Black Metal Reviews
YouTube Channel Edition

When I started getting into Heavy Metal music, the radio, and a cousin of mine, were my internet. We used to absorb all Heavy Metal music we were able to clinch our claws in, and it shows, clearly, in the different tapes I used to own. From Power Metal to Death Metal and all in between… it scares me, today, to look at it. Nonetheless, fast forward to 2024, and I want to thank the internet for allowing me to discover, today, records that came out when I was unable to even know they existed. And thank you, YouTube for being that platform. And it is not that I am tired of today’s music or have this feeling that only old releases are worth my time, no! In any way that is the feeling. However, yeah, I still find old releases to be “my thing”.

I follow a few YouTube channels related to Black Metal, but there is one in specific that seems to know what I like. Its name is Vlad Tepes, and this mate has a very good ear for Black Metal, especially older releases, and releases I have never heard of. Just to clarify, I enjoy today’s scene a lot, but I do tend for old sounding releases, hence my inclination for this specific channel. And one of these days I came across a few releases that I have been spinning a lot and decided to jump into a few short reviews.

Italian Black Metal has a particular “taste”. Bands like Mortuary Drape or Opera IX, or Evol, just to name 3 well-known bands, are great examples of how good the Italian sound is. But there are more names, and this is where Burial Place comes in. Burial Place is a band from Venice, that in 2002 released a Demo called “Damnation”. Like many Italian bands, Burial Place’s vocal work was divided between a female singer and a male singer. This duality has always been present in my growth as a Heavy Metal fan, and I still enjoy it when it is well done. Here, I feel it works perfectly, especially because the female vocals are done in an almost operatic way, giving the music a massive structure and a nearly haunting atmosphere. The male vocals are the standard Black Metal vocals, so no surprise here. But the female vocals, and how the arrangements are done around said vocals, gives the music sort of a Doom feeling. Burial Place’s music is clearly Black Metal, but some details give it a broader range. I enjoy it a lot.

From Venice we jump to Messina, Sicily, to meet up with Art Inferno and dive into their sole release, “Abyssvs Abyssvm Invocat”. Symphonic Black Metal at its best, in my honest opinion. I am a sucker of 90ies sounding Symphonic Black Metal, and this fuels my SBM needs quite well. The good thing about it? The band never over did it, never exaggerated in how they approached the Symphonic side of their music. That is very important, in my opinion. You do not want your Black Metal to sound too operatic or symphonic, you want it well-balanced, equal parts Symphonic and Black Metal. I dare say it is an Italian thing, but their Black Metal is always – well, not always – theatrical and almost dramatic in the sense that you can almost feel its intense atmosphere, and this connection to the symphonic side of music. Art Inferno is more Black Metal than Burial Place, which shows the diversity that the Italian scene had, and has. This is Melodic Symphonic Black Metal at its best, and the band knows how to structure the songs, prepare the listener for the climax, and hypnotize him with fantasy-like atmospheres and scenarios. It does have at times, “Norwegian details”, I can hear, at times, Covenant or Dimmu Borgir, but the band still holds its own identity, its own fingerprint, and you can hear it. Not claiming that this record is a mandatory landmark for SBM lovers, but many of you will most definitely enjoy these compositions.

Now, back to 1997, Finland. We all know how the Finnish Black Metal scene works in terms of sound and quality. From Satanic Warmaster to Beherit, the Finns are masters at the game of Black Metal, and if you like melodic Black Metal with a pinch of darkness and melody, this is for you. Bethel’s “Northern Supremacy” is the work of one Sir Holm and came out in 1997. First, being Finnish, it has melody or total desecration; this case it has melody, and plenty of it. Keyboard and cold atmospheres, acoustic moments and whispered vocals, intertwined with standard Black Metal growls. This, to me, is Black Metal perfection. Ok, this is far from being an amazing release, but a very enjoyable one nonetheless, and those spoken moments with the keyboard in the background… Bal Sagoth stuff right there! Well, not actually Bal Sagoth, but you get the picture, right? Bethel also has these really cool Heavy Metal riffs, slow-paced and melodic. This is a release more people should check, as I see it as a release that would fit today’s scene quite easily.

Gorbalrog and “Das Zepter”, their 1996 Demo. Well, German Black Metal is, normally, good. At times, it is great and superb. The Germans have this way of blackening our minds that really differentiates them from several other Black Metal scenes, they have this melody that grabs you. I found about these guys a few weeks ago, and it has been a constant go-to release. What I love about German Black Metal is that is sounds Evil but has the necessary amount of melody and “sweetness” to not fall into sterile and aggressive sounding Black Metal. Gorbalrog has this special touch that turns Darkness into Light, and although we want the dark, there is a light that comes out of it, and it is represented through the symphonic elements the band brings forth whenever needed. No exaggeration or misplacement, the band is very well-balanced and knows when, and where, to insert A and B! also, I feel bits and tads of Doom Metal, or at least a dragged Black Metal sound, which gives the music a bigger aura. Whenever they slow down a recall Katatonia’s golden days, and cry. But hey, to each their own. Gorbalrog is a very distinct entity, and the way they approach their music shows quality and craftsmanship. I have always been a lover of 90ies sounding Black Metal, especially the more melodic one, and Gorbalrog fits my needs, perfectly.

Vlad Tepes YouTube Channel