MPAKOBEC
“З​а​к​л​и​н​а​н​и​я п​р​о​т​и​в р​а​с​к​о​л​д​о​в​а​н​н​о​г​о м​и​р​а” (Horrible Room, 2023)

The project’s first EP is a tremendous blast of Punkish Black Metal in the vein of Ildjarn. No need to spread the influence area, as Ildjarn is all you need when it comes to this sort of Black Metal, and this mate knows it quite well. We are presented, once more, with a marvelous experience of what Black Metal, the more primitive and visceral side of the genre, should sound like: harsh, aggressive, bloody, cutting. But, unlike the preceding EP, this one sounds a lot cleaner - if the word can be used here. I mean, it is still that rusty blade to the throat… nevertheless, the instruments sound more perceptible, neater. Maybe I am totally distant from reality; truth be told, I have not listened to that EP for a while now.

Overall, it sounds less direct that the EP, less Punk in attitude, like more time was spent getting everything perfect and immaculate. At times it sounds more like Black Metal than the EP. Hard to put it into words, especially when I have no idea what words should be used. It is as tremendous as the EP, and always an homage to the savage Black Metal pioneers in the 1990s, and he is very able to grow his music into a whole Full length, which is amazing. The EP was so “in your face”, that it would be hard to take this one to the same level, let alone top it. But he did it. You have the totally deranged vocals, that add that little thing to it, but again, it all sounds too clean… But do not fear, as it still rips like Hell!

Hagorun
“March of the Strom” (New Era Production, 2022)

This review might come a bit late, but the main idea was never to focus exclusively on 2023 releases, so here is one from last year that more people should know about. To start off, it has O. on vocals and everything else (Obskuritatem and many, many more), which is always a positive, a very positive point. Next, and I am one of those that is still “lured into” checking something out just based on the album cover/band logo, if we pay close attention to the aforementioned elements, one can assume that we have Eastern European - Branikald circle, to be more precise - inspired Black Metal. And your assumption is utterly correct. Hagorun is a delicate and beautiful homage to that specific Black Metal. Ideologies aside - although these should never be put aside - a large majority of the bands that have come out from that circle - can I call it circle? - are extremely good. The ability that these bands had to craft a sound that separates them from the rest is an enormous win. O. is able to, in little over 16 minutes, portrait a “geographic sound”, if this makes any sense! 

From the first time I heard it I never took it as a rip-off, a copy, living from a well-established sound; no, of course not! Osman has shown us, with all his projects, that integrity is a must in all his musical endeavors, and Hagorun does carry that flag. One of the things I love about the Branikald bands is that the melodies have a very particular sound to it. I did mention it before, but every time I go back to any of those records, I am reminded of that, and Hagorun, again, carries that identity. Very little is necessary to add: cold, snow, melodic, harsh, yet pleasing vocals… small details that amplify the end result and give these tracks their well-deserved place. Production-wise, it is dirty enough to allow us to enjoy all the melodies and instruments without it sounding extra clean. In the end, we are left craving for a new release. One final note, “March of the Storm” is one of the best Black Metal tracks from 2022, period.

Fír
“Vervloekt” (Zwartkunst Smederij, 2023)

The Netherlands has always been, for me, a melting pot of freakish Black Metal. The norm is to play outside the norm. Of course, not all are insane, but the majority decided that barriers exist to be broken, and broken they were. Fír is one of the ramifications of the mind of the man behind projects like Old Tower or Vaal (this one being a special jewel), and it comes out as an homage, a more flagrant one if you may, to the 90ies. Let us be honest, the 90ies are still the backbone of the genre… deal with it. The atmospheres are cold and dark, carrying the listener on a journey to the deepest of hells. It sounds so much like Norway in the 90ies, that one can almost sense the same we did back then. The slower pace moments give it so much richness that I want them to be the carrier of the melody. It has this Emperor scent to it, no doubt; that Emperor we love, not the one we ended up having...

The melodies, the transactions, from faster to slower, done with expertise… this is a 3 track EP, but it encapsulates so many elements that it could go head-to-head with lengthier releases. Vaal is one of the most exciting projects I have heard in recent years; the ability to craft something that lives within the genre, but goes beyond its claws, is hard, he does it. With Fír, he did it again. This is his fifth release, which shows I have been missing out on some heavy superb Black Metal from the “new days of old”. The Specter is a massive artist that you should keep an eye on.