måndag 25 december 2017

Moraš - Gaze of the Void

So Moraš is back again this year with its second demo tape, for those who have not listen to Moraš before he plays a very raw and hateful black metal. Pretty long songs that has the looping trance feeling that the cover art suggest, it sounds just like that!

It´s grinding your soul down into the void!


It follows up the debut " Manifest Death" good with the same misanthropic soundsscapes and meaning, it has its bleak repeating riffs but also includes enough of melodies to the whole picture to be memorable. Songs has no huge differance between them but then again i think this suffocating atmosphere is enhanched by that...like a downward spiral of death.

The spiteful and screamed vocals works great to the rest as before and the production is over medium good having in mind this is a demo...but then again i dont often enjoy high-end studio clean productions. (few exceptions exists of course) It sound just as you like it to do in other words!

The tracks are untitled and i dont know how long each song is  but the tape clocks in on about 24 minutes which is a fine length for this content.

Second outing of  Moraš is another solid anti-human demonstration and i look forward to the next one!



This time around Moraš is released by BLACK GANGRENE
Link:

http://blackgangrene.com/


söndag 24 december 2017

Chotzä - Bärner Bläck Metal Terror

The mysterious 500 year old "The Child eater of Bern" statue that grace the cover sets the ground fondation well for this top BM album! (some rumors says its depicting a jew eating the babies...would not be surprised there.)



I usually dont review releases song by song but here is an exception, first song carries the cover art theme with crying babies sample etc (love the intros old school horror synth style) and is an kick-ass start of the album! Blistering cold guitars blast out with screams and howls! The air fills with ominous clouds and the sun turns black! Pretty traditional 90´s black metal but with its own Bärnian  flair of decadence, nice variation in rythms through the song & with some good tasteful guitar solos & nice bass parts (and secondary guitar melodies peaks the track even more) towards the end, vocals is good, ugly and raw and is well placed into the mix. (as in every song) A great grand start!

Second song comes out and  swinging its dick!
First one gets quite surprised as it has a upbeat jumpy drum stomp similar to Mansons Golden Age of Grotesques "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag" (inspiration from swing, burlesque, cabaret and vaudeville movements of Germany's Weimar Republic-era) but then they blend it with great ease into their own song as it progresses, nasty and rocking song that stands out as one of the best on the album and i feel it would be great show stopper out on their gigs.

Third song for me is the weakest song or should i say not-as-good as the others, it slows down the tempo and gets a bit darker & somber.... its fine  but just has not as memorable compositions as the other songs. It fits well though in its place on the album as a bone-bridge between the more golden-meat songs.

Fourth track picks up the tempo again and has bit of an blackish moody folk melody without sounding off in any way... second half is best i think with its more melancholic atmosphere, nice screams wailing over the soundscape. As i have no knowlage of their language i have no clue on what they are singing about besides some clues here and there (like on the first song) but i feel their songs are enough vibrant to paint up visions in them selfs to not be a problem.

Fifth song smells quite much of Carpathian Forests Strange old Brew (more precicely the  Thanatology song) but just as the second song they morph their inspiration into their own hellish little tale, and i think they even kicks CF in the balls abit towards the later part of the song when they includes parts with Harpsichord (think Mozart´ish style piano) and from there on its magnificent! The scream, the drums, the guitar and bass and vocals are perfect and that Harpsichord outro  to top it off  makes it to one of my personal high points of music i heard in a long time. Magic!

Sixth song kicks in the door and rapes your daughter...and the dog! Then its over haha its more like an hate interlude then a full song.

And now we have come to the final song and it picks up kind of the sounds of the first song but includes a surprisingly neat acoustic guitar melody that is used together with the rest as a main lead, both harsh and "soft".... like a smack then a caress then smack again.
Some sweet inclusion of harmonicas comes in a bit in the song and some guitar solos. It could gone soo bad with the use of these things but the band does it perfectly!

When the album is over you feel fulfilled and enriched for sure, for this is easly one of this years best albums! It is perhaps a bit short but better short and tight then being too long and boring.
 Pick it up either on CD (Souhung Records) or on tape (Worship Tapes) or soon on vinyl (Sturmglanz production)

Track list
1.     Chindlifrässer     06:38    
2.     Jammergschtautä     04:49    
3.     Drumhuldigämiramleid     06:05    
4.     Ds Chunmerlied     04:47    
5.     Schizophrenia     08:28    
6.     B.B.M.T     01:33    
7.     Nuttämord (Im Mon Bijou)     05:43    
        Total:38:03







onsdag 20 december 2017

Vampahyuhr - TOME (demo I)

Into the long and winding meditative void


This first demo from Vampahyuhr serves as a solid ground to build upon for this one-man band (?) i think as what you get here is a cohesive sound of bleak winter night tunes, the longing for that final sleep is portrayed here in a traditionall early DSBM way (not that crying baby style but rather like an attack against those weak and close to take that last step...to do it) with long buzzing gloomy loops of guitar riffs and some dark acoustic interludes, simple but working drums. Vocals is screaching a bit down in the pit (mix) like he is trying to pull you down. All in all it is a nice start (i enjoy its simple but straight existence) even if its not soo memorable music wise.

For people suffering from serious depressions or similar i cant say how this music would effect them as i dont suffer from stuff like that myself...so no i wont kill myself listening to this, sorry. hehe... rather i feel it has that meditative black ambience comfort that i feel right at home with.

Extra plus for the band logo, i hope to see this band evolve as i have a feeling there is potential to deflower & abuse here.

If you are into this type of BM give Vampahyuhrs first demo TOME a shoot!

Tracklist:
1. The Prelude To My Death
2. To Endure An Eternity Alone
3. Dysphoria
4. As I Walk Into The Sunlight
5. Entering The Gates Of Purgatory
6. Endless Suffering
7. The End Of This Lifelessness

this tape is released by the Australian label Eternally Cold Records
link:
http://eternallycoldrecords.bigcartel.com/

fredag 15 december 2017

Faustgeist s/t demo

FromChile comes a new project named Faustgeist and their (two members) first release is this self titled two tracked demo.


First i was afraid that only two songs would be a bit too little to leave some mark but -first the two songs is quite lengthy and -second they are enough good! (they grow nicely from each spin)

Their style is raw 2nd wave BM with both icy blasts and more thoughtful rytms (drums is an extra plus i would say as they are inspired and varied) Guitars are simple but effective in a somber way and also has some upbeat parts that is engaging (first song has the best of these parts). songs is around 10 minutes but they use their compositions well so they dont fall into some jawn inducing void.
Vocals is croaking screams which is just as they need to be for this project.


As this is a demo it has not the best production but all is audiable just a bit muffled (like standing outside a rehearsal space listening through the door)

Lyrics is NS not that i hear whats sung but thats the info out there.

All in all a possitive experience with two members hammering out some neat songs which has enough soul and musical potental.

Look forward to the next release from them!


Track list:
1.     Kulturkampf        
2.     You Decay Slowly

tisdag 5 december 2017

Todeszone - Night of the Sharpest Blades

In February this year this demo (or album i would call it) came out and from the sample i heard i got inspired to check this out, i had not heard from what i recall the first demo but i heard Ghost Kommando where Kommandant Apokalyptron (Or Karnov as he called himself there) was the second half of the band & GK did some great and twisted metal for sure so i had hopes up for this early on.


Now after listened some times on this tape i can say it full filled my hopes not that it is directly similar with GK but on its own more sober (but very raw) smolky grim music. It is black metal but a quite personal kind of it so compare it to some other band is not too easy... not that it matter though.

Either way it is great and it grows good from each listening as its not the most welcoming or easy to digest which i like, the tracks has a enough of range of diversity (in speed,ambience etc). The opening track is one of my favorite songs with has a kind of RAC militant drum beat to it combine with a ultra distorted vocals, a war march you can say and many tracks has this attitude. Quite primitive and brutal riffs but with a solid sense of composition. Last song " The Halls of Immortality" is the longest and most ambient (in a way) and it serves as a fitting ending track.

First time i looked at the track list i feared (14 songs!) that it would out last its welcome but the songs is pretty short (plus they have good dynamics together) so that was never an problem.
Production is heavy on the raw distorted dark sound-scape but it sounds great (and inherits a nice atmosphere) i feel but this typ of sound is an acquired taste i suppose.


A rehearsal tape came out this spring/summer to which i guess highlights some songs for the coming real debut album which will be released via Darker then Black (as this tape) and Final Agony.

Good bleak militant raw metal from Switzerland!

Track list:

Side A - Assault
1.     Todeszone     01:17    
2.     The Scepter of Tyranny     02:34    
3.     Night of the Sharpest Blades     01:59    
4.     From the Shadows We Came     02:15    
5.     The Hidden Forces     01:25    
6.     To Ravage Their Temples     02:41    
7.     The Banished One     02:51    
8.     Interludium     01:30    
Side B - Battery
9.     The Banished One II     02:45    
10.     His Last Command     01:50    
11.     Call of the Blood     02:56    
12.     The Vanguard     01:48    
13.     Endless Fields of Death     02:37    
14.     The Halls of Immortality     05:48    
      Total:34:16