It took about three months from Hrizg to unleash another beast of his. In May, this one-man black metal project offered Anthems to Decrepitude which was an enjoyable ride through ancient, cavernous soundscapes, and now Moribund Cult is about to release Inferno, a five track EP of similar music, running for almost 30 minutes which means that it’s almost like another full-length.
While Anthems to Decrepitude was sound-wise somewhat feeble (though I grew to really like the sound), Inferno has more professional production behind it, but not harassingly so. The new sound gives more power to the compositions that don’t seem so remote anymore. Now that both drums and guitars have more flesh around them, Inferno sounds a lot stronger than its predecessor.
Musically, I still find it somewhat hard to compare Hrizg to any other band. Not to mislead you, it’s not that the band is anything truly unique, quite the opposite as the songs are rooted in rather traditional black metal, but there’s something in the sound that makes its depiction challenging. There’s the usual black metal discordance added to the vaguely death metalish murkiness, and there’s a lot of lead melodies fluctuating between melancholy and menace, not to forget the careful use of synth mats in various places, and the moderately low-pitched vocals.
The most impressive feature of Inferno is how it sounds as authentically old and crypt-like as Anthems to Decrepitude, it verges being magical! It doesn’t kill the fact that there’s plenty of not-that-outstanding riffage therein, but the atmosphere is admittedly well done. Considering that this is a rather short EP than the almost exhausting Anthems full-length, I would consider Inferno a better whole than the album. Not much, but just about enough to deserve a half star more.
While Anthems to Decrepitude was sound-wise somewhat feeble (though I grew to really like the sound), Inferno has more professional production behind it, but not harassingly so. The new sound gives more power to the compositions that don’t seem so remote anymore. Now that both drums and guitars have more flesh around them, Inferno sounds a lot stronger than its predecessor.
Musically, I still find it somewhat hard to compare Hrizg to any other band. Not to mislead you, it’s not that the band is anything truly unique, quite the opposite as the songs are rooted in rather traditional black metal, but there’s something in the sound that makes its depiction challenging. There’s the usual black metal discordance added to the vaguely death metalish murkiness, and there’s a lot of lead melodies fluctuating between melancholy and menace, not to forget the careful use of synth mats in various places, and the moderately low-pitched vocals.
The most impressive feature of Inferno is how it sounds as authentically old and crypt-like as Anthems to Decrepitude, it verges being magical! It doesn’t kill the fact that there’s plenty of not-that-outstanding riffage therein, but the atmosphere is admittedly well done. Considering that this is a rather short EP than the almost exhausting Anthems full-length, I would consider Inferno a better whole than the album. Not much, but just about enough to deserve a half star more.
3.5 / 5
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