Invultation – “Wolfstrap” (Fallen Temple, Reissue 2022)

Today I read a post on Blasphemy, and the mixture of Extreme Metal subgenres. On this post, the writer mentioned Black Metal and Grindcore as the substance that composes the band’s sound. I do not disagree. Blasphemy’s sound is chaotically aggressive. I am not a fan of the band, and I have tried many times throughout the years, but was never able to get into their music… however, the Black / Death hybrid is not limited to 1 or 2 bands, which makes room for the possibility of me enjoying a band, or even a couple. Archgoat has to be, probably, my favorite one from the lot. Their sense of melody, beneath all that sonic violence, is not at the reach of all. But musicians persist in that chase and give us Invultation. From the USA, this beast of a record.

The name says it all, I reckon; the cover artwork does help in guessing the genre; the sound is what I expected: aggressive, wild, a battering ram, a violent blow to the skull. In complete honesty, the genre does not have many places to go to, right? It normally is a complete and utter massacre, and Invultation delivers that massacre. It is an aggressive sound, a mighty riff slaughter! I do like some of the riffs. “Predatory Instinct”, for example, it follows with the melody one normally encounters – and looks for – in this sort of bands, so it works out perfectly. The thing is: we want violence, period. One does not go for a hybrid of this sort, if he does not want to have his head smacked. Right? Right. Some moments hold this Old School Death Metal feeling, which is not bad at all. Not that I am a fan of Death Metal, but the slower, deeper moments, tend to make me smile. “Mangled Throat of the Bastard” has some of those thick riffs. The vocals are, like many of the shown here, right up the genre’s alley: frightening howls, guttural screams, cutthroat singing.

Yeah, it ticks all the boxes on the Black / Death Metal Beast. Oh, “Venomcraft” has Slayer like riffs, which is always, but really always, cool as Hell.

Mondocane – “Gloria” (Fallen Temple, 2022)

We head off to Sweden. Stockholm, to be more precise. Mondocane is a Swedish Black Metal formed in year unknown – at least for me – that has released, since 2021, 1 EP and 2 Full-lengths. This band has a different scent to it. It is, without a doubt, Black Metal, but it feels different at times. We talk a lot about the evolution of the genre, and this and that, but at the end of the day, we all want our basic, cliché-infused, Black Metal. Nonetheless, some Artists insist (thankfully) in pushing boarders and breaking down walls.

Mondocane is an interesting project. When people read “interesting”, they tend to think that it is not good; not always, not always. Have to enjoy the strange version of “Personal Jesus”, here turned to “Demons”, and how unexpected was when it started playing. But wait… “Witness” has the elements we all love in Black Metal, so no “awkward” stuff in here, just straight forward Black Metal. “Gloria” has this Thrashy spirit, this rebellious idea to it. Sounds really energetic and with good riffing! Strong tune. We are not going track-by-track, just an overall idea of what composes the album, and it is not a linear one if I may add. “Mytus” is a slow, on the Samael spectrum – or maybe recent Tiamat – that comes to show that this project, and these musicians (or musicians) have no boundaries.

This release is a very interesting one, as mentioned in the beginning, and I truly believe that, not one single tune is monotonous, nor identical to the one that came before, or will come next; it still is Black Metal through and through, it just has a distinct aroma… the closing tune is very well crafted. Could it be that it is the best out of them all? It might be, it just might be. Love the opening riff: simple, yet effective. Going back to the beginning, and to “Via Dolorosa”, this is yet another track in which the band / musician has no fear to play whatever sees fit. The chorus on this one is very well placed, and it gives it a cool aura. A name I did not know; a name that may possibly be appealing to Black Metal fans that “tackle” with outside sounds… give it a go.

Veneration – “The Core of Triumphant Revelation Resistance” (Fallen Temple, 2022)

In 2020 Veneration released “Thy Infernal”, a 5-track EP that showed a how talented these Indonesians were. Now, 2 years later, YF is alone, and ready to slaughter! Veneration is a Black Metal band, a 2^nd wave Black Metal band with some hints of Thrash Metal here and there, but a Black Metal band at heart. Fast paced Black Metal, aggressive yet melodic. Very interesting melodies and arrangements make it a project to keep an eye on. Veneration has the ability to take me to older sounds, the classical Black Metal tunes, you know? Like when you listen to Eternal Champion, and it makes you think of Manilla Road or Cirith Ungol… the Classics. Solos is one thing that you get from Veneration. Solos and a bit of a Punkish side to its music.

It is funny how his music is so uplifting, even if it is Black Metal. And no, we no tend to categorize Black Metal as uplifting music, do we? You do? Odd. Back to Cirebon, in West Java, and back to this mate’s Black Metal. Take a track like “Katatonik Pantokrator”. The groovy rhythm is strange, almost like it does not fit the music, or even the genre as a whole. It reminds me of Filii Nigrantium Infernalium and some of their weird tunes ahahah nonetheless; the man keeps pushing and blasting. That last track is insanely cool! 2^nd wave Black Metal riffing with a strange melodic line that takes me back to some of the Traditional Heavy Metal acts I used to listen to. Can I risk say the man is a fan of Traditional Heavy Metal? Even some Eastern European Black Metal from behind the Iron Curtain: melodic, yet cold! These riffs are very melodic, very melodic indeed. That start. He has never delivered complete standard, cliché, Black Metal, but this one, along with “Katatonik…”, are on a different level of awesomeness. “The Speckled Dust of Sanhedrin”, that is the name. A mysterious atmosphere, a moldy ambiance. Veneration shows, once again, that he has the riffs, he has the melodies, he has all the tools to craft a beautiful – and differentiated at times – Black Metal.

Fallen Temple Official Bandcamp - Veneration - "The Core of Revelation (Triumphant Resistance)"

Fallen Temple Official Bandcamp