PURE EVIL: "As Blood Turns Black, Mankind Shall Drown in Despair"

On previous albums, Pure Evil has been known for roaming the territories of underground death metal in a really Satanic manner, and in spite of getting albums released via black metal related labels it wasn't until the dawn of As Blood Turns Black, Mankind Shall Drown in Despair that the band adopted clear black metal influences: so clear actually that you couldn't really figure out this album is Pure Evil (though the vocals are still rather low-ranged growls), because this really is Pure Evil gone Pure Black Metal.

From the first seconds of the eponymous introduction 'til the very end we've got some freezing tremolo picked riffs evoking hatred with an edge of melodic nostalgia. The soundscape is rather harsh in its basslessness, but it is only fitting considering the totally different grounds on which the compositions have been built this time around: instead of any two-minute death feasts, there's something like "Slain by Frost" which runs for continuous eleven minutes, comprising adventurous riffing and various beats to back up the journey in some very cold atmospheres. Even "Tapa Minut" ("Kill Me") with its quite brutal message deals with a lot of piercing melancholy which only brings some seriousness to the issue at hand: I doubt I would've been as affected had this been a mere menacing piece with less varied riffing, because we've all heard that before.

One feature that really surprises me here is that these damn riffs and melodies actually get stuck to my head. It doesn't happen with many new albums nowadays, so whatever is the secret to Kryth's ability come up with memorable songwriting, I raise my hat especially since Pure Evil hasn't played in this style ever before. But surely he's gotten the skills from Korgonthurus, a band that would actually be the best comparison to Pure Evil as of 2012. I do wonder if this was just a one-album experimentation and sure wish it wasn't since I, as a sucker for Finnish black metal done this way, enjoy As Blood Turns Black, Mankind Shall Drown in Despair even a lot more than the previous death metal recordings.

4 / 5