Abhor
- “Sex Sex Sex (Ceremonia Daemonis Antichristi)” (Iron Bonehed Productions,
2022)
I have always considered Italian Black Metal to be a very faithful sound to the premises of a genre like this, to which most of the time a very characteristic melody was added, a bit like the Greek sound and that very particular sound texture. Bands like Mortuary Drape, while rougher than others, have some of that sound; Opera IX equal, and these Abhor even more. What draws me most to the sound of these Abhor is the detail of using the organ, making it an integral part of the sound. Close to what the Norwegians - essentially, perhaps - did with the keys (Emperor, Limbonic Art, etc.), the sound of the Italians also remains in the house of Black Metal, but with a more theatrical tune and worked in that sense. Death SS, which do not touch the spectrum of Black Metal, also remind me of this imaginary. It ends up being a little transversal to the Italian Black Metal of the 90s: Horror and the Occult.
This album (“Sex Sex Sex”) doesn't stray from the formula started
in 1995...well, maybe not in 1995, but the one that became THE band's formula.
Rhythms mostly slow, dragged; the keys and samples that take us on dark and
terrifying journeys. It may sound childish, but there are bands that manage to
create, with their sound, this idea as a visual of something, as if the lyrics
and melodies, together, structure something palpable. Immensely strange to
explain in a few words, but like a Mortuary Drape, there is a very strong
identity. A Gothic atmosphere - not sonic - and the strength of melodic Black
Metal. The Split with fellow countrymen Abysmal Grief is something special.
Retaining: the class with the quintet creates Black Metal, remains; the almost
ghostly melodies are present and are, more and more, the identity of the band.
A record that is more than worthy of the attention of every fan of creative
Black Metal, and with the roots of 90's Black Metal, very present.
Ancient
North - “The Gate” (Iron Bonehead Productions, 2022)
Creators and founders aside, it is almost a popular “belief” that Black Metal was born in Scandinavia. This conversation is old and boring, if you want my opinion; even so, the truth is that it ends up being useful to have an idea of what each band sounds like, and saying “sounds like 90s Norway”, for example, makes any Black Metal fan able to get a sense of what awaits you. Another truth is the appreciation I have for Norwegian Black Metal in the 90's. Not detracting from any other nation or any other time period, the stars were really aligned. Since then, many artists have replicated, some with success, others with less, the beautiful melodies that came out of that wild and icy region.
Ancient North is the project of a single artist, from Oregon, named Forlorn (Necroseer), and has in this “The Gate” his first work under this name (since then released an EP and a 2nd album). what does it sound like? Melodic Black Metal, aggressive Black Metal, contained anger. There's an interesting - and well-balanced - harmony between riffs immersed in melody, and the force of a snowstorm. “Deicide Warriors Ov The Abyss,” for example, with rhythmic drumming, consistently burly stride, and vocalizations from the depths of the Earth. That guitar riff carries the song with an apparent ease that makes an impression... effortlessly. In this mesh Forlorn shows us that not all Black Metal needs unbridled and grotesque vocalizations. But calm down, the North is not lost! Ancient North sounds like Black Metal without artifice. In an era that tends to “spoil the sound” to sound better, we have artists who follow their path, without inventions or high risks: it's Black Metal, and Black Metal will be. “Devourer Ov Souls” contains this more animalistic and visceral side of the project, and the cover of the Darkthrone Gods marks the line that this musician intends to follow. He is not an “Antichrist”, and I doubt he intends to be, but he deserves your attention.
In a year in which Armnatt releaseD a
new album, Ancient North comes to strengthen the simplified, but effective, Black
Metal.
Adaestuo
- “Purge of the Night Cloak” (Umbra Dei, 2022)
Belgium, United States, and Finland. Geographic diversity that extends to sound diversity? Maybe, maybe... Adaestuo is an international trio formed by P.E. Packain, VJS - both multi-instrumentalists - and Hekte Zaren, vocalist. The level of experimentation in this project is quite high, and sometimes I find myself trying to focus on music. I am, without any prejudice, an individual much more given to simplicity than to musical complexity. Bands like Blut aus Nord or Deathspell Omega, for example, have developed a very specific sound, which requires a distinct absorption capacity. That doesn't sound like musical elitism or anything, but comparing BaN's work to the work of a large majority of current Black Metal projects, you can easily understand my words.
Adaestuo does not match the aforementioned names; the level of experimentation and controlled madness is vastly superior. The way the music is exposed to us is interesting: terrifying atmospheres, sweet and delicate vocal melodies, all wrapped up in a slow, falling and rhythmic instrumental; the ritualization of the melody. The guttural vocals parallel this sweet violence. This is Black Metal; it lives in that sphere; your soul inhabits more than a space, be it auditory, physical, emotional... really interesting. Listening in a dark place, preferably. There are 4 themes that, after several auditions, become even more breathless and heavy. That weight, not in the chest, but in the soul. Sounds weird? I confess that yes, I agree.
Divided into 3 acts and an interlude, we go
through several states, the main point being to print pain in the heat that
gets lost in its riffs. From the violence on the guitars, to the packaging of
vocal melodies, we have a very rich panoply of elements. They don't invent the
wheel, they don't even lend themselves to it, but in fact they sound like
honesty. It is not, in fact, “my” Black Metal, but it will certainly please
anyone with a much more open mind, and a desire for something different, that
breaks the mold, and is not afraid of it.
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