BAHIMIRON: "Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror"

From the outside, Bahimiron looks like your average bestial black metal group hailing from the States. No big expectations musically. This is why it was eventually great to hear their newest effort Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror and realize that there's more going on than just effortless imitation of Blasphemy. Although the aforementioned band shines as an evident (and probably the most important) influence here, the elements of bestial black metal are brought forth into a heavily atmospheric soundscape: Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror revels in brooding, droning atmospheres, and this is the distinct feature that makes it differ from the heaps of clones.

I don't think there's much catchiness in any part of the album, but the band has probably not even aimed at that: it kind of reveals it already that some of these song almost reach the mark of nine minutes. Think of a deranged, maximally Satanic death / black metal album in the vein of Teitanblood's Seven Chalices and you're on the right track, in practice meaning as evil riffs as possible with varying tempos ranging from the raucous blast beats to slower heaviness. Inhuman grunts and rasps dominate the picture on top of everything. Production-wise, Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror is fittingly lo-fi and natural sounding, though it could use a punch to make it more dynamic and effective.

I'm not so keen on the overall length of the album as I'm slowly losing interest of the familiar paradigm around the sixth track already, so perhaps an EP length would have server yours truly better. The last track on the album does differ a bit though, being a messy noise conclusion that admittedly works nicely. Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror is a successful piece of dark atmospheres that does have some glitches, but is nonetheless worth recommending to those who prefer the slowly growing style of bestial black death laden with a lot of ambience (Wrathprayer, Nocturnal Blood and the likes).

3 / 5

ILL OMEN: "Divinity Through Un-creation"

It always amazes me how it can be Australia that summons some of the darkest black metal out there right now, and this is very much thanks to Ill Omen along with such related names as Atra and Temple Nightside. These bands, that consider themselves as a part of OAA - a certain brotherhood I presume – share a very similar sound and aesthetic. While there are minor differences, like Temple Nightside having a slighty more deathened edge, the same pitch black, haunting, horrorful atmosphere connects all these acts.

Ill Omen has finally reached the release of their debut full-length after various demos and an EP (all in the record shelves of yours truly) and this major opus is known by the name Divinity Through Un-creation. Within the eerie vocal bookends (”Utterance Befell the Curse”, ”Of Those Silenced...”) reside seven tracks of dusty, primitive and sinister black metal laden with heaps of reverb that only builds the harrowing feeling of the album, and it certainly makes sure that this is not about tight guitar riffs, this is about an atmosphere that has been evoked from the deepest hells. A ritual.

Musically, I had hard time with Divinity Through Un-creation at first because it sounds so close to its earlier records as well as those brother bands I mentioned. To enjoy the album from a more neutral point of view, it was mandatory to try to neglect the sameness of the music compared to Ill Omen's back catalogue, and focus on what the band offerd right here and right now. Only after that I realize that these songs are certainly the finest handwork of the band: not that the album ever surprises its listener, but the evil and ghostly riffs have just about enough catchiness in them to be rememberable, like on the first proper track ”Sins of the Flesh” that has probably the simpliest 'old school' riffs of the bunch, or the sweet interplay between the slowly plucked and rapidly tremolo fired guitar inferno at ”Sentinels Beneath a Heaving Earth”. Or the latent melancholy within the oppressiveness of ”Gnosis” or... By now I realize that I could mention certain highlight moments from every track, which is a very good sign.

Divinity Through Un-creation opened slowly, so please do give it enough time and try forgetting the similarities to earlier works. The overall atmosphere has always been top-notch on OAA recordings and while this album does not differ at all at that, it is the slightly better songwriting that makes Divinity Through Un-creation a tad better effort, probably my favourite piece of Australian black metal from 2011 along with Drowning the Light's Oceans of Eternity and Pestilential Shadows' Depths.

4 / 5

GRAVEWÜRM: "Blood of the Pentagram"

When I witnessed Gravewürm live back in 2009, it didn't say much and paled a lot in comparison to the spectacles performed that very night by Satanic Warmaster, Drowning the Light, and Arghoslent. Gravewürm was just a couple of normal looking guys playing very, almost absurdly simple power chord riffs. On album, it was even worse as it included a drum machine. But I guess that something has went terribly wrong in my head as after the gig I've slowly grown to enjoy this demented simplicity and cheap computer beats and bought Dark Souls of Hell straight from the label Barbarian Wrath. Shortly after that it was announced that Blood of the Pentagram would be the band's last album, so here it is, the grande finale of Gravewürm. This one must be epic.

Is it? Hell no. The band keeps its roots strongly in the very same style they begun with, meaning Hellhammer, Venom and the likes influenced old school black metal with hints of doom and death. The first track ”Goat Command” sets the mood for the rest of the album already. A lot of palm-muted old school riffage and evil, almost whispered vocals on top, plus the steady and sharp drum machine beats in the background. I guess that at least vaguely there's a bit more mysteriousness in the melodies than previously, like e.g. the lead melodies of ”Deeper Dungeons” and ”Necromance” suggest. Also worth noting is the title track with is rhythmic war march that impressed yours truly. ”Two Coins for Charon” surprises with its synths that hint towards Countess, and a definitely welcome feature it is.

Despite the somewhat surprising elements I mentioned in the paragraph above, Blood of the Pentagram is ultimately simple music from its core, and when it it summed to the bedroom level production, I don't think many will enjoy the album - or the whole band in general. Hence it is hard to recommend something like this, but I personally find it satisfying. Of course an album of this sort that comprises twelve tracks is bound to include filler material and this is no exception, but it doesn't matter much. Gravewürm stands true to its uncompromising, primitive approach, and I won't complain. If I had something proper to complain about, it would be the cover art that has for some reason changed from the usual Gravewürm scheme (a stylish painting) to a very common bestial black metal artwork. Not that this cover wouldn't reflect the band's sound – perhaps this is just a more apt cover for the band.

3.5 / 5

BLAZE OF PERDITION: "The Hierophant"

On matter of last year's Blaze of Perdition EP, The Burning Will of Expansion, I criticized the band for staying in too familiar and safe waters of Watain esque religious black metal, and now that I have given their sophomore full-length, The Hierophant, more than just a couple of spins, it becomes evident that my previous comments about Blaze of Perdition's unremarkableness apply to this record as well.

I guess that things are a bit better from an overall perspective this time around, but not much has changed. The band still revels in a very traditional orthodox black metal sound initiated by such names as Dissection, Watain and mid-era Deathspell Omega to some extent. The first few tracks, ”The Hierophant” and ”Back to the Womb” are quite tiresome feasts on fast tempos and evil dissonance that never rises over mediocrity, followed by the full-band interlude ”Let There Be Darkness” which is a tad more interesting approach compositionally as it runs for less than a minute and a half. ”Gospel of the Serpent's Kin” is the only proper highlight here with its sweet lead melodies in the latter half of the track, concluding in an acoustic arrangement of the same melody. The rest of the album, still four tracks to go, returns to the way too familiar paradigm of pedestrian orthodox black metal, the kind of stuff every other new black metal group seems to be putting out right now.

There's talent in this band and definitely no shortage of musical skills. The Hierophant is executed tightly and swiftly, and Necromorbus studio assures a firm production. Usually I tend to loathe what comes out of that studio, but this time the sound hasn't been overly polished; it's just about enough harsh and sharp yet far from low fidelity. The Hierophant is an enough pleasurable listen that, however, says pretty much nothing on the first rounds, but at least some of the riffs get better in time. There's too much predictableness in the music that hinders it from rising to better ratings, so that's quite a major glitch I hope the band will be working on on future recordings – unless they deliberately want to keep things at where they are. I personally see no point in that as right now the band is hard to discern from other similar acts – which in number are many. Please do give it a go if you're still up for another dive into regular religious black metal and do not expect heaps of innovation.

3 / 5

TYRANT WRATH: "Torture Deathcult"

There's an inextricable link between Norway and black metal, but what's the state of the country's supply right now? I can name a few great names from the Fossbrenna cult, but other than that the scene seems to be crammed with myriads of semi-technical, professional, soulless acts that try to evoke the spirit of the old without success. Tyrant Wrath's debut Torture Deathcult is another addition to the list of new names playing rather precise and well produced black metal, and it is only up to the listener's preferences if Torture Deathcult is at all what he seeks from his black metal.

Unfortunately, I'm leaning towards a category named 'I really see no point in overthought and well played black metal, I prefer it rough with authentic spirit'. I can see the buckets of sweat that have filled up during the creation of this wild record full of different riffs and tempo changes, but that does not equal music that would move me. Tyrant Wrath's take on black metal has elements of crunchy death metal which works nicely in the tight, crystal clear production. Evil riffs is the name of the game, meaning a lot of palm mute along with minor discordance and some rare flirt with melancholy. Vocals are delivered in a rather familiar black metal spirit, nothing bad nor necessarily good to say about them.

To sum it up, Torture Deathcult is your general modern deathened black metal album made by (seemingly) professional musicians. Great musicianship and none of the compositions suck (I actually even quite dig the acoustic outro of ”Revelation of Life”), but that is not enough, because the album leaves no taste afterwards. 45 minutes pass quite fast while this album is in the background and I can't say I found myself very often raising my attention to the music, even if I tried. Not bad at all, but can't spot many, if any, places that would make it great either.

2.5 / 5

ASTROFAES: "Dying Emotions Domain"

As soon as I had heard Drudkh's first few albums back in 2006, I've been a sucker for anything related to these mysterious Ukrainian figures, and so I've tracked down a lot of Hate Forest and Astrofaes records since then. While some Astrofaes albums, most prominently Ancestors' Shadow and Heritage, stand very close to the same melancholic yet epic spirit as the personally revered Autumn Aurora, things sounded a little different on Dying Emotions Domain, their debut album from 1998 that now sees another well-deserved reissue via Negative Existence.

That said, don't expect autumnal, wistful acoustic chords here; Dying Emotions Domain is really fucking harsh and loud black metal. The wall of sound is a massive blast to unprepared ears. ”The Black Woods Theory” is a brief synth intro, setting a natural yet thrilling atmosphere (that, interestingly enough, has the same sample behind as Drudkh's ”False Dawn” in its beginning), but it is shortly after followed by the blast beats and relentless guitar walls of ”Fiery Mysticism”. The sound isn't utterly lo-fi, however, so everything is enough audible – including the keyboards that have a prominent role here as well. They play along the crude black metal pretty nicely, so I am not harassed by the keyboards at all unlike many other people I've heard of. Usually they follow the violent chord progressions, but sometimes they're given the role of an epic climax, as in ”At Nightfall”.

Dying Emotions Domain is surprisingly diverse and endurable for multiple listens. The album might take its time to open, but it eventually rewards. Considering the album's release year and place (Ukraine), it's almost a shame how little this album has garnered attention, because it is clearly above the average along with bands like Nokturnal Mortum (speaking of which, see the similar folk influences on ”Path to Burning Space”). I'm not saying that we're dealing with an essential piece of black metal here, but a really recommended album from two decades past, that's for sure. There's plenty of interesting stuff to find from Dying Emotions Domain and it should satisfy the listeners of the Eastern European black metal scene. Just skip the unreadable English lyrics (unless you're in for some giggles) and you'll do just fine.

3.5 / 5