Lascar - Absence (2016) (Album Review)

Tracklist:

1. Wilderness 
2. Atlas 
3. Regions of Light 
4. Last Sea 

This is the brand new third release, and first full length from the independent one man Chilean depressive, atmospheric blackgaze/black metal project Lascar. The project is helmed by Gabriel Hugo, who provides all instrumentation and vocal work. This release is the much anticipated follow up to the superb EP Depths from 2015, which I both bought and reviewed.

Considering how much I enjoyed the projects last release I was a little nervous as to whether a full length album would be work as well, thankfully I need not have worried. This entire album comes together extremely well with a magnificent combination of intense droning drums and guitars, slow and elegant atmospheric interludes and tortured vocals that project a tortured lament for the natural world.

This album sets out clear and precise intentions, and follows through with them, the album rarely compromises on the droning wall of sound that is created by the distant riff work, but when it does it does so with a slow and melodic rhythm that makes the impact of the more abrasive parts of the album all the more affecting.

My personal favourite track on this release is the last track, Last Sea it brings the album together well and leaves the listener wanting more. Overall this is another great release from Lascar and it makes me very excited for what we might see from this project later this year. 

Support the project here

                 

Tetragrammacide - Typhonian Wormholes: Indecipherable Anti-Structural Formulæ (2015) (EP Review)

Tracklist:

1. Intro      
2. Paramilitant Entropic Initiation      
3. Intricate Acosmic Engineering     
4. Interlude      
5. Extra-Terroristical Chaosophic Intelligence      
6. Eructation of Anti-Existential Consciousness     
7. Outro

This is the first EP from the Indian two man harsh noise, blackened death metal band Tetragrammacide, the project is comprised of ‘Uragnostic Eliminator’ and ‘M.Opium’.

Have you ever tried to tune a worn out broken down old radio set to a channel, but instead all you get is abrasive static? Well if you have, just add a healthy chunk of bizarre esoteric atomic based cosmic Satanism and some drums and you have a pretty good description of this EP.

I should just point out here and now, unlike a lot of people I have nothing against harsh noise as a genre, and frankly I think it serves a purpose in trying to challenge what can really be called music. So I was pleasantly surprised that a blend of black metal, harsh noise and grinding death metal would work so well. This is a blend I have only really come across once before in the music of the band Satanic Abortion who sound extremely similar to Tetragrammacide.

This EP features, as the title suggests, sonically indecipherable instrumentation and vocals that blend into a swirling vortex of misanthropy and hate of that kind that could even put Revenge to shame in terms of its nihilism. To really be able to sit back and listen to this EP you have to be in a state of mind that doesn’t want metal, that doesn’t want familiarity, instead you just want to be fucking destroyed. Most people will hate this, and that’s fine, but I personally think that this is a stunning release that really stretches the boundaries of what can really be considered as blackened music. 

Support the band here

      

Dusty Old Demos - Black Murder - Feasts

Tracklist:

1. Deadsex     
2. Fresh Flesh      
3. The Last Supper      
4. Tower of Tortured Ones      
5. Interlude     
6. Charnel

This is the second demo from the very short lived French Les Légions Noires black metal band Black Murder which was formed of ‘Vorlok Drakksteim’ on bass and vocals, ‘Vordb’ providing drum work and ‘Wlad Drakkstein’ on guitars. Both Vorlok Drakksteim and Wlad Drakkstein are both former members of famed Les Légions Noires black metal project Vlad Tepes.

Being well aware of the reputation for the production of incredibly raw black metal that the Les Légions Noires period had I was prepared for what this demo would throw at me, which turned out to be six tracks of pure hatred.

What the demo lacks in originality, or even technical skill for that matter, it makes up for in unrepentant ferocity with buzzsaw guitars, powerful drumming and vocals that honestly cannot be explained in words. Surprisingly this demo also manages to create a rather unnerving atmosphere at times, similar to that found in the work of projects like Silencer.

This is by no means the best that French black metal has to offer, but it is still well worth a listen for fans of true cold raw black metal who like their vocals as cold and snowy as a week old corpse in the Arctic Circle.  
            

My Top 10 Albums of 2015

No.1 - Revenge - Behold, Total, Rejection

No.2 - Archgoat - The Apocalyptic Triumphator

No.3 - Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction

No.4 - Nocturnal Depression - Spleen Black Metal

No.5 - Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria

No.6 - Grift - Syner

No.7 - Ethereal Shroud - They Became The Falling Ash

No.8 - Ad Hominem - Antitheist

No.9 - Kalmankantaja - Muinainen

No.10 - Marduk - Frontschwein

 

 

 

Deliverance Lost - Death of White Raven (EP Review)

Tracklist:

1. Black Sun    
2. Empty Forest     
3. Newborn 
4. Dying Light
5. Rise and Fall 

This is the second release from the Russian depressive atmospheric black metal project Deliverance Lost. This is the second EP from the project this year, the first being Tears Of White Raven which I reviewed four months ago, and still remains my favourite EP of 2015.

This EP was released two days ago at the time of writing this, and it is safe to say that this was an anticipated release for me. The album starts with the track Black Sun which feels as though it is a clear continuation from the projects last release, with its howling vocals, powerful drum work and the use of the same type of ambient static that a gave Tears Of White Raven a very unique atmosphere. This track is soon followed by my personal favourite track on the album Empty Forest, this track is an instrumental and features the best drum and keyboard work on the entire EP, it has a superb atmosphere of desperation, and isolation which is cleverly conveyed. Newborn, the third track on the album lacks the atmospheric quality of the of the first two, instead replacing it with more great howling vocal work and gloom ridden riffs to create a pure depressive black metal track, that is fairly different from the other tracks on this EP. The final two tracks on the EP are Dying Light and Rise and Fall sadly these tracks don’t really musically bring that much in the way of either atmospheric or depressive sounds, instead the two tracks are pretty dull and a little drab.

This brings me to my problem with this EP. Even the best track on the release (Empty Forest) suffers from a loss of purpose and direction around half way through, and sadly this is present on all of the tracks. The first three tracks all have extremely strong beginnings, but suffer at the half way point until the end of the song with a loss of drive, and this really affects the listenability of the EP.

Personally comparing this to Tears of White Raven is very difficult as that EP is almost unbeatable when it comes to modern depressive atmospheric black metal in my opinion. Therefore it is clear that this EP does not match up to the projects first release, but to look at it on its own terms without comparison elsewhere it is a pretty decent release from what is still a very new project.  

Support the project and download the EP here                     

Sapthuran - Hildegicel (Album Review)

Tracklist:

Side A - Separation 

1. Separation I 
2. Separation II 
3. Separation III 
4. Separation IV 
5. Separation V 

Side B - Steadfast Resilience 

6. Steadfast Resilience VI     
7. Steadfast Resilience VII 
8. Steadfast Resilience VIII 
9. Steadfast Resilience IX 
10. Steadfast Resilience X 

This is the fourth full length album from the independent North American based solo naturalistic/isolationist black metal project Sapthuran which is helmed by Patrick T. Hall. This particular album was released some months ago back in August, but it happened to escape my attention until now.

The album features a strong mix of consistently powerful drum work and crisp atmospheric riffs which are backed by what I think is the albums strongest feature, which is the vocal work. The vocals never take front and centre stage, instead they seem to ominously dwell in the dark sonic reassess of the album, providing a blend of animalistic rage and slow calculated precision. The album also features some interesting usage of classical and instrumental instruments, along with keyboards, that when used within the album, make an impact and give the sound a little more depth and variation.

My only real issue with this album is its use of ambiance between tracks, after what felt like every track an indescribable blend of noise would begin, never being the same after every track, but always failing to provide anything to the album’s overall sonic vision. One particular piece of ambiance that sounded like a prolonged recording of a dog whining was so annoying I was genuinely relived when it was over.

However, overall this is very good album despite its issues with ambient noise as in the grand scheme of things this can be overlooked as there is far better things to focus upon within the album.

Buy the album here        

        

Shadowland - Последняя ночь перед бурей (Last Night Before the Storm) (Album Review)

Tracklist:

1. Забытые ручьи (Forgotten Creeks)      
2. Последняя ночь перед бурей (Last Night before the Storm)     
3. Ночью,в поле (At Night, in the Field)      
4. Тайна тумана (The Mystery of Fog)      
5. Сияние (Shining of...)      
6. Навстречу зиме (Towards the Winter) 
7. Неизведанные тропы (Unexplored Trails)

This is the fourth full length from the prolific independent Russian one man atmospheric black metal/ambient project Shadowland. This is the third full length to come from the project in 2015, and is again helmed by GorDan. I previously reviewed the projects third album Through the Curtain of Falling Leaves which you can check out here.

This album like its predecessor is very synth focused, with much of the sonic driving force being provided by the very sharp and light playing of GorDan. This album however also has some very melodic, and at times very powerful drum work that accompanies the synth very well for much of the first half of the album, it does however decrease in the albums latter half. Vocals are not very prevalent on this record, although when they are used, they are harsh, raw screams that clearly have some powerful emotion behind them, or a soft almost spoken work like chant that also conveys great sadness.

The use of ambience and samples is also well done, especially with the use of bird calls (mostly ravens from what I could tell), these provide a certain natural gloom that gradually builds throughout the album, and is helped by the fact that instead of distinct riffs the guitar work on this album is more like howling wind in the background.

I personally think that this is the best release from the Shadowland this year, and is well worth a listen for fans of depressive atmospheric black metal and ambient black metal alike.

Checkout the bandcamp page for the project here