VESANO: "Gritos do Tempo"

In spite of revering depressive black metal during a long phase years ago, my current liking of it is pretty much limited to a very few exceptions of authentic, dead coldness akin to Hypothermia, or bands that utilize sadness to a moderate level, but never going to superfluous degrees of mere wailing. Hence an album like Vesano's Gritos do Tempo could have affected me much more strongly had it come out a lot earlier, as by now it is very challenging for any band to craft a great whole with such a simplistic scheme rehashed a myriad of times.

The elements that total Gritos do Tempo are, indeed, of basic depressive / suicidal black metal pattern: you've got the distorted, slowly plucked guitars on top of slow beats, vocals shrieking their hopelessness in high-pitched screeches. Moments of foray from this style are very few and far between, if present at all. Moreover, the lack of brevity (these songs spanning from five to ten minutes) is only to the detriment of the whole as the length conceals the rare moments of shining. These occasions are usually the payoffs of tracks concluding in their most epic proportions, but I'm afraid that hyperbolic phrase is misleading as there's not much 'epic' here in the end. This is rather stable wandering with very minimal shifts in dynamics.

Those still fond of the subgenre at its most basic, core form, should logically ignore my ever-astringent words against the musical style presented herein, but those who share similar ideas in relation to DSBM with yours truly can take heed of my criticism. There's probably not much to discover here. To look at Gritos do Tempo from a more positive perspective, it sounds pretty good. The primitive drums reverb just about as much as they should on an album of sluggish pace, and neither will I nag about the vocalist's delivery that reeks of convincing frustration. However, this isn't enough in creating a great record, as the compositions themselves are somewhat inconsequential.

2.5 / 5

PERDITION WINDS: "Perdition Winds"

You may recognize the musicians of Perdition Winds from various death and thrash oriented underground acts such as Lie in Ruins, Neutron Hammer and Desolate Shrine, but in this particular case they've grouped to manifest occult reeking sinister black metal without much links to the above-mentioned genres of 'catchier' nature. This is crawling in moderate tempo, never rushing to any lively riffs nor solos, but just focusing on the efficiently evoked atmosphere of darkness.

After the rather general intro (that the EP could live without, I think, as it eats quite much of the overall length already), ”Purification” starts its ominous riffing which is soon backed up by blast beats and very low-end growls, around the pitch of Hate Forest. The moderately professional production and discordant riffing nods to the direction of many recent religious black metal groups à la Ondskapt, and thus there's not much uniqueness in the riffs. That's not a definite hindrance however, as it still sounds authentic, and I love the way how e.g. this song and ”Corrupted Image of God” flow seamlessly together thanks to a lurking acoustic guitar pattern in between. So where Perdition Winds suffers in its, well, unoriginality, there's plenty of thoughtful ideas here that lure for replay, to discover more what this mysterious creation possesses within. The self-titled ”Perdition Winds” and ”Path Revealed” conclude the journey without much changes in the style of malignant and rather modern black metal, though it is worth mentioning that the latter belongs to the EP's best moments, incorporating some latently melancholic flavours.

The production is what rises to the EP's only proper fault as it lacks the punch of all instrument: they're all somewhat muffled in a distance, creating a rather suffocating tone that, on the other hand, has its own charm, as an intangible evil spirit, but I still believe this would have sounded better with a more punishing sound. All in all, Perdition Winds isn't the most peculiar EP out there right now, but with a line-up of this high quality I'm sure they're able to pull out a great full-length – here's to hoping that such will come, that is.

3.5 / 5

BLACK HOWLING: "This Rain Is the Weeping of Forefathers"

Black Howling has certainly not stayed inactive during these recent years, with various, both major and minor, releases in very close history. This Rain Is the Weeping of Forefathers is another full-length of theirs, the Bubonic Productions sect Discipline being behind its release again, having produced a sweet looking black & white layout with nicely detailed graphics, a tease to the eyes of a fan of underground black metal aesthetics.

Musically, not much has changed: it is ugly, lengthy, seemingly disorganized, chaotic. The most prominent difference resides in the production which is somewhat more bass full, slightly oriented towards a low-end spectrum. This evokes a daunting, oppressive atmosphere, instruments hammering like a bludgeon. Of course, this is a very subtle difference and a casual Black Howling passer-by will not notice any change in respect to earlier material. The band has also incorporated some faster sections inside the crawling, ominous music, resulting in swift and charmingly clumsy blast beats. 

As expected, a long breakdown appears in the middle, after which the album welcomes its most impressive moment as the almost romantic piano notes are played on top of the discordant black metal mess. Guitars are this time around more lively than ever, providing multiple twirling solos (!) and, weird enough, they fit in very well. The consequence of the pianos and solos at the latter half of the song is almost euphoric: it is pure grandiose melancholy towards the song's end. The song tricks you into thinking that it concludes around thirty minutes but no, another epic section bursts in with some keys in the background, somewhat similar to A Soul Departed to the Unknown. Then the metal disappears, and what is left is some feedback, those Burzum esque key notes, and the hum of rain - the weeping of forefathers.

In a way, I see This Rain Is the Weeping of Forefathers as a pinnacle of the band's career so far. It dares to be a single composition of over 35 minutes, torturing the listener with its highly distorted and thus latent beauty. Whereas the band has never delivered anything I actually wouldn't have liked, this time all things seem to have fallen into their very right places. It isn't catchy or anything along those lines, but a perfect soundtrack to certain states of mind.

4.5 / 5

BLACK HOWLING: "The Reclaiming of Our Ancient Glory"

Although Black Howling's discography has lately been enriched with a lot of CD releases, there is still a clear adoration of the tape format which, admittedly, suits perfectly the band's harsh black metal that also thematically resides in the times and values of old. The Reclaiming of Our Ancient Glory is structurally in proximity of the band's other recent output in that it is a continuous, flowing half an hour song with focus on atmosphere managed by the sweet use of repetition as well as overall harshness.

What, then, differentiates The Reclaiming of Our Ancient Glory from some other Black Howling releases of late is that, despite being a limited and obscure tape, it is very coherent and, well, relatively dexterously played. The charming element of chaotic clumsiness is this time not much present, as the swiftly executed (and surprisingly audible) tremolos fade in in the beginning. Speaking of which, the riffing is of exceptional level here. There's a lot of melancholy and pride in them (further conveyed by the haunting synths in the background), as well as piercing high-note evilness as the riff at around thirteen minutes suggest. An incredibly sweet, reverby interlude of distortionless plucking happens before the twenty minute mark until it builds up again to the harshness like a Black Howling track is supposed to do. Lyrically, the demo is strong as well, beginning with depictions of vast, lush landscapes, later to more overtly hail the times of old over the decadent present.

"The swords that were hidden for centuries

Will eventually find a way to meet our hands.

Ancient wolfish instinct will guide us

On a path where the glory of Europe will rise."

It amazes me that a composition of this level is only available on a hard-to-obtain tape, because I do think that The Reclaiming of Our Ancient Glory surpasses a few proper CD releases of the band. If some of the Black Howling you've heard seems too messy and indecipherable, then I'd suggest to look for this one. Adorned with simple black and white layout, comprising quality underground black metal with some actual ideology, I don't find many faults here. The music isn't hundred percent unique (though Black Howling does have their own touch always), but it doesn't have to reach toward being different. It is proud of its roots, both in the context of black metal and heritage.

4 / 5

BLACK HOWLING: "A Soul Departed to the Unknown"

In addition to the full-length Melancholy of a Pagan Bucolic Spirit, another release, named A Soul Departed to the Unknown, came out at the same date, offering a single 18-minute piece of raw, inconsistent, wandering black metal as Black Howling as always, and a sweet supplement it indeed is to the full-length, conveying atmospheres of even darker, more haunting territories than the nature centered album.

A recurring mysterious melody, though very obscurely audible by guitars, is prominent thanks to the underlying bass guitar and the synths, kicking in the EP in raw, next to indecipherable mess of a production. It is spacey, gloomy, and requires proper attention - listening to this with bad speakers is no option, unless you're aiming for harsh noise wall or a similar subgenre... The song retains its somewhat structured form (a basic beat in moderate tempo and distant unhinged screechs along with the other instrumentation) until around seven minutes when things (hell) get loose and all seems to be partially improvised chaos, and it works to great extents! Slowly, the songs shapes up again, gradually involving the ethereal keyboard notes in, tom drums pummelling in the background. The final explosion doesn't happen until the shivering moment at 15:30 when the brisance shatters the black metal chaos all around, and some time later fades out.

From the above it becomes evident that this is no worthless additional material paling in the shadow of the full-length, but an actual, individual Black Howling release deserving the same attention as any other output of theirs. To some degree, I even think it beats its big brother, though these two aren't distinctively comparable, as explained by their subtly different thematical approach. Some criticism could be directed to the packaging, the CD being in a DVD case which isn't to my personal likings as it makes shelving a pain in the ass, but this nagging is of course in minor role as the focus is on the music which is once again quality Black Howling, recommended to the explorers of the Portuguese underground that never stops delivering.

3.5 / 5

BLACK HOWLING: "Melancholy of a Pagan Bucolic Spirit"

Black Howling is another prominent act in the fields of raw Portuguese black metal. While the short while ago reviewed Satanize, for example, accelerates in swift songs, Black Howling is the antipode in that their songs tend to widen to over twenty minutes in length, the desperate atmosphere further conveyed by a rather slow pace. Melancholy of a Pagan Bucolic Spirit is a full-length in that very vein, comprising two long pieces that challenge the listener in both its rawness as well as duration.

A creepy intro crawls in on the eponymous first song, and right around the first minute mark the slowly picked, massively distorted guitar pattern billows to the listener's ears. This is the main line, this ominous and simple line, that gets repeated to near eternity with subtle variations - but only in a good sense, as I personally am a lover of the effect of repetition in black metal. The song surges forward with inhuman rasps of the vocalist, until a kind-of-breakdown around eleven minutes, after which the guitars also incorporate some higher notes into the slowly swinging rhythm, and there's also some palm-muted riffage momentarily. "The Shadow I'm Meant to Be" follows its predecessor with almost disturbingly similar guitar work, but of what I'm particularly fond of here are the clean vocals that appear for a very short while when the drummer takes a break.

Disgust and gloominess - these are some of the main elements that dominate Melancholy of a Pagan Bucolic's sound sceneries, and the listener can only genuflect in front of the guitar walls' power. Although there's nothing ingeniously unique in the melodies themselves, the whole is a very affective piece of black metal that authentically shows its contempt of modernity, but also the glorification of pagan ancestry. Where the album stands in the light of Black Howling's back catalogue, I am not entirely sure as their output is consistently enjoyable, but a sure thing is that a fan of this duo can't go wrong here. It contains less additional sound sources if compared to e.g. the 2012 full-length's piano notes, so Melancholy of a Pagan Bucolic is Black Howling in its purest essence: noisy, atmospheric black metal with basic instrumentation.

3.5 / 5

SATANIZE: "Holy Destruction Ritual"

Satanize is a band of a narrow but damn tasteful concept: straightforward, lo-fi, anti-Christian black metal.  The shortage of leeway isn't the group's hindrance, quite the opposite; it is the consistent never-surrendering nature of the music that has garnered the attention of the underground - that, and the sweet artwork with which the covers are always adorned, and Holy Destruction Ritual is no exception.

That said, forget any speculations of change or innovation on their second full-length: a sacred choir hymn introduces the album in "Smoulder God's Testament" which a minute after shifts into the hellish "Biblical Servitude", and this is where the incessant torment begins. The semi-undecipherable riffs are somewhat buried under the pummeling, primordial battering and the rather high-pitched screams. The fast pace is kept intact throughout, resulting in a lot of blast beats and evil riffing, all this to the extent that it does become tiresome after a while, but I can not deny the power of the album in certain states of mind and, after all, it only runs for a fitting half an hour.

While musically Holy Destruction Ritual is as Satanize as always (you either dig the uncompromising war or not), what I find faulty here is the production. Dusty and noisy productions are always welcome in my books, but the problem is somewhat similar to albums like Cripta Oculta's Sangue do Novo Amanhecer, meaning that it sounds as if it was compressed to low quality MP3s. There's really no power in the sound here of which Satanize could have benefited, instead what we have is some watered down fuzz. So if I was to introduce someone to the most relentless side of black metal, Holy Destruction Ritual wouldn't be that album solely due to the sound quality, but I'm sure the hardcore listeners of this sort of violence will do just fine here.

3.5 / 5

IMPIETY: "Ravage & Conquer"

Despite some crucial issues in regard of an unstable lineup, the Singaporean war machine Impiety has only strengthened: Worshippers of the Seventh Tyranny proved that with its zealous, monstrous single composition, only to be followed by a tad more regular in length EP Advent of... soon after. Now another new album is about to be unleashed, so there's definitely no way of saying this long lasting group would show signs of decline.

Structurally, Ravage & Conquer is back to a traditional eight song scheme, and considering the swift style of old school death / black metal they play, one could expect the songs to run for a couple of minutes at most, but that is not the case here at all: almost every song resides around the six minute mark, or more. This is realized in very adventurous compositions involving a lot of varying riffs and beats. For example, the first two minutes into "Revelation Decimation" are made of an instrumental section which, instead of any 'slowly growing' atmospheric crescendo, is a full-speed blast of kick ass riffage. There's plenty of technicality in play here, to the extent that many of the songs require multiple listening to be appreciated. The professional musicianship - every instrument handled extremely precisely - fits the tight production which, I think, is one of Ravage & Conquer's best features. Had it featured a muffled, half-assed sound, I wouldn't have had the interest to check this out in the first place. But no, the sound is crystal clear and crispy, albeit it becomes the snare drum's glitch which, at some crazy tempos like on "The Scourge Majesty" or on the war rhythm intro of "Legacy of Savagery", is more humorous than convincing in all its plastic triggery.

In the end, the faults of the album are pretty minimal, though I can not say the compositions would reek of such exceptional ingeniousness that Ravage & Conquer would have its place among the year's best albums. During the course of the 48 minutes, nothing really changes and hence the album consists of always authentic and strong old school spirit, but without any kind of variation really. The mind easily wanders elsewhere, and the music becomes fitting background music, but perhaps not much anything else. Great playing (the level of profluent dexterity certainly shouldn't be underestimated), overall good songs ("War Crowned" being my favourite simply due to having the best riffs) and well done production result in a worthy album, and for true Impiety fans this is of course a must that won't disappoint.

3 / 5

BLACK CROW KING: "To Pay the Debt of Nature"

A general overview of my listening habits reveals that most of the music I listen to is black metal and noise, sometimes these two tags attached to same record. Filthiness is indeed a welcome element to my ears and it is certain that there's no shortage of distortion on Black Crow King's debut To Pay the Debt of Nature, a hellish, disorderly affair that leaves nobody cold unless one has serious hearing problems. 

Putting a definite genre on this album becomes challenging: while it is the overall fucked up noise that dominates on the record, there are still, for example, guitars on various tracks on the album, like on the first piece "I, Crow" - but even the rhythm pattern here is seemingly incoherent and messy. There's also plenty of (programmed) percussion on the album, usually in the form of accenting floor tom hits, not to forget the screeching, overbearing vocal delivery that could fit into a black metal record. In addition, the tempo (if that is even a proper term here considering the unstructured nature of the so-called music) which is rather slow conveys something related to doom metal. The whole aspect of musicality is indeed questionable here, but the somewhat structured guitars and bass lines, plus more subtle synth mats and various other effects (like the sweetly executed ethereal piano notes on "Excarnation Ritual") correlate enough with the term 'music', I suppose.

Careful listening of the album reveals multiple layers of sounds, making the album's soundscape quite rich and all this leads me to think that Gnaw Their Tongues is more than an apt reference point here. The nightmarish atmosphere is top-notch but unfortunately that is not enough in crafting a truly successful album. What becomes the Achilles heel is how prolonged To Pay the Debt of Nature is. With one exception, the songs vary between eight and seventeen damn possessed minutes, and I'm afraid the ideas don't carry enough far to justify songs of such monstrous lengths. The differences between songs are, after all, pretty minimal, so I'm not experiencing any moments of amazement when a new track begins because they all seem to revolve around similar focuses on creepy, primordial black noise or whatever you want to call it. To Pay the Debt of Nature is an interesting, perhaps cinematic journey to experience from the beginning to its end, but it's not a film I'd watch regularly over and over again because of its overall length during which nothing enough groundbreaking happens, so to say.

3 / 5

SINISTERITE: "The Unclean Days"

The international duo of Shatraug (Horna, Sargeist...) from Finland and Nox (Forest Grave) from England seems to be active in many degrees, considering that the two are joined together in the death reeking Uhraus, the space themed atmospheric Foudre Noire, and the filthy old-school Sinisterite which to this date has been the most living of them all, having a couple of demos and full-lengths released, in comparison to the mere one-release state of the other two projects.

The Unclean Days is the band's second album, very close to its predecessor: primitive black / death onslaught with simple power chord riffs and mid-tempo beats wrapped up in a primitive, dusty production - the organic sound has always been one of Sinisterite's strongest features. Shatraug's typical, almost trademark ringing guitar tone is present here while he fires his always ingenious menacing riffage and Nox gnarls his vocals on top. The songs follow a basic pattern usually comprising repeated choruses, and the unsurprising plot of the album might disengage some listeners, so it's very much up to how much one is willing take in some proper old-school violence and darkness. From the first half of the album, the GG Allin cover "Die When You Die" is probably the most noteworthy piece due to its brooding execution in a doom metal fashion. The B side is at its best on "The Night Has Teeth" with its soul-wrenching chords, concluding in mysterious melodies atypical to the band.

If one is to compare The Unclean Days to the 2010's eponymous effort, I would incline towards saying that the debut is a tad better in that it simply consists of the most convincing compositions the band has written and played so far. That is not to undermine this record because I'm still unable to mention any bad tracks here, it is pure crushing hell throughout and I enjoy every second of it. It has the required filthiness and particular kind of charming clumsiness an old-school record should possess, so The Unclean Days is without a doubt worth recommending. But if you are new to the band, I would direct towards the earlier album and after that to this album. Anyhow, both albums are recorded around the same time, so they work together splendidly no matter which way around you approach them.

3.5 / 5