The underground's been buzzing about this band, they're the latest and one of the greatest doing the extreme death metallized ultradooooom thing, a style harking back to the days of Incantation in the '90s. Much like the Vasaeleth release on Profound Lore we recommended last year, Encoffination have turned the slo-mo brutality of death/doom into something almost artistically ritualistic, murky, morbid, and mesmeric, convincingly conveying blasphemous atmosphere. Bathed in funereal fuzz, Encoffination's riffs and rhythms are both akin to death knell bell tollings, the vokills guttural exhalations of fetid crypt breath, the guitars thick and foul and almost gaseous as well, this music mostly slow, sullen, a plodding funeral procession indeed, everything working towards a totality of insalubrious effect. Which, oddly enough, embraces a certain sort of sickly beauty. Their attention to detail extends to the b&w graphics in the cd booklet, elegant and old fashioned looking.
All in all an impressive debut from this depressive duo, the band consisting of Ghoat (Father Befouled, Festered, Hills Of Sefiroth, Vomitchapel, etc.) on vocals, guitar and bass, and Elektrokutioner (Decrepitaph, Scaremaker, Festered, Tombstones, and myriad others, including Wooden Stake, also reviewed this list) on drums. Your rotting corpse couldn't be in better hands... We're not kidding, turns out that Ghoat in fact is studying for a mortuary sciences degree and currently works as an assistant funeral director!
Yeah, there's a lot of black metal bands out there, guys running around in corpse paint, drawing indecipherable logos, and posing for photos with burning things. Why should you pay attention? 'Cause if you didn't, you might never know about some really really great bands, like this one, End, from Greece. Their black metal is, in a word, supreme. It's a fuzzed out frenzy of buzzing, blasting riffs and atmosphere, perfectly complimented by the disc's beautiful black and white and grey watercolor artwork. For fans of Weakling, Eikenskaden, Khold, Satyricon, and Burzum -- which means basically, if you like black metal, you want this! Actually, forget black metal for a second. If the idea of speaker-threatening fuzz-dirge loping from your stereo appeals to you, then you still want this. This second End record is as good as their first. Get it.
It's been more than 6 years since we last heard from Greece's End, whose last record, entitled of course II, we described thusly: "For fans of Weakling, Eikenskaden, Khold, Satyricon, and Burzum - which means basically, if you like black metal, you want this! Actually, forget black metal for a second. If the idea of speaker-threatening fuzz-dirge loping from your stereo appeals to you, then you still want this."
Which heck, still holds true with this most recent disc, the only difference being that the sound is a bit more polished, a bit tighter. Whereas the first two End records were pretty raw, III finds End taking their raw buzz and furious blast and adding some heft, and a bit of groove. For every explosive face-melting soul-shearing burst of frenetic grinding black fury, there's some lurching, loping doomic dirge, often slipping into gorgeous spidery drifts, or drifting toward something much more post rocky than black metal, there's still plenty of acoustic guitar, but instead of peeling back all the other instruments, the buzzing steel strings are woven into the buzzing blackness, adding another woozy almost folky dimension.
And the mention of Khold in the old review is even more applicable now, and heck Code too, as this new End, spends much of its time droning dramatically, or in cool mathy gnarled bits of Deathspell-ed crunch, with lots of stop starts, dizzying arpeggiated guitars, warped almost gothic sounding breakdowns, soaring melodies all over the place, weirdly technical, and dramatic, and emotional, there seems to be a new wave of avant post black metal, and End seemed to have tapped into it, and perfectly fused it with their classic Greek blackness. III seems to be another one of those records that benefits from repeated listens, the poppiness and sonic mystery that pervades pretty much every song, seem to no longer lurk in the background, instead, driving these songs and defining End's awesome new sound.
Packaged in a super deluxe 6 panel digipak, with a big booklet, and some seriously gorgeous (and scary) black and white artwork.
These Greek guys just aren't happy about being a part of the human race. The grim, blasting, uber-distorto black metal musick they make is evidence of that, without one even needing to read the lyrics to such songs as "Pitiless Paranormal Reek" and "Humanitarianism". Pure nihilistic poetry. And even if you, like me, like being human, we all sometimes feel a little bit of what these guys feel, right? Anyway, we're happy they feel the way they do if only 'cause of the great music that they make as a result. If you like the droning distortion of such great acts as Burzum, Weakling, and Eikenskaden you'll want to experience End for sure. But, their metal has moments of quiet, too, with good use of synth and acoustic guitar and even what must be field recordings or at least pseudo field recordings (from the forest, of the sky?). RecommENDed. Oh, and we also must applaud End's record label for the following statement: "NOTICE ISO666 Releases support CD-R copying. We encourage anyone that cant afford to buy our releases to burn a copy from a friend. Let the music be spread. We are against to all labels that lock their releases to prevent copying."
Crazy Dillinger-esque metalcore.
We've long been fans of LA's retro black thrashers Lightning Swords Of Death, we'll get their record reviewed one of these days. But recently we've become even more obsessed with LSOD guitarist Roskva's other outfit, the much blacker and buzzier Endless Blizzard, who channel classic Norwegian style BM (we assume the Blizzard in their name is an homage to the original Blizzard Beasts, Immortal) through more traditional classic metal, with lots of prog going on as well, which you know we love. Heck, they even begin the record with their own interpretation of a classic Popol Vuh Track!
But at their heart (of winter), they are a blasting grim war metal beast, offering up epic majestic riffage, furious blasting beats, intricate melodies, killer hooks, and awesome shrieking vokills.
Most of the tracks are blackened juggernauts, roiling and relentless, but the record is peppered with unexpected sounds, the haunting liturgical organs of "Luciferian Crown" complete with soaring strings and mysterious chanted vocals, the looped medieval folk of "Under The Tranhelm", a totally mesmerizing stretch of mysterious buzz and moody melody, and the epic two part final track, "Buried Still Breathing / Remember Your Death", which begins with a whirring warbly organ, playing out a minor key melody, lots of wheeze and buzz, almost like some sort of bagpipe style raga, before shifting into a plodding doom drift, heavy on the buzzing synths, which shift into some deep minimal dronemusic, before acoustic guitars join in and allow the track to unwind dreamily.
But it's not just the weird bits that make this so good. The tracks, beyond being buzzy and heavy and complex, are also catchy as hell, blending classic eighties style metal with more modern black buzz, the riffs and melodies sticking in your head like crazy.
One of our new favorites BM records for sure!
Also now on vinyl!
The grindy political punk metal brigades have a new iron gang of northernmost killers in their ranks now! Toronto's The Endless Blockade brings 13 brutal tracks to the attack on their 20 Buck Spin debut (and 2nd full-length overall). If you liked the Iron Lung album we raved about earlier this year and want more of that brand of modern power violence brutality, a pissed off blend of hardcore, noise and sludge, look no further (in fact, the two bands recently shared a split 12").
Jello Biafra puts in a cameo vocal appearance on the title track, which is funnier than most Jello guest spots 'cause that song is all of 4 seconds long, Napalm Death style, and the lyrics in their entirety consist of: "The Endess Blockade!" (which Jello puts his unmistakable stamp upon).
Brand new vinyl only, ultra heavy match up between NY's low end doom metal titans Unearthly trance, and Canadian powerviolence grind duo The Endless Blockade. Unearthly Trance go first, and fill up a whole side at 33 rpm, of their roiling doomic dirgery, thick downtuned riffage, bellowed howls, the sound epic and majestic and blackened, like a crustier version of Mastodon or Neurosis, that same sort of mighty bludgeon, but here sprawled into something way more abstract, with the track drifting fro, churning crush to loose doomy drift, with creepy tangled minor key melodies, a gorgeous and haunting, repeating motif, ominously intoned vocals, it sounds like the track will eventually erupt into more heaviness, but instead it goes the opposite direction, or at least explores a different kind of heaviness, breaking down into a long stretch of ambient dronemusic, a shadow of that original riff/motif remains, ghostlike, the track shimmering and slithering and evolving into a sort of ultra doom dirge, spacious and spare, a spaced out plod, that gradually grows more and more abstract before dissipating completely.
On the flip, Endless Blockade temper their usually furious flurries with some lumbering riffage and almost doomy drift, beginning with a dense cloud of glitched out electronics and feedback drenched shrieked vocals, before exploding into a face melting wall of blasting powerviolence crush. Flurries of frenzied drumblast, insane insectoid riffage, dueling grunted/howled vox, a furious grind wrapped in thick swaths of swirling noise, occasionally slipping into something a bit more dirgey or doomy, but eventually erupting back into some seriously aggro pummel. Their side finishes off with a dense and intense abstract noise squall, all grinding and crumbling in-the-red buzz and skree, tangled vocal freakouts, and then finally a strangely pretty field recorded ambient outro.
The grindy political punk metal brigades have a new iron gang of northernmost killers in their ranks now! Toronto's The Endless Blockade brings 13 brutal tracks to the attack on their 20 Buck Spin debut (and 2nd full-length overall). If you liked the Iron Lung album we raved about earlier this year and want more of that brand of modern power violence brutality, a pissed off blend of hardcore, noise and sludge, look no further (in fact, the two bands recently shared a split 12").
Jello Biafra puts in a cameo vocal appearance on the title track, which is funnier than most Jello guest spots 'cause that song is all of 4 seconds long, Napalm Death style, and the lyrics in their entirety consist of: "The Endess Blockade!" (which Jello puts his unmistakable stamp upon).
Killer power violence tag team, in one corner, newbies The Endless Blockade, who more than almost any current band embody the sound and spirit of classic power violence, and in the other, the grandfathers, and direct descendants of the genre's namesake, Bastard Noise, who have returned to the sound of their Man Is The Bastard antecedents, while still incorporating plenty of twisted Bastard noise noise.
We haven't heard Bastard Noise sound this fierce and heavy in years, throbbing low slung bass, pounding caveman drums, howled feral vox, wild screeches, tangled riffs, all woven into tightly wound tarpit grind jams, lurching and stuttering, stop start, freaked out blasts of furious thrash bookended by lumbering doomy crush, all shot through with streaks of electronic skree, clouds of glitched out FX, in fact, if anything this sounds like the perfect mix of classic Man Is The Bastard and another aQ fave MITB offshoot, Geronimo: rhythmic, hypnotic, cyclical. There are some moments of droned out Bastard Noise electronics, but those moments usually end up exploding into shards of hyper rhythmic pound and chug. So awesome. This would be worth it alone for the Bastard Noise side, but we haven't even gotten to the best part of this split...
Which is "Advanced Directive", an Endless Blockade remix by legendary academic electronic pioneer Noah Creshevsky (we had a killer retrospective of his work on Japanese label EM!), that is a total skittery, stuttery, psychedelic plunderphonic freakout. Riffs and vocals chopped and looped and pitch shifted and reassembled into a weirdly hiccupping experimental power violence mash up, reminds us a little bit of the recent Record Of The Week by Whourkr, with its impossibly complex and head spinning heaviness. Wow. The fourteen minute track that precedes it is a killer too, pummeling, pounding doomic heaviness, that slips into a strange electronic flecked trip out breakdown, and then a super in-the-red grinding buzz drenched feedback slathered noise freakout, before lurching back into some riffy crunch to finish things off.
There is one more track, a remix by noisemaker The Rita, but that one is for the TRUE noise lovers only, 15 minutes of crumbling, blown out, earshredding Merzbowian digicrunch.
Kinda too bad this didn't make it onto our list last week with the other Endlessess (Dismal Moan, Blizzard) found therein, woulda been funny, but this is a whole different thing anyhow as you can tell from the second half of their name. Endless Boogie (now that's a handle that will make 'em or break 'em!) are a NYC band featuring two dudes who work at Matador records (we think). Real famous record collector types or so we're told. Now doing their own brand of dumbo psych rock blurt, indeed boogying (they wasn't kiddin'!) and probably all too endlessly for some, in the spirit of their evident sixties/seventies heroes. They got de mojo too, it seems, rubbin' off all those elpees they been collectin'. Cool enuff stuff (though they ain't no Vermonster).
"Smoking Figs In The Yard", the first track, starts off with a spoken "get down have a real good time" intro done in a hokey, jokey (we hope) Beefheart/Billy Gibbons/Edgar Broughton sorta grunt. Ouch. Then they git to rockin'. It's sorta Monster Magnet, sorta Rolling Stones (well, the vocals are kinda Jagger). Meh. But then track two's hypnotic throb, and beerbellycrawlingkingsnake scat singing moves, make it more akin to a redneck version of Circle, or Pharaoh Overlord. Starting to like this better... Endless Boogie coming on like a wanky hybrid of somethin' Circular, with the likes of Drunk Horse or maybe Howlin' Rain.
When track 4, "Executive Focus" rolls around, it's guitar solo wah wah time (moreso even than earlier), stuff that any Comets On Fire, Wooden Shjips or Julian Cope fan can flash on and dig... Acid Mothers too. By the time this song was over, eleven heavy and a half minutes later, we'd been swayed. Endless Boogie is all right with us. And we think we've got the idea. Yep, soon enough, sure enough, track six "Steak Rock" is another repetitive throbber with weird caveman mumblin' Tourette's babble o'er top. Circle's Mika Ratto could speak in tongues with this guy, and they'd understand one another we're certain.
A little later, the album's eighth cut "Jammin' With Top Dollar" sounds like "Mississippi Queen" Mountain with more of that tweaked out-of-the-side-of-the-mouth bugeyed blues holler...
That's followed by the over sixteen glorious guitar-centric minutes of "Low Lifes", a moody, mesmerizing epic of stretched out six string psych action. And then, they rock out the 2:38 duration of the disc's final number "Move Back!". As for the tracks we didn't touch on, "Bad River", "Gimme The Awesome", "Coming Down The Stairs", you can more or less guess at descriptions from the above.
So, the verdict - this gets better n' better as it goes along, though we still find it tough to tolerate the vocals, which are a tongue in cheek tribute to ZZ Top we guess. Struth, if we didn't think the Endless Boogie guys were NYC hipsters taking the piss, we might cut 'em more slack on that. Like, if they were Finnish... but that's hardly fair. Still, the guitars are way cool (if'n you like geeetar), but vocals sorta sound like it's a joke. Yr mileage may vary. You do pretty much get what you'd expect from a band called Endless Boogie! Fans of Wooden Shjips, Itavayla, and of course ZZ Top should check it out.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The second of two "Endless" black metal bands on this week's list. While the other Endless (Blizzard) channels the spirit of classic Norwegian blackness, this Endless (Dismal Moan), finds his inspiration somewhere much darker and way more fucked up. This is record number three from Japan's Endless Dismal Moan (aka EDM) and is another glorious blast of gnarled dissonance and off kilter metallic blackness. The work of a single entity, curiously named CHAOS9, EDM traffic in super repetitive trance like black metal, grinding buzzed out riffs, convoluted and obtuse, locked into mesmerizing loops, the tracks repetitive and hypnotic. The vocals are a maniacal shriek way down in the mix, the drums not always blasting, sometimes pounding out strange stuttery rhythms alongside the riffs, and it's all about the riffs, thick and massive and jagged, sometimes everything locks into super precise stop start dynamics, before exploding again into buzzing black chaos.
It's sort of hard to explain the sound of EDM, it's like the intro or a bridge of a traditional black metal track, all twisted up and stretched out into a whole song, super droney and woozy and tripped out and dizzyingly dense. There are a few brief respites, some Goblin-y horror movie keyboards, some creepy doomy almost industrial blackened crunch, bits of cinematic black ambience, a long loopscape of still more Italian horror movie style synths and weird machinelike rhythms, and the final track, a blissy almost shoegaze-y abstract drift, drums dense with reverb, the barely there melodies drifting in a sea of soft hiss and blurred muted buzz, which just barely balances the furious fractured blackness that makes up the rest of the record.
Yet another disc of essential fucked up blackened genius! TOTALLY recommended.
To a certain degree, Endless Humiliation sound pretty much exactly what a band called Endless Humiliation -should- sound like. The review we read described EH as a mix of Ildjarn and Hijokaidan, which was enough for us to track some of these down. And heck, that's not all that far off the mark.
A total face melting wall of blacknoise, a continuous blastbeat beneath a churning, ever shifting sea of harsh hissing buzz, blown out circuit blowing distortion, crumbling clouds of processed vocal chaos, thick sheets of feedback, this is definitely NOISE, but that damn drum beat, and we seem to hear riffs, whether they're there or not, this is the sort of thing that puts all those other noisy black metal bands to shame. For Endless Humiliation, noise is an instrument, with which they craft some virulent and abject black fury.
Blasting crusty D-beat style drumming, pounding away beneath a cloud of Merzbowian freakout, shrieking vox, guitars? Maybe, but if so, they've been melted down and poured over the speakers, the sound shifts dramatically and fantastically throughout, from gritty and lo-fi, to brittle and tinny, to thick and corrosive to muted and washed out to sharp and jagged, and those drums just keep pounding away, the whole record throbbing and churning and heaving, we hear Dead C, Prurient, Akitsa, Bone Awl, Malveillance, Hijokaidan, Incapacitants, lots and lots of blasting pounding rrrrrrooooooaaaaaaar. But amidst all this noisiness and brutality and mayhem, there are some seriously sublime moments, like halfway through side two, when the sounds all lock tight into this high end drone, the drums an insanely repetitive metronomic plod, the guitars or synths or whatever the fuck is making that racket coalesce into a near static sheet of high end buzz, the whole thing managing to somehow sound more than noisy, tense, intense and dramatic. Oh and noisy. Totally killer. Noisefreaks will need this for SURE. Metalheads who like their blasting and thrashing just dripping with blown out buzz, and spewing white hot gouts of in-the-red NOISE, well then this is for you too.
Wicked packaging, hand silkscreened on thick cardstock, super striking, inside and out, comes with one photocopied insert, and one full color insert. And pretty sure it's crazy limited too...
New band from Slauter Xystroyes original vocalist!! Killer '80s style over the top METAL!
Our second favorite band from the Heavy Artillery roster - after Vektor - make the step up from that now-defunct retro-metal specialist label to the big leagues, Nuclear Blast (boom!), with this, their third album. While the venue has changed, Enforcer hasn't, it's more of the same and that's just fine with us. Enforcer continue to enforce the law of headbanging here, in style. Maybe they've cranked the speed up a bit, but that's about it. Another nine tracks of shredding, spandex-tight '80s styled metal, hitting hard (and hitting falsetto highs) with youthful energy to burn. Lotsa catchy rockarolla flashes by here in a 35:48 blaze of glory, this disc totally in their home country's proud tradition of classy '80s metal mastery (a la bands like 220Volt, Torch, Heavy Load, early Europe, etc.) though of course NWOBHMer's Iron Maiden are probably still Enforcer's biggest influence most obvious to the layperson.
While we'd say this album doesn't quite scale the heights of its shining predecessor Diamonds, it's still quite good and undeniably full of gusto. Any fan of the New Wave Of Old School Metal (or whatever you want to call it) populated by the likes of Cauldron, Twisted Tower Dire and Zuul, not to mention fans of the actual First Wave Of Old School of metal too, ought to dig this big time.
These young spandex-clad Swedish shredders are back with their second strike of speedy, melodic, refreshingly retro '80s styled metal! Yeah, that's right, they make it seem fresh again somehow, they've got a lot of the right spirit, like their pals Helvetes Port, with whom they share the same fashion sense. However, Enforcer aren't so eccentric, seeming a bit more "pro" though. And the other thing they've got, that really counts, are cool songs! Not only do they go for the gusto with galloping guitars, high pitched shrieks, heroic choruses, etc. but yeah these are catchy, actual songs with a "pop" element like bands wrote back during the glory days of the early '80s, the era that so inspires these guys. Obviously NWOBHMers Iron Maiden is one influence, we're also hearing some Grim Reaper, and, crossing over to the USA, maybe Riot and Alcatrazz (the latter especially on the Japanese-themed "Katana", and remember, that band had a rather famous Swedish guitarist after all).
And, though they're definitely intent on staying "in genre", doing songs with titles like "Roll The Dice", "Midnight Vice", and "Live For The Night", with lyrics about sleazy fast livin', violent death, and so forth, it's not all formula, Enforcer provides some interesting surprises, like the way the title track starts off as an instrumental ripper before seguing by the the end into a drifting wordless la la la blissful outro, not what we were expecting.
Among today's crop of eighties metal revivalists, Enforcer, along with fellow AQ faves Cauldron from Canada (with whom they've toured), lead the pack amongst those who totally shred authentically -without- neglecting the pop, a rare breed!
And Enforcer's 2nd album, now picture disc vinylified too!!!
These young spandex-clad Swedish shredders are back with their second strike of speedy, melodic, refreshingly retro '80s styled metal! Yeah, that's right, they make it seem fresh again somehow, they've got a lot of the right spirit, like their pals Helvetes Port, with whom they share the same fashion sense. However, Enforcer aren't so eccentric, seeming a bit more "pro" though. And the other thing they've got, that really counts, are cool songs! Not only do they go for the gusto with galloping guitars, high pitched shrieks, heroic choruses, etc. but yeah these are catchy, actual songs with a "pop" element like bands wrote back during the glory days of the early '80s, the era that so inspires these guys. Obviously NWOBHMers Iron Maiden is one influence, we're also hearing some Grim Reaper, and, crossing over to the USA, maybe Riot and Alcatrazz (the latter especially on the Japanese-themed "Katana", and remember, that band had a rather famous Swedish guitarist after all).
And, though they're definitely intent on staying "in genre", doing songs with titles like "Roll The Dice", "Midnight Vice", and "Live For The Night", with lyrics about sleazy fast livin', violent death, and so forth, it's not all formula, Enforcer provides some interesting surprises, like the way the title track starts off as an instrumental ripper before seguing by the the end into a drifting wordless la la la blissful outro, not what we were expecting.
Among today's crop of eighties metal revivalists, Enforcer, along with fellow AQ faves Cauldron from Canada (with whom they've toured), lead the pack amongst those who totally shred authentically -without- neglecting the pop, a rare breed!
What are they enforcing? The law of metal, of course. We welcome the discipline. We almost overlooked this band 'cause we thought they were just another one in the current glut of generic retro-thrashers (many of whom make their home on the Heavy Artillery label). But we're glad we gave it a listen, 'cause Sweden's Enforcer turned out to be a nice surprise, more 'musical' than most and party hardy too. They're a young n' energetic band forging '80s-ish metal along the lines of NWOBHM stuff like Savage, Saxon and Diamond Head. We're also hearing echoes of Riot, Metal Church, early Megadeth, Exciter... No it's not that original, either, but that doesn't stop it from kicking ass (see also Bullet, and Wolf). It's just a good ol' old school rip fest. Speedy but also melodic, with high pitched shreiky (but not too shrieky) singing, shredding leads, and lots of catchy grooves - the bass lines are active and audible, galloping away Maiden style. Death and black and (now) thrash metal bands are a dime a dozen these days but it's impressive when kids kick out something like this, sounding like the real deal from the early eighties, though with better production! The disc is packed with neck wreckers and should have you headbanging and air guitaring with abandon. It's not epic or eccentric or doomy, but sometimes pedal to the metal spandex-clad rockin' is enough! You can buy your umpteenhundredth grim black metal album (we have, and counting...) but once in a while you want metal that's fun and exciting. And for that, Enforcer is just the thing... also check out the Heavy Metal Killers comp on Earache (also reviewed this list) which features a track from this Enforcer album among many other current true heavy metal up and comers.
This retro slice of Swedish steel, now available in the best format for it: picture disc vinyl!!!
What are they enforcing? The law of metal, of course. We welcome the discipline. We almost overlooked this band 'cause we thought they were just another one in the current glut of generic retro-thrashers (many of whom make their home on the Heavy Artillery label). But we're glad we gave it a listen, 'cause Sweden's Enforcer turned out to be a nice surprise, more 'musical' than most and party hardy too. They're a young n' energetic band forging '80s-ish metal along the lines of NWOBHM stuff like Savage, Saxon and Diamond Head. We're also hearing echoes of Riot, Metal Church, early Megadeth, Exciter... No it's not that original, either, but that doesn't stop it from kicking ass (see also Bullet, and Wolf). It's just a good ol' old school rip fest. Speedy but also melodic, with high pitched shrieky (but not too shrieky) singing, shredding leads, and lots of catchy grooves - the bass lines are active and audible, galloping away Maiden style. Death and black and (now) thrash metal bands are a dime a dozen these days but it's impressive when kids kick out something like this, sounding like the real deal from the early eighties, though with better production! The disc is packed with neck wreckers and should have you headbanging and air guitaring with abandon. It's not epic or eccentric or doomy, but sometimes pedal to the metal spandex-clad rockin' is enough! You can buy your umpteenhundredth grim black metal album (we have, and counting...) but once in a while you want metal that's fun and exciting. And for that, Enforcer is just the thing...
This is the first we've heard from these Italian ambient black metallers, but like many of the bands on Dusktone, they definitely traffic in a strain of post black metal that we dig big time. Fusing clean guitar strum, shoegazey shimmer, and minor key melancholy, with blasting beats, harsh vokills, and buzzing riffage. And again like so many of those bands, even when they're at their heaviest, the sound is still a little washed out, tracks like "Samoht Nara" only black metal by merit of the vocals, otherwise, they almost sound like Swervedriver, and they don't shy away from acoustic guitars, or wistful melodies, thankfully, the bulk of the record finds them taking that wistfulness and melancholy, and wrapping it all up in spiky shards of blackened buzzing bombast, conjuring up a sound that's at once both black and brutal, bleak and beautiful.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Five songs of hellish blasphemy from this Scandinavian black metal brigade, including one with lyrics by the Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley... Amid the continuing influx of run of the mill, second rate black metal, this actually stands out as having both musical hooks and a convincingly evil atmosphere.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The third and final installment in this Finnish black metal band's "Telocvovim" series (whatever that means). Enochian Crescent aren't yet a big name in the scene, but they should be. This album destroys. For fans of Satyricon, Keep of Kalessin, and the like.
We've been trying to get ANYTHING by this band, this GUY actually. A seriously sick drummer (he's been featured on SickDrummer.Com multiple times), the awesomely monickered Bornyhake, not only drums up a fucking storm, he also handles all the other instruments as well. Enoid is his one man band, but so is Borgne, and beyond that, he plays in 5 or 6 other bands, from doom to grind, but it's extreme blackness where he really excels. We'll keep trying to get some Borgne for the store, but for now at least we can extol the radness that is Enoid.
Right out of the gate, Ataraxiis explodes in a frenzy of blizzardy beastliness, furious and frenzied and frantic, soaring melodies, drumming so fast, we're thinking it might even have to be a drum machine, or he really IS a sick drummer, and while he may be Swiss, the sound is definitely Nordic, or Swedish, think 1349, or Marduk, Immortal or Satyricon even, this is super intense frostbitten blackness, relentless, sometimes the tracks breakdown into lurching grooves or pounding doom, but those moments are fleeting, it's never long before Enoid launches back into more seriously blasting black grimness. Brutal and kult, soul flaying heaviness that is definitely not for the meek. If you like it frosty and fast, grim and black, you probably can't do much better (or blacker) than this!
Another blast of furious blasting blackened sickness from Swiss one man horde Enoid, masterminded by Bornyhake, who also does time in the equally awesome Borgne. We reviewed the Enoid full length Ataraxiis a few lists back, and Suicide Genocide takes up right where that one left off, furious and frantically blasting black metal, Norwegian style, and yeah, he's Swiss, but the sound is classic Scandinavian black metal, the riffs epic and soaring, the drumming brutal and lightning speed, the vocals demonic and bile spewing, the buzz cranked WAY up, the tracks dense and complex lurching from maniacal frenzied blasting, to sludge-y doomic pounding to weirdly melodic, often all those elements colliding midsong. And he's not just a killer player, he's capable of crafting some pretty excellent songs too, hidden amidst all that gnarled blackness and buzz drenched blast, lurk plenty of hooks, subtle perhaps, but there nonetheless infusing this filth with a vibe that keeps it from being just another slab of grim black whatever.
What is it about the Swiss, it's hard to pinpoint, but we're becoming mildly obsessed with bands from Switzerland, Paysage D'Hiver, Darkspace, Wacht, Ordo Infandorum Rituum Occultus (both reviewed elsewhere on this list), Sun Of The Blind, Borgne, and yeah, like the Ukraine, it's probably all the same 4 or 5 guys, but who cares, they've tapped into something, that's positioning Switzerland to give France and Norway And heck, the Ukraine a run for their black metal money.
There aren't a whole lot of grim black metal hordes who call Indiana home as far as we know. In fact we can't think of any, other than this here trio, Ensepulchred. But these guys don't really sound like they're from Indiana at all. In fact they don't really even sound like they're from Norway. Or Sweden, Or Finland, Or any other nation of renowned musical blackness. They sound a whole lot more like they're from Italy, and from the mid seventies. Where they spend all their time wandering in fog shrouded graveyards, lurking in crumbling old cathedrals, terrorizing nightgown clad boarding school girls, digging up dead bodies, AND SCORING IMAGINARY SEVENTIES BLACK METAL ITALIAN HORROR MOVIES!!
Ensepulchred weave their buzzing blackness from thick walls of horror-movie synth, so much so in fact that most of the time, we're hard pressed to hear any guitar at all. Little bits of buzz here and there, but the riffs are mostly handled by keyboards. A creepy midnight world of gauzy, dramatic and cinematic Goblin like sweeps and swells, over simple programmed beats, howled harsh vocals, the melodies haunting and minor key, evoking all sorts of chilling atmospheres and blood curdling ambience. Suicide In Winter's Moonlight indeed. Dark depressive, doomy, but eyes closed, this is the sound of some misty moor, some darkened castle, a haunted bog, the world painted red with blood, the air alive with the terrified screams of dying virgins, the rattle of bones and the whispering wind, the sound of death, and dying, of misery and hopelessness, the sound of panic and mayhem and terror and horror. Ever wonder what a black metal Goblin might sound like... Or if Argento had Nortt or Xasthur score Suspiria...
Hail! Our favorite Viking black metal band is back again, with another tour-de-force, their 11th full-length album. A long way from where they started with their first teenaged demo back in 1991, and amazingly still totally kicking ass, artistically and otherwise (unlike a lot of their contemporaries from the '90s Norwegian black metal scene who have definitely fallen off). Nowadays, Enslaved play "Viking Metal" as if Vikings grew up listening to tons of '70s prog rock like King Crimson, Yes, and Pink Floyd. They've been sailing their longboats in that direction for quite a while, on such great releases as Monumension, Isa, and Below The Lights. And their previous album, Vertebrae, was probably their spaciest, most Floydian excursion yet. If you were on board for that one, you should like new one this too, which while of course quite proggy, seems heavier and more fearsome sounding than the relatively mellow Vertebrae. "Clean" melodic vocals are still present, confidently so, along with plenty of nasty blackened raspy vokills of course. The clean singing towards the end of opener "Ethica Odini" might throw the unexpectant listener for a Radiohead/Muse styled loop, but as majestically "poppy" as it gets there, Enslaved maintain an equally extreme allegiance to the metal side of the equation elsewhere in the same song. So it goes throughout the record, with memorable melodies languidly adjacent to uptempo aggressive outbursts, the ardently experimental Enslaved juggling jagged orchestration, jazzy chords, complex rhythms, lush symphonics, atmospheric ambience (the lulling droney soundscape of "Axioma"), and straight-up metal mayhem. Somehow the sudden sonic shifts are accomplished oh so smoothly, so this disc is simultaneously speedy and haunting. While fire and steel are part of their arsenal, these Vikings also know how to conquer with catchiness!
Norway's Enslaved are by now established as being at the top of the black metal heap, a band from which you can expect nothing less than sheer brilliance. As such, it's hard to write a review that doesn't simply revisit all the superlatives we've already applied to their previous releases. So we won't even try with this, their seventh full-length album, other than to say it's great and you should buy one! ...well okay, here's a little bit about what it sounds like:
A lot like previous album "Monumension" and the one before that, AQ-Record-of-the-Week "Mardraum"! Though, the lineup is a little different -- this marks the first appearance of new lead guitarist Arve Isdal (replacing Roy Kronheim). Longtime drummer Dirge Rep does play on this, but has since left the band. But anyway, more of the same in Enslaved terms is not a bad thing. Basically, they're in a similar situation career-wise as fellow metal masterminds Opeth. Can they get any better? You know what, they just don't need to! And also just like Opeth, Enslaved are brilliant at making juxtapostions of melody and heaviness (spacey psychedelic Pink Floyd interludes vs. raging thrash, clean singing/chant vs. death growls and screams).
For instance, in the very first track, you get the pairing of a slow, melancholy, even sappily beautiful guitar solo by Ivar with lower-than-low death metal belches and furious drums. The next song concentrates on utter metal ripping but also incorporates electronic embellishments that could have wandered in from a Radiohead album, and is followed by the disarming acoustic intro to the pummelling and majestic track three, a song which demonstrates Enslaved's command of heavy 'post rock' a la Isis. Total Kinski/Godspeed might mixed with andrenalized, angular riffing. The Fucking Champs doing spacerock maybe? Yet another track begins with some fruity leftfield chamber jazz/prog (w/ flutes!) to make you doublecheck your stereo, before the metal soars into view again, tumultous and epic. After that, martial progressive rock drumming is backed by a heathen choir.
Yet to me, the key to Enslaved's appeal is that, however weird they get, they always keep it kind of simple too, never losing sight of the rock n' roll imperative. So unlike, say, the last Emperor album, with all its jazz fusion parts and circusy convolutions, you can still definitely rock out to Enslaved. Avant art rock with Viking majesty and headbanging energy -- no wonder they're Allan's favorite black metal band!
MPEG Download: "As Fire Swept Clean The Earth" [/audio/enslavedasfire.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "As Fire Swept Clean The Earth" [/audio/enslavedasfire.m3u]
Another dose of Viking metal mayhem from these artistically aggressive Norwegians, who rank up there with countrymen Emperor in the pantheon of modern day black metal. A brilliant band, combining the epic and avant-garde with violent thrash fervor. The best band ever that has made a practice of wearing tights and tunics. This one is dense and violent, less spaciously psychedelic than some of their other recent records.
Allan and Andee's personal favorite album from these Viking metallers!! Epic, violent genius.
An early masterpiece from Enslaved, one of the top Viking black metal outfits ever.
Gosh, we're rarely as, um, anticipant (is that a word?) of a new album release by a metal band as we are of anything new by Norway's Enslaved! Pant, pant, pant. And this new album from them, Isa, really got us worked up waiting for it, as an European version was released towards the end of last year but we never were able to buy, beg or steal import copies of it -- although we did get a handful of the vinyl pressing, now gone. But, those extra few months of waiting was worth it, as this domestic cd version boasts some bonus cd-rom footage: the video for the title track, and a twenty minute band interview. Patience pays off. So why were we so excitedly anticipant about this you may ask? Well Enslaved have always been a band who've been adept at pushing all of AQ's buttons (in a good way, that is). There's the old-school Nordic black metal button (which Enslaved, who's first release was a split with Emperor, has no trouble pushing, and here they get guest throats Abbath from Immortal and Nocturno Culto from Darkthrone to apply extra force). There's the epic Floydian psych button. The mood-shattering dynamics button. The Viking tunic and tights button. The avant-garde '70s keyboard-laden prog button. The leather and spikes rock n' roll button. Even the vaguely jazz-fusiony guitar soloing button. The so many buttons button. Now, to be sure, their various records (this is number eight, or so) push these buttons and others in various combinations. At first listen to any of their albums, we often think, hmm, is this working for us? And always it does. Isa is no exception. It continues in what we might call the Opethian progression of recent Enslaved efforts like Monumension and Below The Lights, away from the pure speed and violence of such earlier albums as Frost and Blodheim, but all the polished parts and techy time-changes and such are always offset by a stab at that blackened Norwegian nastiness button, y'know? Jarring yet repetitive riffage coexists here with some clean, Michael Gira style crooning, and droning metal blur, Geiger-counter drumming, and majestic minor-key melody: an art-rock cruise ship rammed and boarded by a Viking longboat. Even with new members (Dirge Rep's replacement on the drum stool is the guy from Red Harvest, we think) and hence new directions, Enslaved have crafted an album that's definitely a progressive part of their now hallowed legacy, replete with menace and grandeur. Too soon yet to tell if this is pushing ALL the same buttons as the godly Mardraum (an AQ Record of the Week once upon a time), or Eld, or Below The Lights but that's what those records are for, anyway. Time for them later, here at last is the NEW Enslaved, so let's let it let us enjoy it!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Whoa! I thought that Weakling's "Dead As Dreams" was gonna be the uncontested "Black Metal Record of the Year" until I heard this, the new album from Norwegian Viking-metallers Enslaved. Now Weakling has some competition! "Mardraum" ("Nightmare") is probably Enslaved's best record to date, no mean feat considering that their "Frost" and "Eld" albums are two of the best Nordic black metal discs ever, in AQ's humble opinion. This new album somehow combines the violent and epic qualities of Enslaved's past works with what can only be considered (despite our dislike, and over-use, of the term) a 'post-rock' sensibility. And, on top of that, there's a full on ROCK element at work here too. During the very first track ("Larger Than Time -- Heavier Than Night") you'll swear that (despite the very metal attack) you can hear in the droning guitar harmonies and mathy drumming the post-rock of a Codeine or A Minor Forest! Enslaved have created a new, multi-layered complexified psych-metal, mixing dangerous speed with slow doom epic majesty (the waves pounding on shore during the Viking longboat raid)...then, amid all this beauty and brutality, they'll go and whip out some leather-clad, almost-punk rock n' roll riffing that's just as foreign to the black metal template as the 'post-rock' aspect just discussed. Not that any of this seems purposefully jarring or ill-fitting (or Mr. Bungle-like) -- it seems quite natural, more artful than artsy. Another example: track seven, "The Ending Empire", starts off with a catchy riff-cycle that strongly reminds me of something like "Insidious Detraction" off the first album by Greg Ginn's Gone, but then the song takes a turn into an almost honkytonk country-western flavored breakdown with a melodic rock guitar solo, before the Viking battle re-commences! Brilliant. Is this the most intense, heaviest, most psychedelic, rockin'est, 'post-black-metal' album ever recorded? We think so. Norwegian genius that puts almost all heavy-duty avant-rock acts to shame, metal or not.
Ivar Bjornson, Grutle Kjellson, Dirge Rep and R. Kronheim are Enslaved. We mention them individually because they and their band deserve to be household names, at least among Aquarius customers. Enslaved are definitely one of our absolute favorite Norwegian
Ok, enough hyperbole (for the moment). What's "Monumension" really like, and how *does* it compare exactly to "Mardraum"? Well, somebody had told us to expect that the new Enslaved would sound like Genesis, but that's definitely not the case. True, '70s prog rock a la Genesis (or, maybe more accurately, King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator) certainly flows in the blood of Grutle, Ivar and Co., along with the more ancient blood of their Norse ancestors. Opeth fans will hear the parallels. But are they truly warriors of modern prog? Not quite, as they are so much more. The first thing an Enslaved fan will notice is the surprising prevalence of death metal style vocals alongside the black metal rasps and Viking chants. Vocally, lyrically and musically, this is some seriously heavy stuff, and violent. But it all flows, sometimes into realms so tripped-out and Floyd-ishly psychedelic that you'll forget you're listening to "metal" at all. But then, the next song will start with a blood-quickening, bone-jarring riff to remind you. Like on "Mardraum", the band brilliantly weaves various metal/rock styles into pure Enslaved music, perhaps upping the "folk" aspect a bit (which balances those death metal elements nicely). There's even a bonus track by a related band called HOV (Trygve Mathiesen and a "tribal choir" which includes all the members of Enslaved) that's meant to evoke traditional Viking music -- although the band stresses that "Enslaved has never been about reproduction or literal interpretations. It is more of a quest for creating our own musical traditions and dimensions. The band is built upon the philosophy, magick and myths of the Vikings, not a desire to dress like they did during a historical period or to talk exactly like them. It is something deeper than a mere roleplay to please the outer eyes and ears." These efforts by Enslaved certainly have resulted in surreal, epic, timeless metal for the mind, body and soul.
So yes, these rune-obsessed geniuses, mere youngsters wise beyond their years, have created another utter masterpiece. And it's not just me -- everyone I've discussed this record with agrees that it's amazing. Arrrgh -- my fanboy ramblings can't even begin to do it justice. Emperor, Satyricon, Ulver are all great Norwegian black metal bands that in various ways and to various degress have also branched out into the beyond, but Enslaved are something else again.
For a while there, Enslaved were one of our favorite black metal bands, maybe our favorite in fact, Frost, Eld, Mardraum, all firmly ensconced in our BM pantheon for sure. And we always appreciated the band's progression, and sonic shift toward something more proggy, more 'proggressive', cuz obviously we love when bands get weirder and push their sound into new, weird directions, but even so, eventually we still sort of began to lost interest, so much so that some of the old school Enslaved fans around here (one of which is writing this review) didn't even bother listening much to their last couple records. But word was this new one was a return to form, or as close to it as could be expected, the band returning to heavier more classic black metal sound, without ditching any of their newfound/longtime progginess.
And while we definitely do dig this new record, rumors of the group's return to something blacker and heavier were definitely a bit exaggerated. There are still some heavy bits for sure, but the non heavy parts are WAY more abundant, and the while the progression over the last few records may have been subtle, returning to the band several albums down the line is pretty shocking, with the band sounding more like letter era Opeth, and often like Muse or Queens Of The Stoneage, both bands we love, but those sounds coming out of Enslaved still seem a bit weird, and the group seem to have shed their Viking metal sound almost entirely. That said, they do this new metallic prog pop thing really well, and if it wasn't Enslaved, we probably wouldn't have as many reservations, we'd just be thinking, wow, this is a seriously kick ass metallic prog combo. Which is probably the best way to approach it, as if they're essentially not the same band that made Frost and Eld. But really, even Monumension, which is probably our favorite record from the new era of Enslaved, seems pretty far removed from the sound on RIITIIR. But there are still heavy moments throughout that knock our socks off, like, there's a brief bit in "Death In The Eyes Of Dawn" where the sound coalesces into a killer stop/start break, before exploding into a wild tangle of furious snare drum and swirling psychedelic shred, all beneath shrieked and bellowed vox, serious prog metal bliss for sure, and then just as suddenly the band slip into some seriously poppy fuzzy crooning that sounds like Katatonia, and yet, as disparate as those parts are, they still sound pretty cool together. And on the other side of the coin, there are some seriously sublime poppy moments, hooky riffs, crazy catchy melodies, fuzzed out bass grooves, that would most definitely put most pop bands to shame.
We know this review is starting to sound wishy washy, but we're torn, still getting our heads around the new Enslaved, and trying to get over our undying love for those old records, but digging most of this record like crazy, and the more we listen to this, and the more we stop wishing it would start sounding like Frost, the more we realize just how good this record really is.
While they last, we've got the deluxe version with the bonus DVD, featuring a making of RIITIIR documentary. The vinyl is pressed on bone colored, charcoal splattered vinyl, and comes in a super swank full color gatefold sleeve.
For a while there, Enslaved were one of our favorite black metal bands, maybe our favorite in fact, Frost, Eld, Mardraum, all firmly ensconced in our BM pantheon for sure. And we always appreciated the band's progression, and sonic shift toward something more proggy, more 'proggressive', cuz obviously we love when bands get weirder and push their sound into new, weird directions, but even so, eventually we still sort of began to lost interest, so much so that some of the old school Enslaved fans around here (one of which is writing this review) didn't even bother listening much to their last couple records. But word was this new one was a return to form, or as close to it as could be expected, the band returning to heavier more classic black metal sound, without ditching any of their newfound/longtime progginess.
And while we definitely do dig this new record, rumors of the group's return to something blacker and heavier were definitely a bit exaggerated. There are still some heavy bits for sure, but the non heavy parts are WAY more abundant, and the while the progression over the last few records may have been subtle, returning to the band several albums down the line is pretty shocking, with the band sounding more like letter era Opeth, and often like Muse or Queens Of The Stoneage, both bands we love, but those sounds coming out of Enslaved still seem a bit weird, and the group seem to have shed their Viking metal sound almost entirely. That said, they do this new metallic prog pop thing really well, and if it wasn't Enslaved, we probably wouldn't have as many reservations, we'd just be thinking, wow, this is a seriously kick ass metallic prog combo. Which is probably the best way to approach it, as if they're essentially not the same band that made Frost and Eld. But really, even Monumension, which is probably our favorite record from the new era of Enslaved, seems pretty far removed from the sound on RIITIIR. But there are still heavy moments throughout that knock our socks off, like, there's a brief bit in "Death In The Eyes Of Dawn" where the sound coalesces into a killer stop/start break, before exploding into a wild tangle of furious snare drum and swirling psychedelic shred, all beneath shrieked and bellowed vox, serious prog metal bliss for sure, and then just as suddenly the band slip into some seriously poppy fuzzy crooning that sounds like Katatonia, and yet, as disparate as those parts are, they still sound pretty cool together. And on the other side of the coin, there are some seriously sublime poppy moments, hooky riffs, crazy catchy melodies, fuzzed out bass grooves, that would most definitely put most pop bands to shame.
We know this review is starting to sound wishy washy, but we're torn, still getting our heads around the new Enslaved, and trying to get over our undying love for those old records, but digging most of this record like crazy, and the more we listen to this, and the more we stop wishing it would start sounding like Frost, the more we realize just how good this record really is.
While they last, we've got the deluxe version with the bonus DVD, featuring a making of RIITIIR documentary. The vinyl is pressed on bone colored, charcoal splattered vinyl, and comes in a super swank full color gatefold sleeve.
Our favorite proggy Viking black metallers, Enslaved, turn in a fierce performance on this live DVD release, documenting a show recorded May 2005 in their hometown of Bergen, Norway. It features mostly tracks from their most recent disc, Isa (a typically brilliant album which we have called a "progressive part of their now hallowed legacy, replete with menace and grandeur"). Like their previous DVD effort, Live Retaliation, this is a professional, polished production with multiple cameras and great sound -- though with the cutting and zooming and the video projection they have behind 'em on stage, the results are perhaps a lot more MTV-like than you'd expect from what to us has always seemed like an "underground" band. But if proggy Viking black metal can rise to MTV-levels anywhere, I guess Norway would be the place. More power to 'em. As bonus material you get about 25 minutes of documentary tour footage, a band interview, and the music video for the track "Isa" (previously seen as a cd-rom extra on the domestic version of the Isa cd).
Some years back, a new album from Norway's Enslaved was an occasion for pagan celebration only among those few who honestly appreciated "Viking" black metal of EPIC quality... people like AQ's Allan for whom a band in tunics and tights was indeed "cool". But more and more folks came around to this band's undeniable if eccentric brilliance (and their stage clothes have become less archaic). Now they're one of the biggest acts in the world of "extreme metal" and the release of a new album like this one (Ruun being their ninth full-length in a 13 year career) is a big deal. As it should be. We've always made a big deal about Enslaved's albums here at AQ, as you may know, going so far as to make 2000's Mardraum a Record Of The Week. So as always, excitement ran high here for this new disc. And our reaction to it is similar to how we felt about their last one, Isa -- it's obvious immediately that Ruun is another proud entry in the Enslaved discography, and one that promises to be a grower too. The carefully crafted, complex collision of aggro black metal and '70s inspired prog rock (a la Rush, Genesis, King Crimson) that Enslaved have been perfecting (or, at this point, could be said to have perfected!) is in full effect, each composition holding hidden secrets to be revealed only on repeat listens, while not for a second stinting on the venemous METAL that you want right of the gate. Already there's certain tracks that we just want to keep hitting "repeat" on.
Grutle's vocals still alternate between vicious rasping growls and "clean" Viking vox, the music similarly incorporating both jagged metallic riffing (stormwracked seas, longboats tossing) and spacier, more melodic symphonic passages (astral travels to ancestral lands beyond the stars)... the classic Enslaved dynamic at work! Though maybe there's something smoother about such transistions nowadays as Enslaved have matured (if not mellowed). Or maybe we're just used to it now. What we do know for sure is that Ruun's technical, emotional, majestic music for the discerning headbanger will earn Enslaved even more plaudits, not to mention the usual well warranted comparisons to Sweden's Opeth, who have been travelling a similarly progressive path from black metal roots. But we also hear traces of such Nordic BM bands as Emperor and Satyricon -- and of course Voivod, and psychedelic grandaddies Pink Floyd, on the album's dreamier moments.
Talk about "Black Meddle"! That recent album from Chicago black metallers Nachtmystium got a lot of attention, in part for its (quite honestly) self-proclaimed Pink Floyd influence. But if there's one black metal band in the world who REALLY remind us of the psychedelic hypnosis of late '60s, early '70s Pink Floyd, it has to be Norway's mighty Enslaved.
Here they are with their 10th full length album, and once more, we bow down to them. Man, they make it look easy, triumphing again and again, always delivering the deathly blackened Viking post rock prog metal with such power and utter perfection. Over the years, they've gotten more and more proggy and Floydian, and Vertebrae is the ultimate in that direction - so far. If you liked their previous record Ruun or before that, Isa, you should be well pleased with Vertebrae. It's a progression, no major stylistic shift, just another solid Enslaved album, complete with clean vocal harmonies, black metal rasps, lulling atmospheres, wicked riffing, mathy structures... all coexisting intelligently and emotively in these compositions. The guitars and keys are often bright and shimmering, yet despite the melodiousness, a Nordic grimnity pervades. Indeed, the 2008 edition of Enslaved seems -serious- in a way that some of their quirkier, earlier forays into Viking-prog territory maybe weren't (well, a band wearing tunics and tights, as they used to do, really shouldn't take themselves too seriously). Rockin' and rollin' is still in their blood (take it from Allan, who saw 'em live earlier this year at SXSW, not once but twice, the second time right after Harvey Milk and Torche!), for sure you'll bang your head to much of this, but Vertebrae is also "head" music in the headphones and deep thoughts sense too. Simple, sorta New Agey song titles like "Clouds", "New Dawn", "Reflections", "Center" should be some clue to this. Though "New Dawn", for instance, is actually an example of the storming black metal violence that strikes a balance with Vertebrae's more pensive, post rockish moments.
Not to harp on the Pink Floyd thing too much, but you'd swear that they somehow got ol' David Gilmour to do some guest guitar soloing on album's third track, "Ground". And 'cause they make us think of Pink Floyd so much, that means they also remind us of another amazing Floyd-infused, proggily original metal band, the late (?) great Voivod... But regardless of those comparisons (and also ones we could make to some fellow Scandinavian acts with '70s prog influences, like Opeth and Amorphis), Vertebrae is obviously, and awesomely, an album only Enslaved would, or could, make.
NB. By the way, did you know that Enslaved's vocalist/bassist/most-Viking-looking-dude Grutle, is or was involved in something called Tangerine Funk??
First record in almost ten years from this Italian depressive black metal horde, and it's apparently been in the works for most of that decade! Throned Upon Ashes Of Dusk is a desolate, mournful sonic sprawl, that sounds like it was crafted by candlelight, or in a fire lit cave. Clean spidery guitars unwind over squalls of black buzz, the drums are a simple plod, the opening a doomy death march, but soon, the drums explode into a furious double kick barrage, the vocals into an anguished wail, but the guitars remain blurry and blown out, it's not until a couple minutes in that the sound shifts, and darkens, the riffage becoming more churning and malevolent, a minor key melancholia wrapped in swirls of crumbling caustic distortion, the band perfectly pulling off the rare feat of balancing fierce blackened heaviness, and truly emotional sounding depressive sonic miserablism. The songs are long too, so it's easy to become entranced and enraptured, droned out and hypnotic, all the while the guitars subtly shifting, bleeding into a single black mass for much of the proceedings, but then unfurling a gorgeous achingly lovely lead, transforming the song briefly into something closer to the dour doom pop of Katatonia, or slipping into some super mathy post rockiness, again transforming the sound into a Slinty post-black metal, but always returning to that, bleak, black buzz that is the rotting, broken music hear of Enthroning Silence's sound.
Some of the tracks are more overtly classic black metal, but even then, the riffs, and the melodies, the mood and the vibe, just ooze dark energy, furious blasting blackness recast as droned out sonic sorrow, and more often than not, those tracks are still dotted with doomy stretches, and laced with haunting depressive, slo-mo passages, while other tracks get downright gothic, gorgeously bleak, downer-doom slowcore, that sans distortion, would have fans of Codeine and Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500 freaking out, but here, bathed in black buzz, they become a glorious sort of blackened, buzzing, doom-ed grimnity that will definitely hit the spot for fans of Make A Change, Kill Yourself, Happy Days, Loss, Nortt, Hypothermia, Silencer and all the rest of those depressive black hordes...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Although it doesn't credit 'em anywhere on this disc, there's a bunch of covers here along with the orginals. Covers of Alice Cooper, Captain Beyond, and Bob Dylan...
More reissued vinyl from the metal mavens at Earache, who've been delving into their classic, early '90s back catalog to bring these blasting blasts from the past out again in LP format, on colored wax no less! Here's the debut from Sweden's Entombed, from before they invented "death n' roll" and were merely (ha) one of the meanest, most brutalizing death metal bands on the planet. Essential. Still available on cd of course for the turntable-impaired.
