a lot of the songs are more of a collection of ideas than cohesive songs, but subsequent listens tend to reveal more of a common thread.  There are multiple different sections and speed changes during most of the songs.  But they manage to hold things together and the songs always come full circle. 

This album definitely captures the sound and the fury of 1980's speed metal, without sounding out-dated.  I love it.  It's a ton of fun. 

Immortal: Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (1992)

This is the third entry in a short series of black metal classics that have recently shown up in my collection.

Immortal is one of the most consistent Norwegian black metal bands of the second wave.  They have never really altered their sound over the entire course of their history.  They did slow down somewhat in the early 2000's, mostly as a result of injuries to Demonaz, who simply could not play as fast anymore.  But even though they slowed down their songs, does not mean they were any less intense.  They have re-formed a couple of times in recent years to put out a couple more great black metal albums.  But this time, we are going back in time, to their debut album.

Unlike a lot of other black metal bands from the time period, Immortal always knew they were inherently silly.  Just look at the video for "The Call of the Wintermoon" in which the band members, dressed in corpse paint and resembling professional wrestlers, ran around aimlessly in a forest, oddly enough in what appears to be Spring.  Immortal never seemed to take themselves too seriously, even if the music did not often convey that.  Instead of singing about evil and Satanism, Immortal created their own mythology, which was starting to show here.

The recording quality, as could be expected is very raw here.  It would be several more albums before Immortal achieved some decent production values.  That's a shame because the music here is great.  It is not as chaotic as Immortal would soon become and there are some genuinely terrific riffs on full display.  There is a very evil atmosphere to the entire album, aided by the snarling rasp of Abbath and the sinister guitar tone.  "A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland" is the big highlight here, with an epic feel to it, particularly in the breathtaking guitar solo.  This song forecasts what Immortal was capable of producing.

This album sounds quite a bit unlike any other early Immortal album.  It would not be long before blinding speed became the band's calling card.  There is probably not a lot here that really separates Immortal from the other Norwegian black metal bands of the time period.  But that does not mean that the album is bad.  Far from it.  This is a terrific album that would stand on its own better if it was not an Immortal album.  Very underrated.

1349: Massive Cauldron of Chaos (2014)

The year 1349 saw the emergence of the Black Death in Norway.  It was of course a devastating disease wiping out a huge percentage of the population.  And it is a fitting name for a black metal band that specializes in devastating riffs and destructive drumming. 

1349, the band, is a call-back to the days when black metal in Norway was dangerous and chaotic.  Very few of the Norwegian bands continued to sound like this.  Darkthrone and Satyricon both went in more of a heavy metal direction, Mayhem went completely bonkers, and Emperor broke up.  1349 came late to the game, but kept the spirit of early 90's Norwegian black metal alive.  The band softened their sound and went in more of an experimental, atmospheric direction on 2009's Revelations of the Black Flame, but that was a critical flop and the band returned to its wicked ways on the next album.

This album features the tried-and-true 1349 formula.  Manic drumming, shrieking vocals, faster than hell riffs, and pure fucking chaos.  The drumming in particular deserves mention.  Behind the kit is the legendary Frost who has spent time in several noteworthy Norwegian black metal bands, including Satyricon, Gorgoroth, Gehenna and Keep of Kalessin.  His abilities are matched by few others in the genre and he is at the top of his game here.  And vocalist Ravn delivers his finest performance yet.

Where this album really succeeds is in the songwriting department.  Where several previous 1349 albums featured a number of great ideas, but struggled to keep things together on an entire album, this album feels like a cohesive whole.  There is not a single weak track on this album. 

I may have to revisit my prior 1349 albums, but I can honestly say that I think this one tops them all.  This is one of the greatest Norwegian black metal albums in years.  It absolutely captures all of the feeling of rage and intensity that the early 90's albums had.  1349 has truly come into their own on this album.  Unfortunately, they have yet to release a follow-up in the five years since this album.  They did release a two-song EP this year, so hopefully we have not heard the last from 1349.

Enslaved: E (2017)

Enslaved will always hold a special place in my heart as they were the opening band in the first extreme metal concert I ever attended (Opeth was the headliner).  It was also the first real metal concert I saw with the woman who would become my wife, I am not counting the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert here.  On top of that, the band has simply never really disappointed me.  So each time the band releases a new album, I pick it up quickly.  Here we are again.

Now, at this point in their careers, Enslaved have fully embraced the progressive elements of their sound while all but completely ditching their black metal influences.  The only signs that this was ever a black metal band are the occasional raspy vocals.  Growth is fine when the band is able to continue to put out interesting material, and that is where Enslaved excels.

I had a little bit of a concern that this album would not be quite up to snuff.  It definitely does not start out strong.  The first song opens with a couple of minutes of meandering noise, and my concern grew.  But the concerns were quickly dashed when "Storm Son" turned out to be an incredibly compelling and powerful song.  It is a longer track, but features most of the necessary elements for Enslaved's progressive metal output, and the heavier moments are particularly captivating.  Then the second track, "The River's Mouth" kicks in, and it is easily one of the best Enslaved songs in years, and THAT is saying something.

If anything, this is one of the catchier Enslaved albums.  The aforementioned songs, as well as "Axis of the Worlds" are some of the band's most infectious songs ever.  And I say that as a huge fan of the band.  They do tend to carry on some sections a little longer than I would prefer, but that is really something that the band has always done.  It is a little more restrained this time around though.

Despite the rather slow start to the album, honestly this is one of my favorite albums the band has released since departing from their black metal roots.  And again, that is really saying something, because this band has released some excellent albums.

Aura Noir: The Merciless (2004)

I checked out Aura Noir's latest album last year.  I loved that release and it made my Top Ten albums list for 2012.  So recently when I saw this album for cheap on I had to check it out.

Aura Noir is a blackened thrash metal band from Norway featuring Blasphemer, known mostly for his work with Mayhem, and a couple of other members who have played with a variety of Norwegian blackened-something metal bands, such as Immortal, Ved Buens Ende, Cadaver Inc., Nocturnal Breed, and many more.   I am a big fan of blackened thrash metal personally, so even though it has taken me a long time to get into Aura Noir, I am attempting to make up for lost time.

This is the band's third full-length album and came out after a hiatus that lasted several years.  It is a significantly more raw and primal sound than the relatively cleaner style in their latest album.  Which is saying something.  It is not as if Aura Noir are known for being clean anyway.

These songs have a little bit more of a punk vibe to them than their more recent material.  The music bears a strong resemblance to the early material of genre legends Sodom and Hellhammer.  It is raw and aggressive with absolutely no apologies.  The lyrics are a little ridiculous with song titles like "Black Metal Jaw" and "Condor", but that's not a problem.

I am definitely looking into more Aura Noir material in the future.

Deathhammer: Onward to the Pits

Darkthrone's Fenriz has pretty good taste in underground metal.  He runs his own blog with a band of the week highlighted.  Ghost and In Solitude are two bands that have risen to a fair amount of stardom based on Fenriz's hype on his blog, along with a number of others.  Deathhammer is another band that has appeared there.  In addition, the character on Darkthrone album covers once sported a Deathhammer patch.  I recently picked up the cassette issue of their 2012 album from Hell's Headbangers.

Deathhammer toiled in relative obscurity for years, releasing demo after demo before finally releasing their first full-length album in 2010.  That is when the word of mouth really began working for the band.  Hell's Headbangers paid attention and picked the band up, releasing their 2012 sophomore effort.  As it turns out, Deathhammer is definitely the kind of band built for that label.

Deathhammer is a particularly filthy breed of thrash metal band from Norway.  Sounding like the unholy offspring of Motorhead and early Sodom, their style is raw and nasty.  Deathhammer is a two-person band, much like Darkthrone, with Sergeant Salsten on bass, vocals, and guitars and Sadomancer on drums and backing vocals.  They make an unholy amount of noise for being just two members.

The songs are all fast-paced and retain the same frenetic energy throughout.  The result is an album that sounds as if it would not have been out of place in the early days of extreme thrash metal.  Sodom, Sarcofago, Bestial Devastation-era Sepultura, and Destruction are the obvious reference points.  No wonder Fenriz loved this band.

FMA Reviews: God Seed: I Begin

Originally reviewed here.

Any discussion of God Seed will necessarily include some discussion about the band's origins. The album title here is particularly apt because of this. God Seed is made up of King ov Hell and Gaahl, formerly of black metal psychos Gorgoroth. In actuality, these two members attempted to carry forward with the name Gorgoroth after splitting from Infernus. A lengthy court battle ensued with Infernus actually being granted the rights to the name Gorgoroth. In the meantime, God Seed formed for a couple of months and then disbanded when Gaahl retired temporarily. King used the material written for God Seed for a project with Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath which was called Ov Hell. Gaahl eventually returned and God Seed was formed.

God Seed has already released a live album from Wacken and a single. This is the debut full-length however and the first exposure that a lot of people will get to the band. Expectations are certainly high as Gorgoroth has been a stalwart in the Norwegian black metal scene for a very long time.

Gorgoroth has always been known for particularly hateful black metal that had moments of softness to it. God Seed for the most part follows this same formula. The riffs are explosive and Earth-shaking. The atmosphere is still cold and terrifying. One of the things that I always liked most about Gorgoroth was their ability to be punishing and brutal one second and be dissonant and unsettling the next. God Seed accomplishes this same fluid shift throughout most of this album. For example, the band shifts easily from the darkwave-sounding "Hinstu Daga" to the much more traditional black metal crunch of "Aldrande Tre".

The truly unusual moments are the usage of electronics, keyboards, and organs. Gorgoroth did not do a lot of experimenting with different instrumentation in their releases, but God Seed actually employs a member to play the keyboards. This is kind of an unusual thing for a black metal band that does not fall into the melodic black metal genre. But the keyboard moments do work. They add a certain unsettling flair to the already destructive and evil riffing and vocals.

This is a widely varied album. Gorgoroth had been working towards that and perfected it. Their early albums were simply fast barrages of riffs. The band slowly added more and more atmosphere to their music. God Seed does a fantastic job in carrying this forward on this release. Gaahl's vocals fit in well with this constantly evolving sound. He uses a variety of vocal styles from high-pitched rasp, to deep-throated bellow, to some actual clean moments. One thing is for certain though, they are never boring.

So we finally got that God Seed album from the dismissed members of Gorgoroth and it is everything it was hoped to be. This album proves that the second wave Norwegian black metal band members are still capable of putting out some high-quality releases.

Initial Impressions: Enslaved: RIITIIR

A few years ago my interest in Enslaved skyrocketed as a result of seeing them in concert with fellow prog-metal masters Opeth.  Prior to that I enjoyed them quite a bit but would not have gone so far as to say that they were one of my favorite bands.  However after that concert, their status was elevated quite a bit.  I developed an appreciation for their sprawling sound with all of its quirks.  Ordinarily the overly progressive metal stuff has not done much for me, but Enslaved has been an exception.  So I look forward to each new Enslaved album.

This one gave me some pause as some individuals that I usually expect to really enjoy Enslaved have not cared as much for it, calling the album a disappointment or even boring.  Nevertheless, I still felt like I had to check it out.  I have heard every single album since Below the Lights and I was not about to start missing albums now.

I think this one is definitely a grower.  Enslaved have stripped away almost all of their black metal sound.  Of course that has been happening for several albums now at this point.  They have stripped away more and more with each release since the aforementioned Below the Lights.  There are still traces here and there, but this is mostly a progressive metal release.

The album does start fairly strong with "Thoughts Like Hammers", but it slows way down for several songs after the opening track.  The next several songs are kind of a blur, before the band picks things back up with "Materal", probably my favorite song on the album.  This is definitely Enslaved.  They do not do anything markedly different from anything they have done on the last several albums.  As such I am not really sure what a lot of the complaints have been about.  I certainly do not feel the same way about this release as some others do.

I would not say that this is one of Enslaved's stronger releases, but I do like it well enough.  I do not think there is anything markedly different this time around.  Is it a masterpiece?  No, but it is good enough.  I find myself enjoying it more and more with each successive listen.