Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom – Summoning the Gatekeepers (2023) / 85%

 

English Breakfast Chapter 4: Blood Pudding

On their first full length album in more than a decade, the criminally unknown English duo are back with an unrivalled passion for underground metal. Their super good 2020 extended play signalled that the boys were done with what seemed to be some sort of hiatus and this was good news. This band is like this classic English ale that’s kept secret and only exists because their creators love their craft so much. Nothing else matters.

Each of their albums are quite different from each other, from the stoner doom influences of their debut to the more pastoral black metal sound of Battle Staffs in the Mushroom Woods, they’ve been releasing interesting stuff since the start. Summoning the Gatekeepers is no exception. In fact, I see it as a culmination of their influences or at the very least, it was a logical step for them to take. It's a stroll in the forest and never a walk in the park with them.

What we have here is a condensed, tight and upfront epic black metal album. It might be the album where they’re the best at mixing the many elements composing their English breakfast. Sure, there’s still some hints of crust, some hints of English doom but like in a good homemade bread, you will not think it’s too salty even if there’s the right amount of salt in the recipe. Their formula works because the recipe has been tested and edited many times.

From the acoustic guitars of the evocative “Twisted Tree”, the longest track of the record to the crackling of fire and the storm ambiance, there’s some English epicness in their sound but it's never too much or cheesy, it's kept minimal. They’re also able to season their late Darkthrone black metal with post punk (see the middle section of “Ragged Brothers”) but for the most part, it’s a pretty even affair. It’s a relatively midpaced record and there’s not a lot of tempo variations, at least not super jarring ones that made me scream “damn they sped things up!”. It’s made up of slow, heavy riffs with a nice back end like the lovely crusty bass of “Ashes” for example. it’s meat and potatoes metal but with some good butter and herbs, a recipe you can find in medieval cookbooks luckily preserved in the untouched cellar of an English pub.

The raspy vocals, the way the guitar parts are written and the honest, highly rustic lyrical hemes are all things speaking to me. It’s a record worth your time if you value the simplest things in life and prefer your beer without anything fancy in it.

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Baazlvaat - An Old Forgotten Text (2022) / 85%

 

A New Merging of Genres

This mysterious entity from Flint, Michigan, a location I know only because of its controversial water, delivers another bewildering ride of an album. Last year's The Higher Power was a surprising record that made a few waves here and there and this one just expands on the themes previously explored there. Before we go any further I need to say that I disagree with the assessment that many people share about metal, it's not stale or a dead genre. There's a lot of experimentation to be found and Baazlvaat are a band that's not afraid to burn the house down and rebuild it with funkier components.

Baazlvaat are sort of like Black Magick SS if they weren't masturbating to Nazi imagery and were, for the most part, actually playing metal.They're the sort of band with a solid main identity in one particular style (in their case it's black metal) who's also adding an array of extraneous elements. I'm a big fan of kitchen sink bands such as Leeches of Lore, Tjolgtjar or Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom and this American duo certainly explored the fridge thoroughly.

They merge the exploratory side of psych rock, the loose aspects of lo fi rock, the rawness of black metal, the synth presence of dungeon synth/synthpop/symphonic black metal or the playfulness melodicism of heavy metal. This exhausting list creates one pungent mix of influences that's hard to classify or pinpoint but easy to get entranced by. It's not a confused mess at all, there's an assurance in their varied but cohesive songs that's hard to ignore.

A song like "Three Heads from the Black Depths" evokes the retro groovy rock/metal of Uncle Acid or Graveyard but adds piano and unhinged raw harsh vocals while a song like "Cold Sky Ice Frosten'" brings forth a sort of shred heavy metal mood. Furthermore, there's a Middle-eastern break in the final track followed by clean vocals akin to lo-fi epic heavy metal and there's a blues/country break in "The Missing Key". It's insane.

The pièce de résistance of the album is certainly the almost nine minutes "The Iron Lung", a monumental epic black/heavy metal track and it reminds me of both Agatus and Wytch Hazel (the dandyness in the riffing) in spirit but it's combined with a sort of outsider art approach that makes it peculiar. Still,the most important is the quality of their compositions and they deliver that in spades and while it overstays its welcome a bit, the album has no real weak moments. An Old Forgotten Text is definitely not for everyone and its originality resides in the merging of existing elements instead of the creation of new ones but the ability of combining styles well is still a feat in itself.

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Legacies Unchain – Satan is Strong and Always Near (2016) / 95%

"Is he though?"
"Yes, he is."

Composed of the sole member of the excellent Misantropical Painforest and another dude known for Wormphlegm and its funeral doom classic, Legacies Unchain is definitely my discovery of the year (or last year, no idea, time is blurry right now) and I’m thankful for Hops from the Ride Into Glory community for the recommendation. Their take on metal is one that speaks to me quite a bit, it’s occult, slow and lures you in the dark Finnish forest to sever your arms with a hand axe.

Satan is Strong and Always Near (one of the best album titles of all time) is pretty much only three extended tracks with its title track being a bit more than twenty minutes. There’s three untitled instrumental including two to start the album, for some dark magical reasons, they’re not on the tracklist! The first and third are some guitar doodling moments that puts you in the mood. The second is one minute of shamanic aboriginal music preparing you for some ritualistic black metal, it’s not randomly placed either as there’s comebacks to this sort of primitive atmosphere throughout the album. The use of the didgeridoo, this cool wind instrument from pre-colonial Australia highlights the barbaric, primal feel of Legacies Unchain and it can be found alongside your normal metal instruments in “All Hail the Great Sperm” (what?) or “Dragon City”. The instrument announces the arrival of those two dudes on the artwork as they’re storming the camp full of goblins in order to slay ‘em all. In the name of Satan, of course.

The whole thing sounds like a do it yourself barbaric black metal assault to me and I mean, I really love this kind of stuff. Apparently recorded in 2004 but only released more than a decade later, their kind of metal is pretty timeless. It’s mixing the raw occult power of black metal with the stupidity of heavy metal and the brain dead riff onslaught of death metal for our selfish pleasure. It’s a riff worship ceremony and the unworthy ones were sacrificed to some primordial spirits. The duo is able to write interesting, river-esque songs with only the power of powerful metal riffs and Satan. Spiritually linked to black/heavy bands like Demontage or Malokarpatan, Legacies Unchain slashes you with mid-paced riffs until you’re out blood to offer. They use those traditional elements well such as on the title track, it’s like if funeral doom was combined with black/heavy/thrash, it’s long but epic and flows nicely and it’s 100% hateful, obviously.

Their vocals are also pretty diverse in their commitment to barbaric prowess. To high pitched screams to more deep growls and to some insane chanting, there’s something for everyone. The title track concludes its twenty-three minute run time with a mad clean scream, probably a shamanic priest dying during a ritual or something. Those guys like their crushing brutality too, the death metal influence can be felt at the beginning of “...Sperm” while “Dragon City” is rooted and drenched in heavy metal riffs. Their vocals are a constant though and they anchor the band into Satanic overload.

Satan being always near them managed to motivate the guys, this is one hell of album. Even though it’s somewhat inaccessible due to the sheer length of its songs, there’s an entrancing vibe that rewards you. It’s similar to Cultes des Ghoules’ masterwork Henbane (the pinnacle of black metal as far as I’m concerned) in how it makes me feel, it’s riffs after riffs and you may think it’s dumbed down but it’s actually oddly subtle and genius.

Okkultokrati - La ilden lyse (2020)

Hiking Metal Punks

I discovered the Norwegians with their previous album, the excellent Raspberry Dawn (thanks to tomcat_ha for the recommendation, if I remember correctly) and I had relatively high expectations for their follow-up. 

The artwork of La ilden lyse reminds of Darkthrone's Arctic Thunder (covered by the Realm before) but that's not the only similarity they have with the legendary duo. Raspberry Dawn was much more rooted in kraut and psych rock, deeply reminiscent of Circle (coincidentally they also released their latest album on Southern Lord). It was, in a way, not a metal album. Their 2020 album returns to a blackened sound while still retaining some of those influences, it's gritty and belligerent but kept some of the psychedelic element that distinguished them from the pack. Their production is tight, condensed and packs a punch. There's just the right amount of rawness and it highlights the harsh black metal vocals quite well. The riffs alternate between psych fed punk, heavy metal and proto black metal and they're written in a repetitive fashion but they're freaking solid so it just puts them on a pedestal.

There's a lot of layers underneath what appears to be an unsubtle formula. There's synths in the (pretty far away) background adding a dimension that's not automatically perceptible at first. They're basically Motorhead as they're not as dumb as you would have thought but goes for the jugular at all times. It's fast, rock & roll-y but also pretty smart once you break their codes. There's super well written passages such as the atmospheric moods on "Kiss of Death"

Some bands are gonna announce that they'll branch out and include more and more influences in their sound and then fail to do so. Okkultokrati just unceremoniously does it and they do it with class and skill. Their biggest strength is their ability to combine a lot of different influences and do it in a super homogeneous way without never deviating from their main goal of riffing very fucking hard.

English Breakfast: An overview of Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom

 

Here's an overview of Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom's full length discography. This English duo deserves more attention, I've discovered them due to their 2020 extended play Kingdom of Killers to realise that their previous releases were also very interesting!

Droner (2003)

English Breakfast Chapter 1: The Eggs

The debut album of the duo built the foundations of what’s to come. They embody what I like in my metal as newly thirty year old man and I’ll explain why. It’s primitive and made in a vacuum by true connoisseurs of the underground who really don’t care about trends and fashion in the metal world.

Droner could be described as a mix of of doom, first wave black metal, heavy metal and while the crust elements aren’t as present as on other albums, it’s there. Think of Amebix combined with Cathedral and Venom. That’s a pretty fucking good English breakfast, lads. Their riffs are loud, primal but precise in their sloppiness. It’s like being stabbed by a pointy rusty dagger and left to bleed in a cold forest while the wolves gather around you. The vocals are rough and while somewhat in the background, they’re not an afterthought and they can be varied too. “Droner in the Fog” has clean vocals giving a quasi post punk feel mixed with epic metal when combined with the tasty guitars. It’s not epic like Virgin Steele talking about Greek or Roman mythology, it’s instead done in a pure English manner, it’s just men dying in the woods while their wives are cooking a stew they’ll never be able to eat.

Those dudes are good musicians too, the drumming on “Whispers of God” is creative and tight and the clean guitars almost bring a progressive folk tinge to their metal. There’s a few stoner elements too, especially in the bass playing and in a few particular songs such as “Hillfort Ghoul”, that’s possibly due to the omnipotence of Electric Wizard and Cathedral in England but regardless, it fits. Their hometown of Birmingham is also the birthplace of doom metal so being from Black Sabbath’s home turf must have some sort of mystical influence.

Throughout the short album, Acwealde and Wartooth were really capable to explore different tempos from fast, mid-paced to even slow. That’s a strong debut with all the elements of their identity already in place even if it’s the only one to feature some stoner metal parts.

Battle Staffs in the Mushroom Woods (2006)

English Breakfast Chapter 2: The Sausages

Battle Staffs in the Mushroom Woods (best album title of all time?) is the second album of our duo of merry gentlemen carousing through England under the name Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom and it’s a doozy. Compared to their debut (that I really liked), it’s more focused and clearer in its intents. There’s a beefier Celtic feel here and while it’s not exactly folk metal and it’s relatively subtle in its approach, it’s there. It’s irrevocably English in its nature, mixing the rawest and undisciplined side of NWOBHM with proto extreme metal to great effect. Think Motorhead slapping Skyclad because they’re nerds but still integrating a few hints of their sound.

Released the same year as Darkthrone’s The Cult is Alive, Bretwaldas are definitely contemporaries of the blackened punkier side of the much more famous duo but they’re so much more than that. They just happen to share a liking to old school crust punk. It reminds me of Toronto’s Demontage in the way they're primal, lo-fi metal with a lot of heart, inventiveness and authenticity. While the production values here are better, we’re still far from the saccharine and overproduced sound of big labels and I’m totally fine with that. It suits their meat pie sound very well.

They're like if The Meads of Asphodel were actually too busy drinking in pubs to go to partake in weird Medieval reenactment. They dream of the past while drunk at the bar before using the ale soaked broom as a bastard sword. They might get lost in the nearby forest afterwards or at least, that’s what I imagine drunk Englishmen do for fun. They eat fish and chips, drink beer, talk about olde kings and smoke cigarettes.

Those dudes aren’t parodies and they’re smarter than you may immediately think. Songs like “Paths of River, Root and Stone” conjures intricate but blue collar guitar leads while closer “Blood of Gods and Men” could easily be something from Bathory’s epic Viking metal albums. This track and the eight minute “Beneath the Eaves” are basically blackened epic doom and it’s fantastic.

The varied influences they were able to gather makes this album an intense and rewarding affair for experimented metal fans. They’re more interesting and rich that you’d think and they make Midnight sound like an amateurish one trick pony with only one or two ideas.

Seven Bloody Remparts (2010)

English Breakfast Chapter 3: The Beans

Seven Bloodied Remparts, the third (and last one for now) full length from Bretwaldas is perhaps the widest foray they made into black metal and it’s a bold attack. The diversity found in their discography is one of the most interesting aspects of the band. Even though, to the unfamiliar ear, they could be concluded to be similar albums, their stylistic progression twists and turns quite often but remains rooted in some sort of black metal.

This effort could be described as some sort of epic black/crust, the doom elements aren’t as prominent here as they used to be. They always had a focus on history, archaeology and mythology and that’s what we find here again. Wartooth (bass, vocals) is an archaeologist but he’s able to easily contextualize and simplify topics to make them appropriate for metal music. It’s somewhat influenced by pagan metal here and there but it’s transformed into English ugliness. They’re never as cheesy as fellow English bands Forefather or Wodensthrone as well, they never played folk/pagan metal outright but they definitely used some Viking bits in the guitar riffs. Based on the No Clean Singing interview they did this year, the fact that pagan metal was often associated to national socialism and other far right movements wasn’t something they were keen with, for good reasons. 

The atmosphere here is pretty epic and contains some worthy anthems. Songs like “Rise” or “Smite” have some singalong lyrics, something they never really did before. It’s fairly appropriate for the music showcased here. “Smite” reminds me of Ireland’s Primordial with its slightly Celtic guitar melodies and its violent but historical hymn mood. The vocals are gruff, rough and there’s no clean singing here, like the English countryside when it rains, it’s muddy and dirty and that’s often how I like my metal. Even if Bretwaldas are a DIY affair, they’re not amateurs, they know what they do and what to do to achieve their particular sound. One of my favourite aspects of the band is the quality and melodic feel of Acwealde’s guitar parts (see “Grey Wolf” for one of the best examples), it brings another level to their Celtic Frost plus Amebix dual identity.

Listen/support the band on Bandcamp

Mörkt Moln - The Culling of a Great Flame (2019) / 83%

BURN IN HELL!

Mörkt Moln (dark clouds) from Gothenburg certainly don’t play melodic death metal and I’m relatively happy they don’t. The Swedish trio delves into proto black metal and inserts dynamic hardcore, goth and punk elements to their first wave black metal sound instead.

Inspired by both Amebix and Darkthrone (who were also influenced by Amebix in their own right), the eight songs record is a definite love letter to a time where metal and punk lines were blurred and where black metal was yet in its formative infancy. While I feel the lines are being quite blurry again nowadays with powerviolence, death metal and crust being thrown in a mixer together this is another type of affair.

Interlude: I’m a big snacks guy so this review was written while eating some carrot cake Oreos. While they were able to recreate the taste of a carrot cake, the white icing is a bit too sugary. It’s a welcome distraction from the normal black and white ones just like this band is a welcome change from your run of the mill Satanic black metal. The special Easter Oreo was a bit better though.

Back to our normal programming, their music is dark (see their name) and it’s composed of pretty mid-paced bangers with some longer tracks like opener “Air Burial”, the Conan themed “Cimmerian Heat” or the Mesopotamian historical eight minutes closer “Shar Kishati”. Their production is kept fairly natural and that’s certainly perfect for their sound. If you’re a fan of Darkthrone’s later efforts, it’s a similar approach. If you’re not, it’s time go hike in the Scandinavian forests and never come back! Mixing groovy, riff heavy black/punk with some doom metal (the end of that Conan song crushes) to great success, it reminds me of the hateful but tongue in cheek of The Cult is Alive but slowed down a notch. The vocals are raw, gravely and in a spot between harsh and clean, it fits their proto extreme metal vibe well. There’s also obvious black(er) moments such as “Corruptors of Youth” with its evil classic black metal church bell intro and heavy metal goodness such as the Lord of the Rings’ inspired “Dol Guldur”. It’s not technical music either, it’s even fairly loose and almost volontarily sloppy and that’s how I love it, to be honest.

All in all, Mörkt Moln are apt at mixing old school black metal with a DIY aesthetic and approach. They’re a less and more band but with a lot of ideas and big balls.

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Hornet Murmuration – Affirmation of Antipathy (2020) / 80%

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The third solo project created by Tennessee native D.L, the young musician behind Glass Shrine and Kostnatění, Hornet Murmuration is his rawest and most unhinged one yet.

Self-recorded in three days, this demo incorporates a fair dose of punk in an already dangerous blend of black metal formulas, ranging from the obscure American Rhinocervs scene to the Slavic and French sounds. It’s chaotic but the production is quite clean for this genre, the riffs are vivid and easily audible and the fairly simple yet effective drumming gives a nice rhythm to the whole thing. The vocals are raspy and under a wall of noise under attack by a bunch of hornets. It does sound like hornets playing metal though, it's highly aggressive and it stings you but it's also organized in all its chaos.

Compared to black/punk stalwarts Raspberry Bulbs, who coincidentally just released their first album during the Trump administration on Relapse Records, no less, Hornet Murmuration are rooted strongly in modern, quasi un-unorthodoxed black metal. The Bulbs’ whole thing is to play punk with a raw black metal approach, it’s not the case of this new project. It’s not rooted in the olde eras of metal like most other metal/punk bands like Devil Master or Shitfucker like to explore, I’d say it foregoes influences and tries to be timeless. It often succeeds at it or maybe I just don’t know black metal enough to pinpoint the references...

It’s punkish in the way the riffs are written and the type of aggressiveness unravelled through the five short tracks of that demo release. While it’s uncomplicated metal, there’s still this underlying intellectualism laying around, mostly through the titles and the aesthetics of the project. It can also be found in the abrasive yet thoughtful songwriting which normally shouldn’t be as complex as it is. Affirmation of Antipathy is a strong debut demo that shows promises. It has this crisp, unrestrained take on black metal that’s oddly catchy.

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Malokarpatan - Krupinské ohne (2020) / 95%

The Peter Statsny of spooky Slavic true metal

Malokarpatan established itself as a force to be reckoned in the true metal underground with Nordkarpatenland released back in 2017 and I was expecting great things with their followup. Due to their departure of their lead singer, someone else from their own lineup filled the spot so no cohesion problem there. I had the chance to see them live when they played the Covenant Festival in Montréal and it just confirmed that there’s something special going on with the Slovakian band. I’ve been listening to this album for months now and it will be hard to beat as far as 2020 releases are concerned. There’s nothing I didn’t like here.

They’re playing what could be hastily described as black/heavy metal but all in all, they’re fairly unique in both spirit and execution. That mix of elements created one of my favorite combination of styles since Demontage’s The Principal Extinction full length. In theory, it might be easy to combine both the atmospheric grasp of black metal and the power of heavy metal riffs and leads but it’s not that simple. There’s the same uncompromising approach to songwriting in Krolok, their “pure” black metal twin brother. Both don’t have to choose being atmosphere and fun, catchy riffing. Anyhow, “Flying Above Ancient Ruins” is also worth your time and has the best artwork for black metal of the decade done by the same artist as Krupinksé Ohne.

They also made things harder for themselves by writing longer songs than before and packing them to the brim. That album has half the songs for the same duration but the mastering and the editing made the record an exploratory and massive masterpiece. We often talk about the third album of a band is important and it’s the case here. I feel it establishes their sound better than ever.

To diversify their classic Czechoslovakian sound recalling Master’s Hammer or Root, Malokarpatan includes a fair share of prog rock recalling Yes or Rush, some folky Slavic overtones and classical music (such as the intro of the album) and it’s wonderful. At times, it feels like listening to a grown up version of Opeth. The leads and riffs flow well, the keyboards are conveniently arranged and placed within the songs. The vocals are cavernous, mysterious and evokes the ugly beauty of Slovakian haunted forests. There’s some clean vocals here and there but the heavy metal aspect of the band is built within the instrumental aspect of their identity.

Unlike most bands trying their hands at long songs or at mixing metal genres together, their transitions between the slow and the fast, the heavy and the light are done effortlessly. The fourth song “Filipojakubská noc na Štangarígel” starts with a contemplative introduction before transitioning into a At the Heart of Winter-esque attack on your senses. Like their spooky artwork showcasing some sort of devilish confused warlock, Malokarpatan is an eccentric entity full meticulous homages to what makes metal so peculiar and great. The album is a resounding success and essential album to start the decade with.

Buy the album on Bandcamp

Witching Hour - ...And Silent Grief Shadows the Passing Moon (2018) / 90%.

In the pale moon light! In the witching hour!

When I got this in my email from Hells Headbangers, I was expecting nasty black/thrash, something like Nifelheim, Desaster, Occult Burial or Bonehunter (from HHR as well) but no, I was surprised to hear what Witching Hour actually play. I’ve been familiar with the name for a while but that’s actually the first album from the German trio I check and it’s a banger.

What surprised me about this record is how smart it actually is. It’s really rare that a black/thrash band manages to be actually intelligent while retaining their primal destructive instinct. Witching Hour are like a barbarian who didn’t dump their intelligence stat. I think the latest non Vektor thrash band I’ve heard that wasn’t completely only into destroying corpses with their teeth musically was Norway’s Nekromantheon (definitely fucking due for a new record, by the way) and that’s saying something. I guess we could say that the shadow of Deceased isn’t far as well and Fowley’s mark is surely present in Jan Hirtz’s rough drawl.

Their approach is epic and long winded. The decision to start with a ten minute track was bold, especially considering that the first half is instrumental. It did create an interesting and worthwhile introduction to the album. It then continues with five packed tracks full of intricate thrash riffs not only content in delivering aggression but also focusing on delivering interesting time signatures without entering Mekong Delta German progressive thrash territories. Witching Hour also incorporates a large amount of heavy metal in there, it’s ancient occult metal and it made me think of Demontage, the unknown jewel from Toronto, in many ways. Drawn out songs full of incredible riffs combining melodic might with precision, wits and passion are what they offer on here.

They also offer some moments to breathe and gather your spirit such as the first moments of the superb closer “As I Walk Among Sepulchral Ruins” and its repetitive but atmospheric guitar introduction. I got nothing bad to say about this record, it gives me what I want in thrash metal in 2018, it’s not overly long, it delivers the riffs, it’s not fucking dumb and about pizza or “fun” and it remains evil while never becoming unnecessarily full of thicc nacho cheese.

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Sadomagickal Seducer – Testicular Torture (2018) / 80%

Cum See Daddy

This had “magickal” in the name so I obviously had to review it. The fact that there’s a naked man being tortured on the cover was just the cherry on the sundae. Sadomagickal Seducer is yet another project by Comte Bergaby/Olivier B. Emond who’s known as Turbo Sodomizer here. He’s currently known for Shezmu, Palmistry, Complot, Pénombre, Hexeth or his new folk black project Moulin Banal. He’s quite a busy man. Unlike many underground metal musicians who have a boatload of projects, Emond finds the inspiration to make them sound all different and distinctive.

SS’s debut extended play is an intriguing mix of unhinged sexual tension. There’s a lot of things going on at the same time on those four dense tracks, all below the four minutes mark. There’s huge proto black/thrash/speed riffs à la Midnight mixed with some metallic punk lubricant not too dissimilar to what Satan’s Satyrs or Alucarda should sound like. The vocals are put through a wall of sexual moaning and lamentations, they’re rough and it sounds like there’s a maniac who’s being maniacally tortured by a bunch of horny Quebecois lumberjacks.

The special thing about the project is the huge layers of orgasmic keyboards all around the songs, it creates an atmosphere where a special orgy could happen. The EP ends on a lovely cheap church dirge and some sobbing just to make you feel uneasy. The project delivers enjoyable riffs with a peculiar ambiance and the room smell like a massage parlor once the release is done.

Bandcamp

Akitsa – Credo (2018) / 95%

I’m a credible reviewer so I’m not gonna namedrop Darkthrone

Unlike Quebec’s sovereignty project, Quebecois black metal has been quite healthy recently. The scene is diversified and hits hard from both Québec City and Montréal. There’s the occultism of Gevurah, the icy winds of Cantique Lépreux, the atmospheric/post power of Basalte or, obviously the nationalistic panache of Forteresse. Akitsa, at least for me, has always been a lone wolf in terms of sound even if they have a varied discography. With Credo, their sixth full length and first for Profound Lore, they bludgeon the competition with their sharp riffs and their arcane knowledge of second wave black metal.

I’ve probably said it before but for me, the quality of the riffs is the most important thing in black metal (if you’re not Summoning, that is). You’d say that it’s important in all metal genres and you’d be right but for that specific style, it’s usually the main focus, especially when we have to deal with raw bands. If you do a simple pizza and its only topping is the tomato sauce, your sauce needs to be fucking good. It’s the same here. We’re lucky though since Akitsa are master riff crafters. They cultivate rawness like we cultivate apples to make ice cider. “Siècle pastoral” opens the album with an introduction buildup of urgent and primal guitars. You know what you’ll get right from the start.

They’re skilled at creating atmosphere with the strict necessary (like our ancestors dealt with life), they could do it with the strength of their riffs alone but there’s some interesting touches like that chanting on the opening track. Those riffs are so good that they’re able to hypnotize by their drony repetitiveness and their punk might akin to Darkthr... uhh Bone Awl or Raspberry Bulbs! Furthermore, the vocals of Outre-Tombe are spiteful and they’re able to deliver the French lyrics well. If you think they’re too raw, you might not listen to the adequate genre for you.

The blast beats ferocity of “Espoir Vassal” transports you into the frigid time of the year in Québec where the snow melts and cold mud just enters every pore of your body. Speaking of its thematic approach, Credo develops themes very well. It’s mixing history, poetry and a clear focus on the rough Quebec winters. Just like their music, it’s abrasive, buried in dark realities. Akitsa burns with coldness. It’s like sticking your tongue on a frozen hockey net on a dare. For some weird reasons, once your tongue is released from that ordeal, you’ve still enjoyed yourself.

They’re strong musicians but they’re also quite apt at creating a solid identity for themselves. From the old campfire photo used as the artwork (taken in 2000) to the cult forest band pictures, it’s rooted in traditional black metal aesthetics and I mean, I’m fine with that since I’m a big fan of Darkthr...oh shit!

All in all, Akitsa defied my expectations and managed to beat Cultes des Ghoules to gain the prestigious number one spot for black metal released in 2018. It combines excellent riffs, epic song structures and a mighty ambiance. 

 

Akitsa on Bandcamp

Khôrada - Salt (2018) / 90%

Tasty like salt-cured pork

After the highly publicized dissolution of Agalloch, one of this generation’s most important band, we were promised two different projects by its members. Pillorian was formed by the “leader” John Haughm who received a lot of flack for the way Agalloch ended and the three other members (Don Anderson, Jason William Walton and Aesop Dekker) decided to join forced with Aaron John Gregory from California’s Giant Squid, recently put on hold

I’m not gonna do a review within a review but it’s hard to talk about this album without talking about Pillorian too. I was far from thrilled with the new project from Haughm and the way he pushed his fellow band members under the bus definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. Pillorian’s Obsidian Arc felt like an unfinished continuation of Agalloch’s black metal identity. While competent, it didn’t impress me and I thought originality was lacking. While the album was released, I had high hopes when Gregory was announced to be a part of the second band as Giant Squid’s Minoans was one of my favorite albums of 2014. My hope wasn’t misplaced as this a grand and epic album.

We’re served seven elaborated pieces of music all furnished with elaborate rhythms and time signatures while remaining fairly melodic and atmospheric. The influences of Sculptured (Don Anderson’ band who’s been quiet since 2008) and Giant Squid are fairly present but it’s its own thing. Their style is fairly hard to categorize (which frankly can often be an inane thing to do) as they mix a lot of different styles into one really solid amalgam. While heavy enough to be seen or considered as metal, there’s a smooth feel throughout the whole record. Dekker’s intense and uncompromising drumming casts light where darkness is present and the guitars of Anderson and Gregory have never felt so vibrantly intelligent. From quasi funeral doom to blackened elegance, songs like “Seasons of Salt” encompass their whole sound in a compact nine minutes. It’s fast, elegant and can bring back some of the late 90s avant garde/doom/gothic/progressive death black sound found in Northern Europe, something Agalloch was also quite fond of.

There’s a lot of subtle surprises on Salt. From the ode to family that is “Augustus” which feels like a mix between a lullaby and some folky gospel to the quasi synthwave overture of the closing song “Ossify”. Let’s not forget the beautiful opening of “Glacial Cold” with its cello. Despite those moments, the album is a constant masterpiece without any boring sections or unnecessary parts. Aaron John Gregory’s vocals are surely the highlights for me. From raw and deep to soft and charismatic, he did a great job at the helm of Khôrada. He reminds me of Alan Averill (Primordial) with the way he can make clean vocals an eerie affair and still maintains an aura of darkness with the combination of his lyrical prowess and vocal exercises.

Gregory also wrote all the lyrics which are painting a pretty grim portrayal of Earth’s natural equilibrium. “Water Rights” speaks of how profit is ruining our resources and “Wave State” talks about how we’ll be destroyed by a drought and possibly engulfed under water as the Earth is destroyed. Regardless of the lyrical matter, I feel that their music isn’t without hope and the album serves more as a conceptual lecture about what sort of catastrophes the future has in stock for us than an arrogant warning written by someone who joined Greenpeace last week.

Nature is convinced
it's time for a sixth
extinction event
before man has the chance
to gnaw her to the bone


While I loved the album, I’m sure Khôrada can actually do better and I have high hopes for their future. Salt is both bright and grim, it’s both balanced and inventive and never forgets to be profound while maintaining an accessible approach.

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Basalte - Vertige (2018) / 95%

The Righteous Mastery of Atmosphere and Might

Basalte’s debut album was a thoroughly impressive piece of Quebec black metal and it impressed the hell out of me when it was released in 2014. Four years after “Vestige”, they’re back with “Vertige”, an album with an intricate and exhaustive sonic approach. The work on the production was meticulous, almost to the point of being monastic and it paid off.

Between the two records, the trio became a quartet when they got a full time bassist and he now contributes to the songwriting while improving the live performances of the band. They also played a special, secretive gig in the forest back in 2016 in front of about fifty people (including yours truly) and it added an aura of mystery and DIY attitude to the project. After that, their drummer was flown to Indonesia for a year to study music and while it made the recording process more complicated, it will certainly add something extraneous to the band’s future compositions. After L.’s return in August 2017, they finished the album, played one of their first gigs in a while when they opened for Falls of Rauros and now, they just released their sophomore effort. An album I had to chance to digest a bit before the actual release. It’s not an easy piece of art to assimilate but it’s a rewarding one.

Let’s not waste any time here, “Vertige” is an excellent album and it will certainly end up to be one of the most memorable and essential black metal albums of 2018. The four extended tracks are vast and filled to the brim with riffs, interesting time signatures, emotional tremolos and intense but yet natural drumming. The bass acts as the icing on the cake while the subtle, electronic bits can be seen as an added layer to their solid foundations. The vocal approach (three different vocalists but all four members sing live nowadays) is full of raw strength and unwieldy passion. From high pitched screeches to deep and buried aggression, their palette has a wide variety of colours, mostly shades of black and grey though but you don’t need anything else.

The guitars are loud, heavy, distorted but clean at the same time. The interplay between the two guitarists is always joyous but what they play is downright dark and brooding. Furthermore, the production did wonders to highlight all the instruments in a clear but troubling raw way and I’m glad they took their time to truly craft their songs like they wanted to.

Interestingly enough, they’ve always had an urban approach. While I thought “Vestige” explored the figurative and literal decay found in urbanity, “Vertige” acts as the opposite. It seems to look for the suffering in newer, modern and seemingly intact structures (as seen on the artwork) and that’s a fresh way to grow as a sonic storyteller. This research, reflected through their music, puts them at odds with the rest of atmospheric black metal, often busy contemplating waterfalls and picturesque landscapes. What Basalte declares with their poetic but somber lyrics speaks of neurosis, claustrophobia or apathy. Concepts I personally consider to be related to the city life.

The best bands are often hard to categorize and it’s true here as well. Basalte doesn’t play safe and adds a wide array of other styles to their formula and not just as afterthoughts or sprinkles of “hey listen to our prog metal section!”, it’s integrated within their songs and effectively changed their identity. The main aspect is surely the hardcore presence (“Acouphène” is the best example) but there’s loads of post-whatever (or whatever the hell is “atmospheric sludge”), shoegaze and ambient elements. Regardless of what Basalte play as a genre (it’s ultimately unimportant), there’s nothing faulty, boring or unpleasant on “Vertige”. What’s also worth mentioning is that the Montréal quartet never forgets to unleash the heaviness and riffs, “La sclérose coule dans ses veines” even goes into funeral doom territory with great results.

“Vertige” is a modern masterpiece transcending the outlines of what black metal should be in 2018. I mean, Deafheaven should be opening for ‘em. They’re a revamped, hungry and evolving band that’s pushing the envelope into foreign but exciting directions. Full support.

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Tape release

Ceremonial Bloodbath – Command Sacrifice (2017) / 82%

Sliced open by a rusty ceremonial dagger

The new quartet from Vancouver formed by members of Ahna, Haggatha and Mudlark plays unadulterated, intense death metal. The quasi-raw demo contains five tracks and most of them are over the five minutes mark. The track named after the band (I always like those) is eight minutes long and it’s a total banger full of evil riffs.

Their best skill is their ability to switch from slow to fast in an instant and keep the songs insanely heavy and cohesive. They play their death metal with some black and doom influences and while it fits the current scene of occult death metal cultists (see Dark Descent, Iron Bonehead etc), their compositions are fresh and exciting. No need for overblown originality when you have riffs this good anyway.

The natural production works well for their archaic and ancient sound. We’re served Slayer/Deicide-esque soloing (see the aptly named “Hordes of Demons Feeding”) and cavernous, unhinged vocals. It’s primitive and deadly. Their riffs are bouncy and dangerously chaotic. They constantly stab you in the gut with a rusty but really sharp ceremonial dagger.

I’m hoping that they will not polish their sound too much for their future releases, it’s totally adequate for their sound. It’s perfect to sacrifice human lives to whoever you think should rule the world. Command Sacrifice is one of the best demos of the year and if you like your extreme metal dirty and bloody, check them out.

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Jordablod – Upon My Cremation Pyre (2017) / 93%

Sweden rules divine

This young three-piece from Malmö, Sweden possibly released the best black metal album of 2017 with their debut full length album (out on the always reliable Iron Bonehead.) It’s everything I like about the genre in one marvelous package full of riffs and killer atmospheric bits.

While clearly looking at the olde gods of the genre such as Bathory, there’s a definite will to keep things balanced between ancient and actual. That’s something you can find in contemporaries allies such as The Ruins of Beverast or Tribulation. Like those two bands, creating an occult atmosphere was one of the goals they gave themselves and they truly did that with this record. Jordablod do something new but in a subtle way, it’s all in the details. Their style is an amalgam of primal black metal and barbaric (in the best way possible) death metal. It can recall the earliest foundations of the genres where things weren’t written in stone. They play around with different slow-burning atmospheres, some of them can recall the cold feel of pre-Christianity Sweden where Viking rituals were common (“Hin Håle”) while some others are rooted in fast quasi-folky metal à la Melechesh (“A Sculptor of the Future”.). Those numerous perspectives gave this album an additional coating of quality.

Despite those influences, they’re never silly or sugary. It’s done with good taste and a profound understanding of how their music should sound. At times, Jordablod sounds like a more organic Negative Plane. They both took the first wave sound and made it contemporary. The guitars are vivid, in your face and even in the softer, slower moments, there’s stuff happening. There’s absolutely no filler on this record. The guitar tone has this complex otherworldly charm. The band shines on those epic moments (see the conclusion/solo of “Liberator of Eden”) and I think they’re up there with Primordial for this long-winded intense approach to metal. Just like its artwork, Upon My Cremation Pyre is a grandiose, colourful record full of twists and turns

Iron Bonehead - Bandcamp

Rookscare – Ecotone (2016) / 86%

Psych-hick

Rookscare from West Virginia are one of those bands with an interest in melding many different genres to make a new identity for themselves. I can say they managed to do exactly that with this excellent extended play. Ecotone, the zone between two ecosystems fits the wide array of genres they use but also links their southern, rural roots to their theme.

Their Metal Archives doesn’t do justice to what they play but I guess it fits the band since we can’t put an essay in there. They’re sludge in the same sense than Acid Bath or Melvins are sludge as the genre is only a part of their whole conceptual scheme. Rookscare incorporates swampy acoustic passages, progressive black metal, heavy and even trad doom at times. All of this is surrounded by a constant attention to subtle details and a thick layer of psychedelia. The vocal approach also reflects this uncompromising kitchen sink formula, from clean to harsh, they’re always interesting and hostile.

The EP opens with the extensive title track and it’s followed by another long piece before delivering the sludgey, bass heavy to the point closer of “Brother James”. It’s an album full of contrasts but the mood remains constantly depressive and uneasy. It’s like if three hicks were hunting a bunch of jocks from the east coast with axes, sawed-off shotguns while smoking really potent weed out of heavy iron pipes.

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Oksennus - Sokea idiootti (2016) / 84%

Finland is weird. We all know that. Still, I wasn’t quite prepared for Oksennus’ music. I was intrigued by the simple yet out there artwork so I decided to check their sound and I wasn’t disappointed. Most stuff released by Caligari Records is high quality and this is no exception.

Oksennus (vomit in Napero-speech) relies heavily on the excellent bass to build their compositions, the bass is heavy and fast but at the same time, it’s also soft and melodic. It creates some sort of dichotomy with the guitars that are often quite noisy and metallic. There’s this conscious choice to make the rhythm section louder than the guitars and it works well for them. The bass creates the main melodies and the guitars just builds the foundations underneath. It’s a cohesive album, it’s the songwriting that’s just very fucked up and original. They took the current blackened doomy death metal trend, stripped it of everything, burned the house and built a new one from scratch. There’s also this odd technical feel, probably inspired by how they thought Demilich used to sound.

The vocals are mostly deep cavernous howls but the track “Ekstirpaatio” features some clean but ominous chanting, reminding me of a twisted version of Viikate. All in all, like with most metal genres, Finland shows that it’s able to put its own touches to something and make it crazy. Oksennus’ music is cold, unforgiving and worth looking into if like the Finns, you hate everything but saunas.

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Malebranche - Enlisé (2017) / 78%

In Movement

The young quartet from Montréal took their time to produce their first release and it was a judicious decision. They went straight to the EP format and did no demos. That’s fine nowadays where it’s entirely possible to get a great sound with ease. That’s something the boys of Malebranche got right on their debut.

In fact, they got a lot of things right. They got their style right, for sure. At first, I wasn’t quite convinced by their approach but it won me over after a while. Their blend of black metal genres is subtle and effective. They include elements of post black metal without never fully embracing it, same for Cascadian atmospheric black metal. Those two sub genres are toppings to the intense, fast paced black metal style of Malebranche. They’re a good representative of the actual Québec black metal scene as they’re removing themselves from the famous aesthetics. Like Basalte, Eos or Entheos, they’re the new wave of like-minded bands who aren’t afraid of exploring other genres.

Their compositions are dense and even though they’re not really lengthy, they’re epic in scope. The riffs are evocative and varied, the vocals obscure and powerful and the drumming strong and above average. Their sound is midway through traditional blistering black metal and the more subdued, prone to ambient side of the genre. A strong debut.

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Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder (2016) / 95%

Ted and Gylve are going camping again

Ever since their creation already three decades ago, Darkthrone has been mastering the metal arts. From death metal to icy black metal and hardcore punk fueled heavy/thrash, Ted and Gylve always did what they wanted and it’s never been anywhere near close to mediocrity. While we can go back to their classic trilogy for our black metal needs, I’ve been loving their recent material a lot and I often listen to their underrated and somewhat overlooked mid-era period (Hate Them in particular). The point of this introduction is to say that their whole discography is fucking immaculate and that’s a testament to both endurance and passion.

After my immediate love affairs with Circle the Wagons and The Underground Resistance, I was really expecting Arctic Thunder to be incredible. Unfortunately, I was a bit skeptical at first, it just wasn’t as good as I wanted to be. It seemed like a collection of good riffs without a cohesive feel or actual songs. I kept trying though as I knew the magic was there somewhere. The album was on constant rotation in December and January and turns out my understanding of it was waiting for me by the campfire. It was looking at the bright stars and the crisp flames wondering what I wasn’t grasping. With a judgmental look on its immaterial face, the record pierced my soul and I finally understood it. 

The main quality of Arctic Thunder is that it’s metal down to its core. It’s all about the riffs and it doesn’t hide anything under a false sense of gimmicks, an overcooked production or flashy but sterile musicianship. The album is like a strong imperial India pale ale, it contains a looooot of hops and it fills you up to the brink. The amount of riffs it has is almost criminal. I do think that some songs could had been longer but the tightness and the contained attitude is what makes this record so great. It’s epic by the strength of its riffs alone. The power of Nocturno’s guitar is enough to elevate the entire thing to another level. Perfect metal guitar tone.

Darkthrone doesn’t care about fluff or unnecessary elements, it’s riff after riff, thunderous drum beat after drum beat and bone shaking harsh vocals singing frosty anthems till you’re dead. 

BOREAL FIENNNNNDS

To talk about the sound of this record, we need to talk about their evolution since their watershed album The Cult Is Alive. They’ve been shedding their black metal skin since more than a decade while incorporating traditional metal elements (especially on their 2010 and 2013 records), punk, crust, D-beat or thrash metal. For this 2016 opus, it’s like if they decided to go back in time yet again but to an alternate dimension. One where black metal is still an essential part of their sound but where they wouldn’t have to leave their modern (read “ancient”) influences aside.

They took the sound developed on their previous five full lengths, mixed things up, pushed the black metal aura to the front and just went for the jugular. The album, rich with mid-paced riffs is apt at mixing thrashy black with some old school proto doom/death (Fenriz mentioned Dream Death himself and Satan knows he knows his shit) and it’s a lethal combination. Arctic Thunder brought back Darkthrone’s black metal from the dead but when you mess with necromancy, the corpse of your ancient friend can come back... changed. In this case, it came back as evil as before, hungry, angry and with a curious interest for hiking and camping.  

Nocturno handles almost all of the vocals on this record and it adds to the darker and murkier atmosphere they were going for. While I liked Fenriz’s silly but insanely great clean vox (listen to TUR’s “Valkyrie”), it wouldn’t had been a great fit here and like the old Norwegian wizards they are, they were wise enough not to include them here. Ted’s vocals are awesome (that’s not news for y’all, I hope) and he shines on the opener “Tundra Leech”. It made me want to sing the title while walking in the snowy roads of my city. 

TUNDRA LEEEEECH!

The quasi lo-fi production of Darkthrone has reached its peak here, I absolutely love the tone of the guitars and the drumming is both natural and loud without being overdone. The songwriting while highly condensed is all over the place and it’s due to the riffs variation. They can channel Iron Maiden (check out the intense title track), their buddies of Aura Noir, Celtic Frost or even Sabbath without breaking a sweat. There’s no much variation except for some slower tempos but it’s not needed. Darkthrone doesn’t do things for you, anyway. 

All in all, Darkthrone is still proving that they’re one of the best metal bands of all time by looking at the genre’s extensive repertory and making it their own. Making relevancy an unknown concept, the Norwegian duo aims for excellence and memorability and they succeed at both. Arctic Thunder is timeless, precious and essential metal

Demontage – Fire of Iniquity (2016) / 90%

Not yet extinct

The best metal band from Toronto is back with their third album and the first since their fantastic 2010 opus The Principal Extinction. While I have certain reservations concerning this new record, it’s still one of 2016’s best moments and, in the end, was far from disappointing.

Based on the psychedelic and progressive tendencies of their previous work, I thought the trio were gonna keep exploring this path and go full bonkers. I mean, there’s still similar moments here like the glorious “Untame Iniquity” or “Cult of the Meteor” but I think the focus is elsewhere, it's perhaps a bit more rooted in metal than ever. The tracks are mostly shorter and punchier but they still include lot of epic heavy metal,possibly more than ever before. My reservations are purely personal since I really like when bands go all out and release meandering (in the best sense possible) pieces and it’s not what this album is about. Oh well, there’s still the new Cultes des Ghoules for crazy black/heavy metal if I want to hear such a thing! I guess that I considered this new record as a sort of stagnation but after a while, I kept hearing new subtle and intriguing details. It’s just much more dense and compact and is more surprising than you’d expect from a band with this aesthetic.

The production while still on the lo-fi side is a bit better than it was before. Regardless, I don’t want a thoroughly clean Demontage album like I wouldn’t want a Nuclear Blast produced Darkthrone album. The gruff style works well for them and is an essential part of their identity. They’re obscure minstrels from an old, mystic aura where metal was still embryonic and genres were blurry.

The musicianship is also one of the aspects that put Demontage over their peers, The Lout is a riff machine and an inspired vocalist who channels the chaotic evil gods of old and the Abominable Reverend pounds the drums like a raging madman. There’s no disposable moments here and the album’s flow is precise and balanced as they alternate between mid-paced insanity and fast-paced attacks with ease and experience. The guitars are the clear highlights of this full length, they do so much while keeping things neat and their sound is fully devoid of any gimmick and unnecessary fluff. Demontage is a band relying on extremely addictive leads played by a single guitarist who just hammers riffs after riffs like it's nothing. Furthermore, the additional keys here and there certainly add a certain epic flair but they were able to convey this grandiose feel with their usual metal lineup. Not unlike the masters of metal themselves, Manilla Road.

From the thrash attack of the appropriately named “Mad Thrasher” to the Dark Quarterer-esque instrumental conclusion of “Into the Fire”, Fire of Iniquity is a tour-de-force. It’s a challenging record successful at mixing a lot of traditional metal styles in one potent formula. The first wave black metal meets the Greek scene and pure heavy metal is just something that barely anyone else is playing nowadays. Demontage are just as good as Zemial and Agatus, two comparable bands and influences. At times, they could be seen as a crazier and more elaborate Venom as they’re full of spite but also quite thoughtful and intelligent. We have the best of both worlds. Metal is at its finest when there’s no pretension involved but also when primitive posturing is removed from the equation. One thing is certain though, Demontage still freaking rules.

Demontage on Bandcamp