Black Metal Reviews

All reviews originally written for Black Metal Daily

Eoforan – “Demo I” (Legion Blotan, 2022)

Well, well, well. I tend to act carefully whenever I hear Black Metal and Punk in the same sentence. I have nightmares of all the horrible, ear-piercing, throat-cutting projects I heard in the Past. Yes… I might be overreacting, but they were bloody awful. So, this time, I took it slowly, and walked in without any sort of pre-conceived ideas of what I was about to hear. These blokes are from the UK, former members of SUMP and Eofor. This already reeks of classy Black Metal Punk all around, does it not?! Blokes associated with Legion Blotan (like it or not, great Black Metal), and all the other acts from Yorkshire, which normally turn out to be great embodiment examples of classy Black Metal. It’s the UK, it’s classy… back to the reason for this review. Eoforan released their first Demo, this year, not long ago, and it is an amazing set of Black Punk Metal with something else… it has aggressiveness, it has anger and rage, but it also has smaller details of exquisite musicality. Melody and this “rotten” production, and there you go, mate: Eoforan. It is that simple, no need to beat around the bush, it is plain and simple. The Punkish side of their music is rough and punishing; the one that soundtracks your pub nights with the fellows, after your team wins the derby. 

Nonetheless, it has a way to soften the toughest Black Metal fan’s heart. How? With these riffs that penetrate your mind and feast with your ability to understand how this mixture turned out so good, so haunting, so punishing. I, personally, am overwhelmed by the end result. Have spun it a few times, in a row, and still find it refreshing and different. Forget Ildjarn. We tend to to straight to the Norwegian’s work whenever you get these two genres together, but not today. That fast and -almost – out of control violence that Vidar brought forth, is not present throughout the totality of this release; it breaks from violence and into more melodic fields, as mentioned before, and there is where the richness of it resides. This almost perfectly balanced fusion is a delight to our ears. No, no, no, not exaggerating, mates. This is bloody good! And the most important thing? They do not intend to reinvent the formula, nor take the genre to a new level; they just spit out Music, and good Music, for that matter. 15 minutes and 34 seconds of magick.

Selenite Scrolls – “Through Gnarled Woods and Glowing Haze” (Medieval Prophecy Records, 2022)

I first heard of Medieval Prophecy Records a few years ago, via Forbidden Temple. I was blown away by the ability those two musicians have to create atmospheres that have the same amount of Beauty and Hate. How?! Yes, that was the question I placed myself: how these atmospheres can drag me to such Dark and Moldy places and make me feel so overwhelmed with… to be honest, I cannot even think of a word in Portuguese, let alone English. I then sat and went through all the label’s releases. Blown away, once again, by all the bands I was unaware of! I had found a label that captured, via these bands, a sound that I waited for so long. 

However, it seems I have missed one project, from the ones that are “right down my Black Metal alley”, I mean: Selenite Scrolls. Discovered them with the mentioned Demo, and, you know… blown away. In under 25 minutes we are given a lesson in Old School Black Metal. Does it sound 1st wave or 2nd wave?! It sounds rotten, haunting, dark, and melancholic; “The Fading Ruins of Wallwerk” is a massive example of the spectrum from which these lads extract inspiration. It has a bit of everything, in a way (in a very, very dark way). In a way, and although it may sound strange, I find it very hard to describe the reason why a release like this hit me as hard as it does. Maybe it is the fact that it reminds me of my first years discovering Black Metal, when everything was new, and amazing; where the next song was better than the first, and you would feel like a little kid that just discovered the best thing ever. 

Black Metal is about atmospheres, about feelings, about emotions. Cliché or not, this genre is unlike any other. Call it whatever you want, but there is something about Black Metal, especially the one that lives in the fringes of the genre – yes, the one that we can still consider to be Underground. Selenite Scrolls has this thing to them; this sound; this approach; this overall atmosphere. The inclusion of that specific sample, from the particular movie… argh! It has melody. But what sort of melody? The good one. Oh, of course… what? I just feel they live within the same bubble as Forbidden Temple, for example, or Effroi! They sound old, dusty, cobwebs all around, the scent of dead and rotting souls. It is quite disturbing, in a sense, but is not real life, worse? I reckon it is. Its sound is not raw, nor primitive, for their music reside in the already mentioned atmospheres. Is it Doom?! Yes, it might have some bits of Doom. And it fits the script. It is a bridge to different sound frequencies, which lead to darker emotions, and mental images. It is hard to explain, I had the same issue with Nidernes’ latest work (which you should check if you not already): the number of emotions that run through one’s mind, at that exact moment, is enormous. Belgium, lads, and gents. One word: overwhelming.

Silent Thunder – “Thousand Hammers” (Out of Season / Not Kvlt Records, 2022)

It is the 90s. Black Metal has begun its Reign of Darkness. Melody and Aggressiveness feels the air as we press PLAY on our old parent’s stereo. The cassette goes round and round, and magick happens. The 90s Black Metal has this special “scent” to it. 

I grew up in the early 80s, so I was a kid when Black Metal burst in flames (no pun intended), so it took me a few years to discover the power of the genre. The first bands I was introduced to used keyboards a lot. I was, as a kid, deeply in love with all things Fantasy, RPGs, Vampires and Poe, Lovecraft, etc., so this type of Music perfectly fit my kid’s mind ahahah I have talked about this a lot, and my love for Black Metal and Keyboards is still alive, and healthy, and I love seeing that it has returned, although it has never left, has it? We can look at Silent Thunder as the perfect outlet for what is not “acceptable” within Lamp of Murmur’s very particular scope. Lamp of Murmur is not an easy project to get into, at least from my perspective. It is structured in a very specific, and post-Darkness way. And the “issue” some Truer Black Metal fans might have with LoM, is the post-Genre thing. 

Lamp of Murmur struck the Black Metal scene like a… thunder. Some were positively struck, others just said No. I stood I the middle. Why? No idea. Love his affection for the sounds of The Cure, Fields of the Nephilim, Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, etc. His romantic facet really broadens the spectrum for so many others, but some felt he was cheating on the genre and cursed him for decades. So, why is it that Silent Thunder has never raised so many eyebrows? It has a much simpler structure. Oh my, “simpler”. No, do not take it as an insult, please. Example: some of my roots are in Old School Hardcore Punk, and this is a genre that is known for keeping it simple, so this idea of a simpler structure is not an issue. And it has keyboards. I have not mentioned it yet, but it has keyboards. And it has riffs reminiscent of Eastern Europe, and the overall 90s on this side of the pond. “Thousand Hammers” is not M.’s first adventure with Silent Thunder, as he laid the foundations for this project with 2021’s Demo “Usurping the Hall of Might and Splendour”. The Demo’s last track, “A Flaming Chariot Across the Nightsky” is a perfect, more than perfect way to end this release. 

At moments I was sent to Twin Peaks, given the sweetness of the melodies (Angelo Badalamenti is a bloody genius). And I am aware of how odd this might sound. Silent Thunder works, in my modest opinion, as an homage to the Black Metal of the 90s; crafted with iron and blood, agonizing riffs and frozen screams. I mention Eastern Black Metal?! Well, we can add some Norwegian in there, no? In a way Silent Thunder is very much well aligned with the 90s, and that is enough for me. Fans of yesterday, fans of today, fans of tomorrow… this is a must.

Crypts of Wallachia – “The Witches of Hoia Baciu” (Medieval Prophecy Records, 2022)

We have been living remarkable years for Black Metal, in various shapes and forms, numerous sounds and melodies. Black Metal has shown, once again, how much of an extraordinary genre it is, right?! Of course, of course. Crypts of Wallachia is a very good example of the perfect – from my perspective – Black Metal sound. 

You should be aware by now of my relationship with Black Metal and Keyboards / Synths, and Crypts of Walachia are an excellent example of how you mix influences. It is reminiscent of 90s brilliancy, to be honest. How can I put it into words… it sounds like a romanticized version of Black Metal, at times? When it is not aggressively punishing your spirit with massive charges of Black Metal, it offers melodic, and almost soothing, interludes, and details, that show you how good these guys are. 

Again, Belgium and Medieval Prophecy Records showing their worth. For those that are acquainted with the band, this Demo will not come as a surprise: the level is still high, and the distinctive difference between them and many other from the present scene are almost palpable; that is one of the reasons I do not understand why their name is still so “hidden”. Along with the likes of Forbidden Temple and Moenen of Xezbeth – all Belgian, and all MPR… I see a pattern – they keep Old School sounding Black Metal, alive. I mentioned the 90s, and in the 90s they live. It’s Haunting and Dark; Gloomy and Unsettling. It’s remarkable, right? In the same some will probably say “it is just Black Metal”, and they are not wrong, but take a tune like “Valtz of Chort’s Pale Daughters”, and that starting riff, and the pace, and the slow, slow, slow pace. Drudkh?! It does catch a bit of the Ukrainian’s feeling, yes, although it does not carry you into the forest. 

One of most beautiful aspects of these Belgians’ music is how they manage to craft an entity that submerges itself in a lake of… have I mentioned that I was lacking words to describe Crypts of Wallachia’s sound?! Well, I am. I could, of course, write down this small sentence: Crypts of Wallachia sounds like the 90s never lost its North, but I cannot. What do you mean the 90s? Not all the 90s bands sounded like this. No, of course not; generalization is a danger option. I heard the mention to Cultes des Ghoules being used, back and forth, when addressing these lads sound, and I would place GdG within this very specific little box, where you put the bands that sound differently. Does it make any sense?! Hope it does. Overall, we have a dazzling homage to the Sounds of Old. In a scene that is full of more, and more, Raw / Primitive Black Metal acts, Crypts of Wallachia keep on pushing their own boundaries, while remaining very true to the (real) premises of the genre. A captivating and honest portrait of the vividness of the genre.

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