HORRENDOUS: "The Chills"

By the time I notice the tag 'old school Swedish death metal' attached to any new album out there, I start losing my interest – not because I wouldn't generally like it, but the scene has been flooding with revivalists who basically do all things right and hence kick ass successfully, but they really don't differ from each other in any way, and because of that the albums are soon gathering dust in the piles of clones. Now that I've been without any exposure to the subgenre for a few months, Horrendous' debut album The Chills sound really damn good. And it is not due to having such a lengthy break from all the clichés, but because this record actually offers something refreshing. Oh, and don't let me misguide you by stating this is Swedish, as the line-up actually hails from the States.

While the first seconds into ”The Womb” could have easily been placed on Left Hand Path, soon after the same introductory melody turns into a sea of tremolo guitars and, hands down, this is one of the sweetest riffs I've heard in its category in a while! This lengthy highlight piece is followed by a couple of more regular in-your-face Swedish blasts, namely ”Ripped to Shreds” and ”Altars” that shows the band's prowess at scathing violence via the use of the thick, suffocating guitar tone charasteristic to the subgenre. The vocals are worth mentioning too, as the deranged mid-level shrieks and groans fit perfectly in. ”The Somber (Desolate Winds)” starts similarly as the two before it, but in its end shifts into an epic, melodic climax. The latter half of the album provides another bunch of noteworthy moments, such as the overall menace on ”The Ritual”, the creepy keyboard ambient interlude ”Sleep Sickness” and the nearly 9-minute ”The Eye of Madness” that concludes the record in riffs that kind of reek of ingenuity. As the length already suggest, you may expect some epic breakdowns in the middle, this time even including some male chanting – until all hell gets loose again.

The Chills is one of the best recent old school death metal albums I've come across and that is thanks to the band's ability to incorporate some sweet melodies (or just plain riffs that have more originality in them than what you're used to hear) into the mix which makes the music rememberable. Not catchy in a mainstream manner, but the occasional slower and emotional (huh!) sections help making the album a lot more digestable and endurable than a downright blast fest of which you remember nothing afterwards. Definitely a recommendable album and, deducing from all the other praising reviews, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

4 / 5

SATURNIAN MIST: "Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan"

Considering the standards set by earlier 2011 releases from Saturnian Mist related personnel (Arvet, Charnel Winds, Verge), the pressure for this group's major full-length is tangible but, as expected, the band does not fail on Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan, the debut work finally unleashed. Those already familiar with the band's music (most probably from Repellings EP or from their energetic live shows) know not to expect anything else than deeply Satanic, harsh and mysterious black metal.

Compared to the previous EP's epic soundscapes, this album kicks off surprisingly bare, as the simple and almost thrashy power chords of ”The Regicide” suggest. The rocking feeling is even more increased by Zetekh's airy, hardcorish screams, but other than, Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan is a tad more regular in black metal aesthetics, meaning mid to high paced evilness via tremolo and blast beats. In spite of saying that there's 'regular' black metal on this album, it doesn't mean it's done half-assed, not at all: there's quite much to discover here, a lot of melodies that don't get caught to your ears at the first spins. There's plenty of solos, interesting vocal ideas utilizing clean singing, and then there's the oppressive ”Aura Mystica”, the album's true highlight that incorporates female singing to a heartrendering level of greatness. Behold one of the best black metal songs in a while! The sheer chaos at a certain poin in ”The Watcher's Feast” (4:12 to be exact) serves as an opposite to previously named song's despondent atmosphere, and I think this certain moment of piercing violence is also one of the sweetest moments I've experienced within black metal in some time. The eponymoys ”Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan” ends the album with sweet addition of wistful organs on top of the black metal, which equals awesomeness as well.

While I find that the best ideas of Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan reside on the latter half of the record, there's nothing wrong with the A side either, so the albums works beautifully as a whole. I sense quite a lot of Funeral Mist here (Maranatha in particular) and it is praiseworthy that Saturnian Mist doesn't fall to the easiest melodies of regular Finnish black metal and, instead, delivers a strong whole of authentic black metal. Production-wise, you can hear the investment that has been put into the album's recording, but the sound isn't however polished in any way. Everything is enough audible and enjoyable to ears.

Anyone who's even a bit familiar with the band's lyrics or interviews knows that Satan worshipping is a level more serious than what you're used to come across in contemporary black metal: occultism is what this band exhales and inhales hundred percent. On topic of Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan, the title already reveals a lot of the album's theme, translating into 'those capable of knowing the Accuser”. To me the album seems to be a massive feast on realizing the true meaning of Satan, dropping His mask of mere meaningless violence, the importance of creation through destruction, and revering His genuine essence - in other words, understanding Satan. The booklet is filled with a lot of additional texts accompanying the song lyrics in more or less direct ways, so there's a lot to read, and not only in the additional pages but also some of the actual lyrics are really long as well, like on the quite special ”Sacrifice of Faces Unbroken”, a theatrical dialogue between a thief and a magician spanning on two pages.

So in addition to the well-done black metal, you're in for some exceptional lyricism. These two combined I can not but to give a rather praising score even if not every second of Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan shine with brilliance and ingenuity, but I don't know many, if any, recent records that I'd find 100% perfect. Someone who's not interested in the lyrical subject matter may find the album less inspiring than me, that I do admit. Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan is a successful bookend for 2011, and here's to hoping they return soon enough with another record of same, or even higher, quality.

”Wars, murders, tortures, diseases, natural disasters... The beautiful language of Satan. Ah, how marvelously from these acts of ravage emerge always better forms, better civilizations, better men – both spiritually and physically, stronger cells... and everything that is worthless will vanish thanks to our Master.”

4.5 / 5

INFERNAL LEGION: "The Spear of Longinus"

[ 3.5 / 5 ] Though Moribund Records tends to focus on releasing underground black metal, every now and then the label surprises with an album of a differing branch, and while Infernal Legion's third album The Spear of Longinus does have vague hints towards black metal in its utter evilness, this is still a rather forthright old school death metal affair – and it works to great extents! It's not that every riff in this energetic 45 minute ride sticks to memory, but it's rather their prowess at creating authentic and crushing death metal, that also succeeds at being really dark so that someone like me coming from a black metal background has easier time digesting the music too. Deicide is an appropriate pinpoint when it comes to the grunts of the vocalist, but other than that I am not going to name any particular bands, just expect some very menacing death metal that doesn't let of its grib at any time: indeed, there doesn't seem to be any quieter moments on the record. It's pure hell throughout and I enjoy it, even if it has been pretty much done before.

ROOT: "Heritage of Satan"

[ 2 / 5 ] Having history as a Venom influenced black metal group among the first black metal groups of Czech Republic, the content on their latest album Heritage of Satan does surprise a little. With cover art leading to think that this is a rather traditional affair heralding the old bands, the name of the game here instead is some sort of dark metal where a lot of influences have been mixed together from Meshuggah esque chugging (”Darksome Prophet”) to sludge (”His Coming”) and nu-metalish groove (”Revenge of Hell”). While things work out very well production-wise, as this album sounds really fucking huge and wide, the glitch is indeed how different ideas have been fused together to create a messy whole that will please, erm, who exactly? In case extreme metal isn't too vague a term for you, Heritage of Satan might please, and also those who generally prefer a bit more mainstreamish compositional ideas, such as catchy choruses. By now you may realize that Heritage of Satan isn't my cup of tea, and my opinion doesn't change to any better when we speak of the prolonged intro comprising clumsy piano notes and sinister whispering - for six minutes.

CHASMA: "Declarations of the Grand Artificer"

[ 2 / 5 ] American post-rock guys playing black metal influenced by who else than of course Wolves in the Throne Room rings certain bells of suspicion and considering how precisely the music on their debut Declarations of the Grand Artificer falls to the certain patterns of modern USBM, I am not really convinced. Long songs, despondent atmosphere where atonality meets melancholy, executed with a lot of tremolo and blast beats and some harsh screams on top did work well on the previously mentioned band's first albums Diadem of 12 Stars and Two Hunters, but when these elements are later carried into a stale pastiche that is Declarations of the Grand Artificer, I don't see much worth in it I'm afraid. They know their ways around their instruments and how to build some dynamics via quieter plucked sections that then burst into distorted seas of tremolo, but none of the melodies seem to really stand out. Hence I'd choose a Fen album over this any day of the month, but the most diehard followers of the current US wave might find this album more fruitful than yours truly, an annoying old-fashioned critic who knows nothing of the importance of progression within black metal and bla bla...

AZAGHAL: "Nemesis"

For reasons unknown to many, Azaghal has somehow never garnered the attention of the black metal underground in spite of their relentless, primitive attacking they’ve been executing since the 1998 demos. For sure, the band has been in visible throughout their career, appearing on various festivals around the globe, but how many actual Azaghal fans can you count? People that would include the band’s titles on their lists of most influential records? From this, I would make a generalization that this Finnish group has always been a steady, reliable churner of the black arts, unleashing an album after an album without any breaks in around fifteen years, but they’ve still to come up with an album that would truly blast the underground in awe.

Luciferin Valo, Omega and Teraphim from recent years were great additions to the band’s ever-growing discography, diverting from the rather clinical studio productions of earlier material, giving more room for natural sounding, primordial fucking black metal. In the light of the positive impression evoked by these certain album, expectations for Nemesis were somewhat high, but now that I’ve given this newest album a fair amount of listens, I’m sorry to say that this seems to be a step backwards in quality. While it was the crude production that made the previous three albums really shine, Nemesis welcomes back quite a faceless studio sound of faintly knocking drums (where the kick drum even sounds triggered, which might not be the case but it doesn’t matter: it sounds disconnected from the kit nonetheless) and overprocessed guitar sounds. In a nutshell, the sound here is quite modern and thus, for yours truly, uninviting. At this point someone could say that I shouldn’t concentrate too much on production, but a watered down soundscape is always a minus in my books and hinders from digesting the actual compositions. Also, the fact almost hurts that this album would have sounded better had it been recorded on a mere four tracker instead of pricy, professional settings.

The actual songs, however, aren’t below Azaghal’s standards of late years. While ”De Masticatione Mortuorum” and ”Pohjoisen Valkoinen Kuolema” start off in a very traditional spirit of evil riffage in high tempo, the follow-up ”Vihasta ja Veritöistä” is a lengthy piece of latent melancholy and a tad slower pace, one of the highlights of the album. ”Hail the Whore” includes a sweet, semi-acoustic breakdown in its middle, then rising to a bright blast beat climax. ”Ex Nihilo” is another favourite of mine, crawling in a rather slow, brooding atmosphere throughout. ”In Deathlike Silence” and ”Black Legions of Satan” are a bit too common Azaghal pieces that pale in the shadow of the few previous tracks, but the eponymous ”Nemesis” compensates a bit with its nice main riff and a cleanly sung chorus. ”The Pit of Shoggoths” and ”Satanic Devotion” leave me somewhat unsatisfied as well, but admittedly the momentarily unhinged vocals on the latter work very well.

So, while there’s nothing majorly wrong about any of the tracks here, it is ultimately the production that is the glitch for me here, and which lowers the album’s score from good points. But, by now, enough has been complained and you’re aware of what you’re getting into if you’re to explore Nemesis. If I were new to the band, I’d start with some of the previous albums mentioned two paragraphs above. Had I not heard those albums before this one, I guess my overall impression would have been better as the standards wouldn’t have been set that high yet, but what can you do. Perhaps next time, then - I’m sure there’s still a lot of energy left in the lineup to crank up new material and, as we know, Narqath isn’t the scantiest composer, releasing a lot of material under different band monikers.

2.5 / 5

GRAVEWÜRM: "Netherfiend"

It wasn't but a few reviews past when I wrote about Gravewürm's Blood of the Pentagram, an album that was supposed to be the band's last. A couple of weeks after I'm reading a release note on Netherfiend, a brand new EP from these very same American churners of the most minimalistic old school black / death metal. It also seems there is a split with Spun in Darkness in the works, so this long-lived group doesn't seem so dead after all. I don't know if there has been some confusion when the last year's full-length was said to be the final nail in the coffin, or maybe Hells Headbangers was finally a good label choice for Gravewürm and they got motivation to work on new material. Despite the last year's rather high-profile release on such a big label in the underground scene, Netherfiend is self-released and limited to mere 100 copies. To some this might seem like a cheap trick to get people to buy something that's a ”buy now or eBay later” item, but when you consider how little audience Gravewürm actually has, 100 copies seems a lot smarter than thousands of copies lying in warehouses for eternities.

Onto the actual music, you may already guess that there has not been any changes, at least compared to Blood of the Pentagram. If you are unaware of Gravewürm's sound, here's a summary: absurdly simple, evil, power chord driven 1^st wave black metal in moderate tempos with an evident drum machine. Hellhammer, Sodom and Venom might be good reference points, but in truth, the band has somehow crafted a sound of their own. It might be the utterly simplistic drum patterns whacking the very same beats they did on at least Dark Souls of Hell (the only other album I own along with this and the predecessor) back in 2002 already. The only difference to those early 2000s is the slight rise in mysterious lead melodies that are to be found from Netherfiend as well. The eponymoys first track is a as straightforward Gravewürm as ever, but the follow-up ”As the Abyss Commands” is a leap to the similar dark, even minorly melancholic soundscapes of 2010's album. From here on, I'm constantly noticing brilliant compositional ideas here in spite of all the hellbent conservatism and entrenchment into the simpliest possible riffs. The magic is in the little variations that every track on Netherfiend offer, like the crude palm-muted riffage on ”Princess of the Night” that shifts into almost epic distorted plucking, or the ominous slowness on certain parts of ”The 13^th Cycle”.

While writing this review, I'm slowly realizing that we're perhaps dealing with the best Gravewürm release to date. It's not only that every song here is actually good, but it's also that Netherfiend isn't prolonged. Eight track is quite possibly the best amount for this style, so the glitch of dullness that has troubled previous Gravewürm onslaughts does not appear here. What you get is a fitting load of thirty minutes of straight-to-the-point black / death metal, and I don't find much to complain. But the truth also is that Gravewürm isn't for anyone, not even for those worshipping all the possible bestial black metal groups, because this band isn't really swift and agile. The drum machine creates a clumsy feeling, but it's something I'm used to, and slowly started to appreciate. You might want to check out some samples before investing into this band, even though Netherfiend was only 8 dollars postage paid worlwide. (Wait, what? Yes, I actually paid 6.1 euros in total for a digipack pro-CD delivered from the States.) Those who liked what Blood of the Pentagram offered can't go wrong with this one, and the price clearly can't be any kind of a hindrance.

4 / 5