KOMMANDANT: “Titan Hammer”

 

Combine your Antaeus and Nunslaughter, and you’re getting close to the militant soundscape of Kommandant’s Titan Hammer, a relentless assault of black and death metal blended. The band has an extraordinarily tight sound, showing they’re not newcomers, but thanks are also due to the excellent production of the album. The snare drum is, for me, the pulse of the record, and I love the sound (and high mixing) of it. You could expect an album like this to be hyper fast, but they’re mainly playing mid-tempo, which is probably the reason it’s not so exhausting at 40 minutes.

3.5 / 5

CURSED EXCRUCIATION: “Arcane Diabolism”

 

Rooted in the early 1990s spirit of Mystifier and Necromantia, Cursed Excruciation offers its blend of black and death metal without compromise. Mainly operating at a medium tempo, Arcane Diabolism relies on the power of its piercing riffs (great tone, by the way) and the cryptic vocals, sometimes half-whispered. Compositionally, the songs are nothing to write home about – essentially what you have are rather simple but powerful riffs repeated across each track, most of which span over 6 minutes – yet if you are simply after a dose of the old-school energy of the aforementioned bands, you cannot go wrong with Arcane Diabolism. For me, the album overstays its welcome a little, so the dose could’ve been smaller, but I know there are real fans of the style out there.

3 / 5

ASKEREGN: “Brennende åkres grøde”

Ash rain, harvest of burning fields – fitting (translated) words for Askeregn’s sophomore album, a relentless assault of screeching underground black metal from Norway. Listening to the 40-minute record indeed evokes images of an apocalyptic storm. Aesthetically very pleasing overall, Brennende åkres grøde does suffer from the lack of standout moments, which may be partly due to the rather watery production. I wonder if the songs would stand out better if the sound was tightened up a notch? Be as it may, the album grows better when the final two tracks emerge with their trance-inducing, lengthy repetition. Noteworthy Norwegian black metal to anyone into bands such as Dødsengel and the like.

3 / 5