ANGANTYR: "Forvist"

Taking on an Angantyr album is never a simple task. The songs drag on and on, there's no real variation during whole albums, and a foreign listener can't really even follow the lyrical story. So what's the catch? Honestly I'm not sure, even though I consider 2007's Hævn to be a monumental record that carries a lot of personal importance for me.

And although Ynleborgaz's music doesn't base on any really unique ideas, it's always recognizable Angantyr. The deal is rather straightforward black metal that balances 50/50 on two elements that are atmosphere and hatred – not separately, but always combined. And when a certain kind of nostalgic mourning gets conflated with the disgust and hate towards Christianity, you get the proud, paganish style that the band has been executing since 1997.

The newest album, Forvist, follows these familiar steps closely, and before embarking on its journey I was unsure if I could take another round of the same style, but apparently I can and with largely positive thoughts. What always grabs my attention is the ultimate, and I really mean ultimate, endurance and power of the sole member behind it all. He may whack the kit like a machine for continuous 10 minutes as well as firing those tremolo-riffs for an eternity. So maybe the feeling of endurance, 'never-give-up' kind of attitude is part of Angantyr's attraction, which is very true in Forvist's case too. He comes up with these menacing yet tragic riffs and holds the listener in trance for at least six minutes every time – and then it's time for another. It all conveys the journey-kind-of feeling very strongly.

It's pretty hard to mention any particularly shining moments on Forvist because it's pure ancient battle all the way through. The feeling of a consistent whole is further evoked by the fitting appearances of an acoustic guitar in the beginning and the end of the voyage. Anyhow, as already said, it's not necessarily easy to like something as, ehm, stagnant as this album, but at least personally I don't mind having a little task of really getting into a record – no matter how stale it might sound at first – because in the end it rewards. This is a thing I guess I should have realized in the case of 2010's Svig that I largely ignored, and now it might be a good time for me to look at it with different eyes.

3.5 / 5

TOTALE VERNICHTUNG: "Feuerbestattung"

Totale Vernichtung's name was vaguely familiar from earlier this year and even after a couple of listens of their brand new album Feuerbestattung I couldn't figure out where I had seen the name; but now I'm pretty sure it's their demo Die pechschwarze Artillerie that I saw being hyped in the spring, but for an unknown reason never checked it out. And now I can say that I'm glad I finally dismissed even the rather general artwork and delved into the music itself because what we've got here is some ingenious underground black metal.

Feuerbestattung is, in spite of some traditional values, an odd bird. There's surely a crunchy production, a drum machine, tremolo-picked riffs and other such features of a regular black metal release, but the guitars are doing something truly weird here. I tend to think these riffs are an equivalent of those Sonic games on Sega: these melodies twirl and twist in such a lively manner and speed that, if separated form the music around it, this would barely be black metal. For more relevant (musical) comparisons, you could think of Eisenwinter but a thousand times more active and catchy, or Peste Noire when it comes to the riffs' overall inventiveness. The clear drum machine, as well as the vocals and the language they're performed in, hint also to Wehrhammer's direction.

Inspirational would be a good word in depicting the essense of Feuerbestattung, and I don't think there's any need to analyse individual tracks, as the scheme remains the same throughout. The actively wandering riffs consisting of very high notes are the key to the album's success in my books. I can't think of any other band playing black metal exactly like this, which is a good sign. Feuerbestattung deserves a worthy recommendation, and although there are some minor issues such as the drums (programmed ones are always at least a tiny nuisance), this album is definitely a refreshing experience.

4 / 5

CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS: "Abrahadabra"

Ever since 2007 or 2008, Circle of Ouroborus has kept me under its curse with a plethora of more and more brilliant releases under their moniker. I'm not even going to go into details of which album is the best and so on, but to make a general distinction between the various styles they play, it would be something like this: there's a few (entirely or semi-) acoustic folk albums, then there's the crunching, harsh demo tape sounding releases, and then there's the fuzzy, ethereal albums that wander in some other dimensions with synth-like guitars and Klemi's weeping clean vocals.

Abrahadabra belongs to the third category, and in some respect could also be seen as the third installment into the series of "ethereal" albums, starting with Eleven Fingers and continuing with The Lost Entrance of the Just – but just to make clear, the buzzy and flowing atmosphere has been there since the band's first steps already.

And what comes to this album's music, it's as splendid as before. The scheme is very similar to the previous two full-lengths: almost indecipherable synthwalls of guitars providing the mellow background for the unpolished and heavy drumming, and most importantly for the lead melodies that are an essential part of Circle of Ouroborus' sound nowadays. The general mood of the album is strongly inclined to melancholy, but there are a couple of hopeful tunes such as "Like Silent Meadows", and then some pure hate-filled riffs like the one that begins "These Days and Years to Kill".

Is there, then, truly unforgettable melody making on Abrahadabra? Something as deeply cutting as Moonflares' "Walk Through Me"? Oh yes. It's not like every fourtyfive minutes of the LP were pure splendor melody-wise, but I think that e.g. "Conspiracy", "Breathing Slowly" and "Dementia Praecox" deserve their place in the hall of the greatest CoO riffs. And, in fact, there's not a single track I'd skip while listening to the album, unlike Eleven Fingers' "Staining the Paper to Create", for example.

Lyrically, Abrahadabra dwells in hefty despair: "Because in the end there are no reasons / There are no aeons, no seasons / Just the hollow hole, hard to fill / Just these days and years to kill". But in spite of the apparent hopelessness, Klemi has never gone astray from the occult aspect of it all. The album's title already paints rather deep ideas of the otherworldly – and the cover art is a rather clear example as well. Song-wise I tend to think that "Six Hands" covers the album's occult side the strongest, though my ideas can be totally wrong. But I sense a strong connection between the word abrahadabra and this song: when the word abrahadabra is sorted out into vowels and consonants, we get 5 + 6 = the five-pointed pentagram (Microcosm) and the six-pointed hexagram (Macrocosm). These I find to be the "Two hearts of duality – the keys to infinity" and, as it is, abrahadabra (and the significant number 11) symbolises the accomplishment of the Great Work.

Like every previous album of the band, also Abrahadabra took a rather long time to open. On the first rounds there was almost nothing that stuck to my head, but now a day rarely passes when I wouldn't listen to its catchy melodies and great atmospheres. Needless to say, this is a strong addition to the band's evergrowing discography, and should not be missed. Just give it a little time. When viewing my score it is to be remembered that I'm a hopeless CoO fanatic and the rating should be regarded as such – those who hate Klemi's atonal singing and all the other plain weird aspects therein won't find anything here that would change their opinion.

4.5 / 5

TODESWEIHE: "The Black Mass"

Without additional clues, it would sometimes be hard to place a raw, uncompromising black metal recording to a certain time slot of history. Todesweihe made that clear on 2011's demo compilation Necronomicon Ex Mortis which was a filthy feast on ideas formed twenty years earlier already. While that CD comprised material from the band's past eight years, you can't really tell any difference in sound if we compare it to this year's material presented on the six-track The Black Mass. 'No evolution whatsoever' seems to have been the band's driving force throughout their journey in the underground, and although it is very acceptable (and enjoyable), there are limits to how much one can stand listening to the riffs that have been basically the same since Darkthrone launched them in the early nineties.

So although the settings for The Black Mass are unfavourable, I was able to listen to it very carefully. This was probably because I've lately had a partial break from listening to basically anything, so keeping a focus on any music at all was easier than it tends to be after scrolling through a million albums a week. But what I essentially found from this EP was very simple, very primitive black metal that is cold, rehearsal sounding, and evil. This isn't exactly crammed with blast beats; Todesweihe here prefers a groovier direction in the vein of those masculine, mid-paced, rusty and partially palm-muted riffs of Clandestine Blaze. This is put to its best use on ”Buried and Forgotten” that during its last section incorporates a screeching lead melody on top of the grumbling war.

Pieces like that do their work admirably, but in the end, The Black Mass is just a rather forgettable snack of underground black metal. Personally there's no way of me hating it, but neither does it leave a lasting impression. Also, when a band releases a short EP, I don't understand why there has to be over two minute intros and outros, eating a lot of the overall playing time. And these are among the reasons why I'd choose some other release over this one, no matter how decent this is in the background.

3 / 5

BEHEXEN: "Nightside Emanations"

I don't think it's lying to say that Behexen's upcoming fourth full-length Nightside Emanations is the most expected black metal album to come out of Finland this year. The hype surrounding the band is well deserved when we take a look at the band's back-catalogue which includes e.g. the harsh yet magnificent By the Blessing of Satan and the more sophisticated yet not less evil My Soul for His Glory. Behexen hasn't derived from their four-year policy between albums even this time around, and now it's finally time to see what they're up to in 2012, after a full line-up change in the melody (guitar) department.

It is to be remembered, though, that most of the songwriting is still done by the drummer Horns (as far as I'm aware) who's been in the band since its formation in 1996, and that is probably the warm reason for Nightside Emanations still sounding Behexen and not just another band of Shatraug's, for example. Those influences aside, there's plenty of other kinds of influences in here to my hearing: most notably, I believe that the Swedish religious black metal phenomenom has given its contribution to a couple of tracks here. For instance, ”Death's Black Light” is a full-on headbanger that could've belonged to Watain's song arsenal, and most of the other tracks have a certain kind of vibe coming from that style as well. Luckily it's mostly just latent, and even more luckily we have such utterly possessed and devotion reeking manifestos in the very Behexen vein as ”Circle Me” which can't leave the listener cold.

”We Burn With Serpent Fire” makes sure there's some epic soundscapes incorporating solos, while ”Luciferian Will” rumbles in a confusing maze of palm-muted riffing and ”Temple of Silent Curses” proclaims messages of Satan in a robust, clean vocal performance. In a nutshell, there's a lot to discover in these nine hymns of the devil. But Behexen is in the bad situation of having three great albums in their history already, so truly impressing the band's fan isn't easy: that's why e.g. I'm constantly comparing this to the older albums, and hence must say that at least for now, this one doesn't beat the previous two.

Of course, Nightside Emanations can be a real grower, but the things that faintly bug me here are (a) the rather polished sound which makes e.g. the drums reverb in a somewhat unrealistic way, and (b) the feeling I've got that Behexen has lost a part of their identity to a certain kind of 'religious black metal' spirit. Nonetheless, if only I wasn't biased by my fondness of the older material, Nightside Emanations would be truly great. Another thing that might lower the score for now is that there's no lyrics provided within the promo, nor artwork. For a band with strong message, things like that can be very important, so when I eventually get Nightside Emanations to my hands in physical format, and when I get to play it with the lyrics, I could see this turning to full four points - and that would be the minimum.

3.5 / 5

BLOOD RED FOG: "Harvest"

It must have been a relieving year for Blood Red Fog for finally getting some 'older' material out of the queue, first in the name of the doublet Death Cult I and II, and a couple of months later the long-awaited follow-up to 2006's debut album got released as well. After some long delays (most of this album was put down in 2007 already), Harvest is here to summon nothing but atmospheres of inevitable death, and the very reverence of that.

Compared to the tapes earlier this year, Harvest introduces a little more cleaned up sound. There's nothing fancy to it though, as instead of some indiscernible mess, the production here sounds very natural yet crisp, being the opposite of any studio trickery. They've balanced it well, so that it's not a modern loudness war disco nor the resemblance of a hissing underground demo. You can hear every punishing note of the plucking guitar, and the otherworldly vocal performance of BRF reaches the listener better than ever.

What comes to the four long, individual songs here, I tend to think that Harvest is knowingly cut into A and B sides (the back cover hints that too, in expectations of a vinyl version, I hope): ”Harvest” and ”Return” begin the album in a slightly faster manner, firing sweet guitar lines after another in the very Blood Red Fog fashion the band is known for: melancholic torture fluctuating between tremolo and slower parts. Typical of the band, there's a lot of repetition within songs, and this is even more apparent here as every song reaches the 10 minute mark. But during the course of the album you don't really notice it: at least I realize it only if I try to analyze and memorize every part of the album. But that's not what you're really supposed to do anyways.

”The Prison” and ”The Abyss” take the atmosphere to even broodier landscapes, and in my opinion this is where the album does its magic the best. The pace is slowed down to a doomy level, and a crucial feature on both tracks is the appearance of Shu-Ananda on clean vocals: on ”The Prison” he handles an epic chorus and on ”The Abyss” he is responsible for all the vocals, concluding in the last two minutes to shivering levels of greatness. In all honesty, this must be one of the best moments I've heard in Finnish black metal in a while. It's where intensity and emotionality collide in a ritualistic chant in the very best possible way.

”That voice belongs to Satan
The quiet master of my soul

In his footsteps I pass

Into the watery graves”

In the light of the last two tracks, the first two do pale a little, but all in all what we have here is a successful album that's been the soundtrack to my life for the last month. Along with just a couple of other releases, it's the only black metal I've listened to in a while. An all-encompassing dose to satisfy my needs of black metal? Apparently, for now. If you care at all about Finnish black metal, I wouldn't hesitate getting your hands on Harvest which showcases how it's done pretty damn admirably.

4 / 5

GALLOWS THRONE: "Scourge of Bedlam"

There are bands that are stuck on demo level recordings year after year, but that's a category where I would not insert Gallows Throne into, as they show an honorable amount of skill on their first release which also works as their major debut album, Scourge of Bedlam.

Comparing this deftly executed piece of both ominous and beautiful sounding black metal to other bands isn't that easy, but after some thinking I'm leaning towards a hybrid that contains the harshness of Black Twilight Circle but with an added touch of post black metal à la Altar of Plagues and even Fen - the latter comparison mostly in regard to the howling vocals. Most of the time, Scourge of Bedlam twirls as a furious evil creature without mercy, but then might suddenly turn into soothing, sunny landscapes. A good example would be the ending of "Celebration of Endings": the listener is calmed, but then BOOM, "Terminal Fog" kicks in immediately after with its blast beats and discordant tremolo picking.

Running less than thirty minutes, it is easy to keep track of what's happening on the album, and the rather diverse soundscape they have, ranging from beauty to abject insanity, keeps me interested throughout. Another question, then, is how good the whole is in the end. I'm definitely liking this, but some of the mood shifts I find to be too sudden, kind of ruining the flow. I'd be up for an entirely calm album, or the opposite of that, but when they are all conflated, I'm getting vibes of a style of music that maybe tries too much to be experimental. Less would be good but then again, that's just me. This is the opposite of a monotonous black metal album, so for an extremely dynamic black metal experience, Scourge of Bedlam is surely recommended.

3 / 5