Here's some raw black metal from the UK that blends a primal sense of the genre's roots with a more atmospheric and melodic side that keeps things bleak and emotional as opposed to orchestral. There are no keyboards, so you're mainly in for a rugged style based around constant tempo shifts between blasting speeds and midpaced dissonance, all the while with snarling vocals overhead (rarely exhibiting come choral singing chants in the distance). Based on the song structures and riffing styles I'd wager they're influenced pretty heavily by the Norwegian scene, but they're definitely keeping the production values on the rougher side, which is a decision I'm not confident about. I can totally appreciate that sound for black metal when it fits, but it would need some tweaking to fit here, and I honestly believe that the writing and performances deserve a clearer and more robust recording. The vocals tend to cloud things up beside the guitar parts, and the drums sound sort of flat. The guitar tone is alright, it's got a bite to it that I can deal with, but there's no real bass guitar presence at all, and it's hard to tell how much of the lo-fi edge here is intentional and how much is a matter of circumstance. I'm definitely a fan of all the classic metal runs in "Blood, Chains and Misery", whereas tracks like "Colossus" bring in far more clean passages that are a bit calmer. Another point worth mentioning is that the drumming has a good feel to it, falling back into simple beats and typical blasts when need be, but getting a bit more colorful with slower fills and patterns to fit some of the more spacious and atmospheric tinges. "Echoes in Eternity" has a weird spacey break in it that almost sounds like some kind of Pink Floyd-ish thing or something, very strange sustained notes and chorused clean guitars, not totally progressive, but getting there... and bordering on being out of place as well! "Haggard" flirts with some doomier influences, which work far better by comparison. Truth be told the songs are often too long for what they offer here, because, diversity considered, the tracks still need not top seven or eight minutes so often, what with the general focus still being on fairly typical tremolo picking chords and standard fare black metal - and actually the songs are in large part instrumental, with vocals taking a back seat to extended musical breaks oftentimes. The CD-R comes in a slim slipcase printed from a high quality color printer, and it looks decent. The imagery is all bleak and consistent atmospherically, so my only real gripe would be that the text on the back can be hard to read due to the lack of contrast. No lyrics or anything are included, just recording credits on the back cover. Not bad overall. I like their hints of creativity a lot. If they can hone their writing a little more and nail a suitable recording (be it on the more primal side or from the cleaner and more polished angle) they'll turn some heads.
[self-released]
Running time - 56:00 (approximately), Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: Blood, Chains and Misery, Haggard]
Ethernal - [email protected]
