Tormentor: Anno Domini (1989)

I previously discussed Tormentor with their 1987 demo/album The 7th Day of Doom.  Despite the fact that Tormentor has never released a true full-length album (I am not even counting that mess released in 2000 when the band had changed their sound so drastically as to be unrecognizable as the same band), they remain one of the primary influences on the burgeoning black metal genre in the early 1990's.  This release, their second demo, is perhaps even more of a foundation for the black metal scene.  And just like the previous release, it is notable for featuring Attila Csihar prior to his run in Mayhem.

Tormentor's sound on this release is a very primitive form of black metal, with massive influences from groups like Mercyful Fate and Venom.  In that respect, it is much closer to a traditional metal album than it is to what is classified as black metal these days.  There are definitely some elements though that have never changed with the genre that are present here.  The entire release is awash with a dark, malevolent and evil atmosphere that can be heard from the riffs down to the psychotic wailing vocals. 

The biggest highlight of the release is the vocals of Csihar.  His vocals are absolutely chilling, able to rise from a soft whisper to a blood-curdling shriek with ease.  And he definitely engages in some vocal acrobatics on this release, taking on a variety of vocal styles and shifting between them quickly and jarringly.  It is a true virtuosic performance.

There are a number of classic black metal tracks on this release, such as "Tormentor" and "Elisabeth Bathory".  This release is a true landmark in the formation of black metal, taking its cues from Mercyful Fate and expanding even further into the black void.  This absolutely needs to be checked out.

Tyrant Goatgaldrakona: Horns in the Dark (2013)

I first heard about this release when my former law school colleague Kelly reviewed it on his blog last summer.  It sounded like the kind of thing that I would be fairly interested in so I checked it out.

This is the Hungarian band's debut full-length and their only full-length thus far.  They have released three EPs, one as recently as last year, so perhaps there is still something coming sometime soon.  That would be good because I was very impressed with this release.

Tyrant Goatgaldrakona's sound is rooted in old-school occult death metal, particularly groups like Incantation and Immolation, with some Morbid Angel thrown in for good measure.  The riffs go through a number of styles from heavy thrash to tremolo riffs found in black metal.  The element that stands out the most in listening to the album is the solo and lead guitar work, which is exceptional for this type of band.

As Kelly says, the songs kind of run together and the band is not exactly a fount of originality, but it is an enjoyable listen and it does exactly what an album of this genre should do, and there is something to be said for that.

Velm: Orkan (2015)

I just covered Velm yesterday, so this post might be somewhat short.  The fact is that the band did not change up the formula from their debut full-length all that much, so there is not really a ton to talk about here without repeating myself a lot.  That is something I would prefer not to do as much as possible.

To date, this is Velm's last release.  I do not know whether the duo has broken up, but the fact remains that they were somewhat active from 2012 to 2015, releasing at least one recording, but more often two, each year.  And they have not released anything since.  So it is quite likely that Velm is done. 

If that is true, they released their best album last.  All of the high points from their debut are here and expanded upon.  The band even fixes a couple of the detracting elements from the debut.  For instance, while the band continues to have keyboard-driven instrumental tracks, they are fewer and are mixed in with the traditional black metal tracks instead of comprising the second half of the album.  Some of the vocals are performed in a clean, melodic style, contrasting sharply with the black metal rasp.  The effect is something similar to what ICS Vortex brought to Dimmu Borgir.  Finally, the penultimate track "Song of Autumn" is simply incredible, effectively mixing the keyboard melodies with the more typical black metal style.  This is what the band was capable of all this time.  This is what I was hoping for.

If this is indeed the last of Velm, they went out on a high note.  They reached their potential on this album, even if it was just for one track.

Velm: Földek (2013)

Some time ago I reviewed a split album between Hungarian black metal bands De Profundis and Velm.  Based on the genre descriptions, I assumed I would probably prefer De Profundis, but ended up finding myself much more taken with the music of the pagan black metal band Velm.  I recently found a seller that was selling both of Velm's full-length albums and jumped on them.

I had a pretty good idea of what to expect with Velm based on the split, which was really just a way to package demos from both bands together, so it was much more like two real releases than just a song by each band.  The full-length reinforced what I believed a full-length from Velm would be like. 

The first three songs of the album is mostly melodic, synth-driven pagan black metal.  Featuring lengthy passages and wandering riffs, with vampiric vocals, the music can be harsh, but is often beautiful at the same time.  The last three songs are instrumentals, primarily played by the keyboards and are more ambient in nature.  The best moments on the album though are the parts of the first three songs that combine the two disparate sounds, bringing black metal riffing together with the keyboards. 

Overall, I was fairly impressed with this release.  Velm does not reinvent the wheel here, and they sound like many other bands in the genre, but the music is competent.  As I said, the best moments are those when they bring their different sounds together.  If they could make an entire album of that, that would really be something.

Tormentor: The 7th Day of the Doom (1987)

Black metal's roots are of course commonly associated with Norway, but the truth is that it has roots far deeper than that.  First wave black metal arose from a variety of places, such as the U.K. (Venom), Sweden (Bathory), Czechoslovakia (Master's Hammer and Root) and Denmark (Mercyful Fate).  Hungary's Tormentor was another first wave black metal band who had a major impact on the continued growth of the genre.

I was aware of Tormentor, mostly through the band's eponymous song, which has been covered by Dimmu Borgir and Slugathor (not to be confused with the Kreator song of the same name).  Tormentor's influence can be clearly heard in the works of Mayhem and other landmark bands in the black metal genre.  Tormentor's music is actually fairly complex, going through a number of musical sections, as opposed to the more simplistic sound of a lot of what black metal became.  This is especially true with songs like "Damned Grave", a nearly ten minute long instrumental.  And with the much more melodic sound, the band has more in common with Mercyful Fate than with Venom.  Sometimes the songs do drag on for a little too long, but by and large, this is a decent release.

One of the primary reasons that Tormentor is well-known, even if their music is not, is the presence of vocalist Attila Csihar.  Csihar of course replaced the deceased er, Dead in Mayhem and performs on the band's classic De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.  Unfortunately, so much of what made him such a compelling voice on that release is not present here.  He has a gruff vocal style, but does not engage in any of the vocal acrobatics or the blood-curdling snarl that he had on the Mayhem release.  He is clearly still finding his voice here.

This is one of Tormentor's demos and it is clear that the band was still a work in progress at this point in their career.  This is probably not an essential release, with the exception of the song "Tormentor".  If interested in checking out Tormentor, I would recommend Anno Domini instead.  Not that this one is bad, but it is very rough and raw. 

Split: De Profundis vs. Velm

I am going to do splits a little bit differently from now on.  I have always treated them as a sort of competition before, now I am just going to make that a little more explicit.  This one is a little different because both sides of the split were actually previous releases by each respective band, rather than new material specifically produced to be part of the split.  This is exemplified by the fact that both sides have their own title and their own cover.

DE PROFUNDIS - HAUNTED BY ILL ANGELS ONLY

Disappointingly, this is not the U.K.-based De Profundis that released the terrific The Emptiness Within in 2012.  This one is a black metal band from Hungary.  This was originally released as a demo in 2009 before being collected on this split.  The band has gone on to release just one full-length to date.  The De Profundis side is significantly shorter than the other side.  There are three traditional black metal songs and a shorter instrumental one.  The basic black metal songs are generally fast-paced with fairly standard tremolo riffing and some random Eastern European folk elements.  There are frequent keyboard melodies adding to the folk elements and making things interesting.  It is an interesting release, but not terribly ground-breaking.

VELM: SONGS OF AUTUMN

Velm is also a Hungarian black metal band, but their music veers more toward the pagan black metal sound.  This was originally released as Velm's first EP in 2012, which is kind of shocking given how good this sounds.  A lot of the same elements that are present on the De Profundis side are here as well, but for whatever reason, Velm does a much better job with it.  The music is atmospheric and organic-sounding, but with some powerful riffs and generally an uplifting sound, which is rare in black metal.  Of particular note is the brilliant title track.  And when the band is playing something more sinister, it comes out extremely bleak and discomforting.  

THE WINNER: VELM

Pretty obvious that was going to be my pick.  The Velm side is leaps and bounds better than the De Profundis side, and it is not at all like I disliked the De Profundis side.  Velm just sounds much more professional and advanced.  I liked it so much that I picked up both of Velm's full-length albums recently.  Those reviews are to come later.

Vvilderness: Devour the Sun (2017)

Yes, that is a double v and not a w.  No, I'm not really sure vvhy.  Maybe sole band member Vvildr (there it is again) has seen The VVitch a lot and liked the cut of its jib.

Normally, I am a little leary of a band vvhose genre lists "post-" anything.  I am not the biggest fan in the vvorld of post metal bands like Isis or Neurosis.  Usually it means the bands is a bit more on the hipster side of things.  But I vvas kind of dravvn to the artvvork and decided to listen to Vvilderness before buying the album.  It vvas a good move.

Vvilderness is supposedly a post-black metal band (although I think atmospheric black metal probably fits them better) vvhose album concept revolves around the formation of a nevv vvorld.  The album opens vvith the slovvly-building "Starless Dark", an instrumental track that sets the tone for the rest of the album.  And that tone is somber, yet vvarm and lush.  This is not a cold and hateful black metal album, as I have previously indicated is my preference.  It is hauntingly melodic and at times, even uplifting and povverful.  Obviously there are still black metal elements present, such as the tremolo riffing and the raspy vocal style.  Vvilderness is, at its core, a black metal band, but vvhere most black metal is nihilist and dark, Vvilderness is much more melodic and vibrant.   

Devour the Sun is a beautifully crafted sonicscape about creation, grovvth and destruction.  It is a povverful experience, much moreso than just another album.  It is alvvays an engrossing listen every time I put it on.  And to think, I might have missed it due to something as silly as a genre tag.

My Favorite Metal Band from Hungary

Vorkuta is a black metal band from Hungary named after a town near a GULAG camp. The band plays harsh black metal one second and then can immediately switch to shockingly uneasy ambience. The harsher stuff truly stands out as the most impressive parts, but the ambient material is done very well as well. Vorkuta is a band that takes awhile to get into, but once done, the band is easily on par with other Eastern European black metal bands.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Finnugor