The Black Metal Thread

Deathspell Omega - "Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice" (2004)

French black metal legends Deathspell Omega may not have clicked with me immediately upon first impressions but they’ve certainly made up for lost time, having gone on to become my favourite modern black metal band for many years now. Admittedly, those first impressions were based on 2010’s extremely dissonant “Paracletus” album which is a hell of a lot to take in for the uninitiated old-school extreme metalhead. It wouldn’t take long for its wonders to open up to me though which saw my affections taking a drastically upward curve, particularly once I discovered Deathspell Omega’s unbelievable array of E.P.’s, many of which would soon sit amongst my black metal records of choice. With all of the talk about their brilliant avant-garde & dissonant material though, it's easy to forget that this band began as a more traditional black metal outfit who was still more than capable of competing with the big boys & their 2004 third full-length “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice” is a prime example of that.

Now, it’s probably worth noting that my first experiences with “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice” were taken a little out of context as I’d already flipped out over later & more ambitious works like “Kénôse”, “Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon”, “Mass Grave Aesthetics” & “Fas – Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum”, all of which set an incredibly high benchmark. It’s interesting that I didn’t find myself struggling to connect with “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice” on the same level though, perhaps because the album takes a much more familiar route via a traditional black metal style that’s somewhat similar to Norwegian icons Immortal a lot of the time. Or maybe it’s that you can very easily see the roots of the band’s fully developed signature sound in this release which is still of an undeniably high quality. I’d suggest that it was probably a bit of both but there’s honestly nothing stopping you from appreciating this record as a solid black metal album in its own right because it’s exceptionally consistent in its delivery.

“Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice” presents thirteen tracks that offer quite a bit of variety without ever deviating from the black metal template. It has to be said that its 77 minute duration is certainly overly ambitious though & I feel that it could have done with a fair bit of culling. In fact, there’s enough elite level material here to have created a genuinely classic 40-45 minute black metal release as the highlights are nothing short of superb. The production job sits well within the confines of the trademark sound Deathspell Omega have built for themselves over the years as it’s cripplingly dark & dense with the powerful drums & Clandestine Blaze/Stabat Mater mastermind & Fleshpress drummer Mikko Aspa’s croaky Abbath-style vocals being the protagonists. The musicianship on display is exceptional as always with former Hirilorn guitarist Hasjarl’s riffs already showing regular signs of the angular approach he’d take on later releases & my beloved blast-beats being performed with the utmost precision. Many of the tracks see wild changes in tempo taking place at various stages & there’s a case for saying that some of the material sounds a little pieced together but you’ll rarely see a moment of respite from the blasphemic atmosphere that pervades the album & this is only further enhanced by the use of religious chants & the sophisticated lyrics which Aspa delivers over the blackened chaos that surrounds him. There’s a supreme confidence in everything Mikko does that never fails to draw me in as he simply seems to know extreme metal music as well as anyone you’ll encounter.

So how does “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice” compare with Deathspell Omega’s more widely praised & inherently creative material then? Well it’s certainly not inferior in any way. In fact, I’d probably take it over their 2007 follow-up album “Fas – Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum” if pushed & it’d just sneak into my top five for Deathspell Omega’s back catalogue overall. The reason I’ve hesitated to reach for my more elite scores goes back to my comments on the length as I find it to be fairly excessive. I mean, what real purpose does closer “Malign Paradigm” serve for example? Is it a weak track? No, it’s actually pretty enjoyable when taken in isolation but its positioning at the end of the tracklisting sees it sounding a little out of place in terms of both style & production, not to mention the fact that it's clearly the least apealling of the thirteen tracks included. The tracklisting would have been much better off ending on the blasting masterpiece that is “Drink The Devil’s Blood” in my opinion. In fact, there are five tracks that I'd happily tag as being genuine black metal classics which is certainly impressive but when you’ve gone for thirteen tracks (none of which are interludes) then you’re always going to risk diluting the overall effect of your best material. Still… I don’t think Deathspell Omega are capable of producing anything that’s not both highly engaging & astoundingly professional so it’s very hard to be too critical. If you enjoy bands like Blut aus Nord, Aosoth & Abigor then chances are you’ll really dig “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice” too.

4/5

I ranked this as my third best DSO. amd IMO it's in the same league as PetroDragonic Apocalypse, A Hard Day's Night and No More Shall We Part.  This was the album were they really started getting closer to mastering their signature sound, so the 77 minute runtime IMO was totally necessary for their development to bigger and better things.

This was the album were they really started getting closer to mastering their signature sound

Interesting perspective. Personally, I would have thought that when most people refer to the signature Deathspell Omega sound they're really referring to the more dissonant & avant-garde experimentation of 2010's "Paracletus" rather than the more traditional black metal sound of “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice”.

This was the album were they really started getting closer to mastering their signature sound

Interesting perspective. Personally, I would have thought that when most people refer to the signature Deathspell Omega sound they're really referring to the more dissonant & avant-garde experimentation of 2010's "Paracletus" rather than the more traditional black metal sound of “Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice”.

Yes, but it had its variety.  Variety can sometimes be a predecessor to heavier experimentation.

Mgła - "With Hearts Toward None" (2012)

I revisited this popular Polish black metal sophomore album for the first time in over a decade this week & I have to say that, despite finding it to be a generally enjoyable listen, I still think it's been heavily overrated over the years. It's a serviceable enough traditional black metal record to be fair but it certainly lacks the menace of the true classics of the genre. The main reason is the drum sound & performance from Darkside (also of Kriegmachine). His beats simply lack intensity & come across as being fairly unintimidating. The vocals of M. (Kriegmaschine/Owls Woods Graves) are effective although a little generic while his guitar work is pretty simple but suitably melodic & atmospheric, often hinting at an underlying Dissection influence in their accessibility & catchiness. It's not hard to see why "With Hearts Toward None" is so popular as it's obviously pretty easy on the ear & offers significant crossover appeal but it's not a patch on the wonderful 2015 follow-up "Exercises in Futility" which is just so much more substantial in every way. I'd still recommend this album to fans of Plaga, Groza & early Uada though.

3.5/5

I found myself in a major urge to re-evaluate my black metal standards after having fallen slightly out of favor with Immortal.  I'm now rechecking out the Emperor discography, and here's my first review, for the only Emperor album I had not heard before today.

Emperor: Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise (2001)

Genres: Symphonic Black, Traditional Black

It's common knowledge that there are those in the music community who need new music albums by certain bands to sound almost exactly like their classics, so changes of pace are unwelcome.  So these new sounds are unfairly treated.  I, having learned to grow annoyed with monotony, embrace change.  That is what makes some albums much more engrossing, like Metallica's Black Album, Slayer's Seasons of the Abyss, or more appropriately, Emperor's Prometheus.  And it's an appropriately named album, because Prometheus, in the myth, committed a cardinal sin of stealing fire from Mount Olympus and bringing fire to humanity.  This album commits the sin of reinventing the band even though they were already doing well as black metal champions.  NEVERTHELESS!  I will not consider it five-stars based on change.  They have a new sound, and what matters is seeing if they can pull of the new sound or not.

The changes were made very clear very quickly.  No longer the traditional symphonic band that made them so beloved, they were taking an early shot at progressive black metal, right after Enslaved took the idea seriously.  As a result,t his album is excruciatingly riff-heavy, as evident by the death-infused intro, The Eruption.  One can tell from the next track, Depraved that Emperor hasn't lost their sense of melody, and probably even improved it.  It even features a little of that symphonic sound from the first two albums among the black metal villainy and the heavy metal riffs.  I mean, this song is as metal in spirit as Priest's Painkiller, and may even be my favorite Emperor song.  The album shoots right back into the symphonic sound of earlier albums in overdoses in Empty, which is less proggy, so we get a taste of the early days, complete with a new and innovative spacey dungeon synth backdrop. The prophet is more straightforward, slower and more menacing at first before its second half relies on superspeed to get the job done, and the combo works very well.

We continue with The Tongue of Fire, which is a lengthy, proggy and even spacey epic that tells its own sort of story through the music.  It utilizes length and creativity to keep the operatic spirit strong.  In the Wordless Chamber mixes it up by returning to the loud, menacing and symphonic brutality of the original two albums again, only this time it's louder than Empty, and far more frightening because of it.  The riffs are more oriented in traditional black metal rather than the prog and heavy riffage of many previous tracks on this album. Grey takes a more wacky and insane approach the the evil sound, kind of like something from Mayhem's debut, and there's even a couple instances of heavy metal wails which comes as a complete surprise, but is molded with the Emperor vocals so well that it's a complete boon rather than a bane.  He Who Sought Fire is a real jammer that takes more conventional metal riffs and molds them traditional black metal ones.  It's a perfect combination of melody and speed.  And finally, Thorns On My Grave is a powerful and operatic climax that satisfies perfectly as an ending.

I admit that I avoided this album for a while because, considering the ratings, I didn't feel a strong need to go check it out since I already had a black metal top 100 I was happy with.  I mean, Equilibrium IX was a great piece, but it wasn't the same as the first two.  But since I've been re-evaluating my metal standards again, especially black metal, I decided to give this a go.  I have to admit that I like this more than the original two albums because the band did a better job of reinventing themselves than Metallica and Slayer did. There's no telling where the album's going to go next.  It has everything a traditional black metal album needs and can do.  The symphonic sound is still there, there's some prog attached which makes the longer songs more inventive, the more traditional moments are as powerful and menacing as ever, an there are trace amounts of death metal scattered around.  Every melody is catchy, easy to headband to and does what it wants, being angry or epic or devastating, flawlessly.

I didn't expect this to become one of my favorite traditional black metal albums, but it did.  This is the kind of album I search for whenever I explore a genre, be it a new one or one I'm re-evaluating.  I'm going against the grain bigtime stating that this could be my favorite Emperor album.  Having fallen in love with the way this album was written, I now have to go back to the first teo Emperor albums and see if they still hold their current ratings on my chart.

Mgła - "Age of Excuse" (2019)

Polish black metallers Mgła are an intriguing artist. Much like US blackgaze icons Deafheaven & countrymen Behemoth, they’ve managed to largely divide the underground metal community but seem fairly undeserving of their criticism based purely on the quality of their work. Sure, they may not buy into the lo-fi aesthetic that black metal purists seem to value so much which gives them an immediate advantage over the competition in terms of accessibility but they’ve never claimed to be anything they’re not as far as I’m aware & simply continue to do what they enjoy (& very well too it has to be said). Nonetheless, my recent revisit to their 2012 “With Hearts Toward None” sophomore album couldn’t muster more than 3.5 stars which seemed a little out of line with the common consensus that it’s one of Mgła’s best records. My view is that it doesn’t come close to the duo’s exceptional 2015 follow-up “Exercises in Futility” which I consider to be nothing short of a modern black metal classic & that led me to wonder whether perhaps Mgła’s 2019 fourth album “Age of Excuse” may be worth a re-examination given that its predecessor had already seen them transcending the concerns I held for “With Hearts Toward None”. I've been generously rewarded for my efforts too with “Age of Excuse” proving itself to be a worthy entry in Mgła’s illustrious discography.

Mgła is made up of just the two band members in founding vocalist/guitarist/bassist Mikolaj Zentara (Kriegsmaschine/Owls Woods Graves) & drummer Maciej Kowalski (Kriegsmaschine/Crionics/Darzamat/MasseMord) who has been his partner in crime since the band’s second proper release in 2006’s highly regarded “Mdłości” E.P. In the seventeen years since that time M. & Darkside (as they are known under their chosen aliases for this project) have amassed a number of critically acclaimed releases that seem to inevitably draw as much disapproval as they do celebration. I can see why with a record like “With Hearts Toward None” to be honest as the quality levels seem to be a little out of line with some of the fanfare it seems to draw & my only explanation can be that people have fallen for the band's image & aesthetics more than the actual art but the same can certainly not be said for “Exercises in Futility” which is as essential a black metal release as you’ll find in my opinion.

2019’s “Age of Excuse” sees Mgła returning with an album that sounds exactly like you’d expect it to in many ways. The boys certainly knew how to reproduce a glisteningly polished recording of their art by this stage as, just like “Exercises in Futility”, Mgła’s fourth full-length possesses an immaculate production job that goes a long way to explaining its appeal. It’s also quite simple in its structure & the composition is always fairly melodic too which makes it easier on the ear than most of their black metal competition. The performances are pretty spectacular though with both musicians choosing not to push their technical limitations & instead opting to create sweeping soundscapes of perfectly executed & quite musical extreme metal. Despite the basic make-up of this music, there’s no shortage of nuance in Mgła’s sound with M. continuously finding ways to layer melodic guitar arpeggios over his standard tremolo-picked riffs & Darkside once again showcasing his masterful cymbal work. Darkside never really goes for broke here by ascending into realms of sheer battery. He prefers to stay a little more within himself in the best interest of the song-writing & it works nicely for him too as each track is given ample space for which to realise its full potential.

The album begins very well with the opening two cuts being particularly solid examples of the Mgła sound but things really heat up in the middle of the tracklisting. The third & fourth tracks see the darkness & intensity ramping up significantly for what are unquestionably a couple of the best tracks of Mgła’s career to date, particularly the wonderful “III” which will no doubt completely destroy all of the Dissection & Emperor fans out there. It's in these moments that M.'s intimidatingly grim vocals are most effective. He may not possess the most original black metal delivery on the planet (on the contrary, he sounds like any number of other black metal front men) but there can be no denying his effectiveness. Unfortunately though, the remaining two tracks see Mgła opting for a less imposing & more atmospheric sound that’s nowhere near as engaging in my opinion. “V” & “VI” aren’t weak tracks as such but they do seem like a step down from the first four pieces which results in “Age of Excuse” failing to reach the potential it had shown earlier on in the tracklisting.

Don’t get me wrong guys, “Age of Excuse” is another high-quality release from the Polish black metal phenomenon. I guess I’m just left feeling a touch disappointed at the end of each listen because the last sixteen minutes aren’t up to the same level as the first twenty-six. The album is well worth exploring though & should be essential listening for fans of the band as well as those partial to artists like Uada, Kriegsmaschine or Plaga. Just don't expect anything terribly different as Mgła make no attempt to push any creative boundaries here. Instead, they prefer to take a path that's already well-trodden but do it with a class & professionalism that's not all that common in the black metal space.

4/5

Gonna take a break from the war metal to go over the Emperor albums again.

Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)

Genres: Symphonic Black, Traditional Black

Black metal had been out for about a decade by the point of this album's release.  We already had a revolution that was beating Venom at their own game, a dorky club pretending to be a cult before someone killed the founder of the club, and of the genre, and the same year as this album was the long awaited release of Mayhem's debut studio album.  By this point, Darkthrone had cemented itself as one of the greatest metal bands on Earth to the masses, and Immortal was just starting.  It had a crazy run before we finally got to Emperor.  Unlike grunge, black metal lived on because it was a niche market that relied on negative rep.  Emperor might've lost their lead influence, but they didn't lose their willpower.

In the Nightside Eclipse was their first outing, and to this day it remains one of the most emulated black metal albums on Earth.  In fact, this album represents a lot of firsts.  The most notable "first" of this album is the dungeon synthesizers, which were an unholy sin that even black metal fans wouldn't commit.  That's boldness for ya'.  And it's not ham-fisted or cheesy in anyway shape or form; they're gorgeous in their Gothic behavior, creepy as hell and add a thick layer of personality without being overused.  Another one is the clearer production.  The guitars might be quite dirty, but through the clean production you get not only the most of the beautiful synths, but the most of the guitars.  let the shredding handle the, ahem, dirty work.

Our singer, Ihsahn, has that absolutely perfect voice for the job.  If you're familiar with their second album, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, you might recognize something about this album.  It sounds more like typical black metal, right?  Right and wrong.  These guys were one of the first bands to really perfect what the pure sound of black metal is with the right production, except they also had a symphonic sound to work with.  So instead of being Darkthrone knockoffs, they became something more medieval, fantasy-inspired and epic.  In a way, they totally beat Darkthrone, making a new sound even more fresh, something these guys would do continuously throughout their four album streak.  They were a great bridge between melodic, traditional and the newly formed symphonic brands of black metal.  In other words, this album is purely essential by any definition for technical and melodic proficiency.  On top of that, it sounds exactly like its incredible cover wants you to think it sounds like, so there's a perfectly fitting cover, and one of my personal favorites.

Although it must be said that most of these songs sound very much the same.  I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't point that out.  Maybe I need to compare this to their "worst" release, Equilibrium IX, but I feel that they had every ability to try to write songs with different approaches and they completely neglected that in the long run, relying on smaller surprises in a few areas rather than trying new things.  At least the album never gets boring.  But on top of that, I think there's a newfound diversity that's still there, especially for its time.  On top of the aforementioned balance between traditional, melodic and symphonic black metal, there are notable traces of gothic metal and prog metal to it, so despite its obvious flaw it's actually quite revolutionary.  Because of this, there's a constant aura eminating from what could be a perfect black metal sound in general, something that's difficult to achieve, and Emperor somehow found a way to make it look easy on their first album.

In the Nightside Eclispe will be iconic throughout the rest of metal history.  It's going to serve as an example of how to perfect the black metal sound, even though it suffers from monotony in comparison to more creative outings by not only Emperor but by other bands.  If your going to check out Emperor, I suggest you do it in chronological fashion.  This is the kind of album that will keep you headbanging throughout its entire run.  For all of its innovations, this is at least a mile ahead of the earlier traditional black metal classic, A Blaze in the Northern Sky by Darkthrone.

96/100

Rex, can you please repost your last post. My newborn daughter just managed to press the BAN POST button while I was reading it. Sorry about that.

Emperor - IX Equilibrium (1999)

Genres: Symphonic Black Metal, Traditional Black Metal

Emperor had made it into the big leagues and stayed there forever thanks to only two albums: In the Nightsdie Eclipse and Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk.  One was a new take on traditional black metal with a whole new sound, and the second was a more cleanly-polished take on the original which a very notcurnal vibe.  Emperor always loved trying new things, so where were their ventures going to take them next?  Into... straightforward original black metal, apparently.  This really isn't a bad decision just because of that, but could Emperor pull it off?  Let's see if they "sold themselves out" instead of wanting to try a new vibe.

In some cases, Emperor were attempting straightforward black metal.  And if track one, Curse You All Men, proves anything, it's that they can pull it off effortlessly.  This is more brutal and maniacal than anything Darkthrone or Immortal ever put out.  This is a first time for them when you think about the genre!  ANd once again they shift their symphonic sound for a new vibe.  It seems that the point of IX Equilibrium is to once again try new things with a very different mood from what we got before.  Unfortunately, while this mood has been rarely perfected, this is the first Emperor album featuring an atmosphere that's already been attempted.  This is one of the reasons it's considered inferior.  But damn if that black metal energy isn't extremely thick and dense.  I can't even see out the window of this aural hurricane.  Rain covers everything, although I can occasionally hear the symphonic parade of musicians and soldiers marching, as if the stabbing rain didn't hurt them.

Unfortunately, because they're acting more straightforward on this album, a couple of the songs are a little too long, so they tire out pretty quickly.  As for any flaws pertaining to other songs, this one's a really easy one.  While the absolute maelstrom of sound on this album is nothing short of formidable, there's typical blastbeating mixed in with Emperor's strongest point: melody, so it's easy for one to outshine the other.  Now the album has its share of diversity.  It covers Emperor's symphonic sound with the newfound original black sound while adding bits of new stuff, including the heavier prog which would be more fleshed out on Prometheus, as well as bits of speed and thrash in sparse places.  But that's also a little bit of a con as these little bits are sparse and scattered.  This includes the gothic sound of Welkin, which thankfully makes it onto this release, especially during the final track, "Of Blindness & Subsequent Seers" which carries a surreal tone to it.

This third Emperor album is the point where they stopped being "just" a new sound.  In an attempt to gain the favor of the followers of ancient tradition, they took part in it.  There was some excellent skill in sound, technicality and melody, but there was little drawbacks to this new sound.  In other words, Emperor could do just about anything, but couldn't perfect this is it was their first attempt.  This is excellent black metal, but not the best compliment to Emperor's prowess.

95/100

SECOND REVIEW FOR PROMETHEUS

I went through the whole discography again so that I could flesh out my black metal opinions even more.  I've been very serious about this for a couple weeks, and I pretty much have them sorted out.  There are just a couple things I need to get clear, especially concerning the band I went through the whole studio catalog of today (for the second time this month): Emperor, one of the most influential black metal bands in the world for creating, pioneering and perfecting the symphonic black metal sound.

A little Emperor history.  They invented a new black metal genre, and it's considered one of the greatest albums of all time.  They change up their sound, and it's considered one of the greatest albums of all time.  This says something about Emperor: they are NOT conformists, and they weren't gonna stay that way.  I may seriously piss somebody off when I speak honestly: if you won't let the non-conformists change their style, then you're not a real fan of them.  In short, if you don't like Prometheus just because it doesn't sound like either of the first two albums, then you're not a real Emperor fan.  It's one thing to say you prefer the original sound(s), but to act like they're not supposed to sound any other way in general is just unfair to the constant renovators.

Because of its shifting riffs and melodies within the same songs, a trait often found on Emperor songs, it is given a progressive tag.  I think a couple songs are prog, mostly "Grey," but this just feels like a different sounding Emperor album with more influences than anything, rather than progressive black.  I mean, come on.  I've even read criticisms for how often In the Nightside Eclipse shifted its riffs.  If people are worried that the progressive metal status and the heavy metal behavior of some of these songs takes away from the true blackness, I find that appalling to even consider.  Songs like "The Prophet" and especially the thunderstorm that is "In the Wordless Chamber" have plenty of black attitude and blastbeats to maintain the status, and it's not alone.  On a secondary note, what is "tr00 black metal?"  I've heard various definitions of that as well.  The most common answer when naming the perfect black metal sound, as I have researched, seems to be one of several classic Darkthrone's, usually A Blaze in the Northern Sky.  That clean, sympho-gothic work is so far from Blaze that I feel like vomiting when I hear Welkin called "tr00."  You might get away with that argument concerning Nightside, but I still find that album very cleanly produced.  On the subject of Welkin's sound, I think one of the biggest underlying differences is the large lack of the gothic behavior of the synths, as well as the slight downgrade of necessity in place of more riffs.  I have no problem with the decision itself; all I want is to see if it works.

Now that I'm done combining deconstruction of the album with my own personal ranting, I'm ready to go into the more detailed side of the review.  Prometheus is, like Welkin was, a collection of various metal genres working together to create something unheard and new.  That's Emperor's specialty.  Why can't most war metal bands try this out for once?  We have storms of fire, ice, wind, water and lightning all taking turns amazing with some of Emperor's healthiest melodic structures.  Oh, forgot the earthquakes.  Working with the elements of nature re a variety of different vocals all being perfectly delivered by Ihsahn, be it the high-pitched demonic squeals of Nightside, the more nocturnal growls of Welkin or some straight up operatic heavy metal singing and harmonies.  He even get a couple 80's metal wails.  And the best part?  Each song has its own identity, standing out from the rest without any trouble.  This is a feat that Emperor struggled with in past albums, even if they were able to bring together a collection of various influences together in shifting ways on Welkin. 

What we're facing is the final metamorphosis of a modern Proteus.  Emperor were a like a tiny larvae that made a big impact on the world, and once it became a butterfly, half of the metal community wanted them to be a larvae again. Prometheus is a concept album about the titular myth, but is that really what makes the album so strong when a large part of the idea is not to understand the lyrics?  It's the monolithic power.  This is a collection of a symphonic metal opera, the raging storms of ancient traditions, the further steps of prog, as well as so much more.  I'd say that Emperor "accomplished" more on this album than they ever did. If I had to be fully honest, I consider this one of the very few albums that I feel represents a whole side of metal itself, rather than one or two genres.  This is about all the extremities that black metal can achieve rather than just being another black metal album.  Because of this, I know find myself in a very rare state of mind: I rank this above PARANOID.

Now my third best metal album of all time.

Rex, can you please repost your last post. My newborn daughter just managed to press the BAN POST button while I was reading it. Sorry about that.

OK.  I won't trouble you to place the review in chronological order.

Emperor: Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1996)

Genres: Traditional Black, Symphonic Black

Emperor's debut, In the Nightside Eclipse is a classic for many reasons, notably all of the things that made it so unique for its time.  Emperor created the symphonic black metal genre by committing a taboo worse than human transmutation, killing your parents or putting pineapple on pizza: synths in black metal.  Cue Carmax commercial ending.  But because the group took it seriously by using a thin layer throughout the whole with a more gothic and cinematic approach than anything, as well as going head-to-head with some astounding riffs and melodies, Nightside Eclipse became an instant classic.

What we have here is a thematic improvement on every aspect of Nightside.  The elements that comprise Nightside are a heavily present but thin layer of dungeon synths, melo-traditional behavior and clean production.  On Welkins, everything here is not only improved, but refined like a purified crystal, now with some or another power of night, darkness, yadda yadda.  The album is one of those that goes through a plethora of influences ranging from some of the most blatantly gothic synth the genre has, newly found progressive styles, and the original genre components of Nightside, all purified... but like Butcher the Weak, it recycles the same influences throughout more than half of these songs.  This is because of the final element of Nightside: the shifting riffs and layouts.  This is what united the identities of Nightside as one whole, and it largely does the same here.  But I'll be damned if I didn't honestly say that each melody and riff wasn't great if not incredible.  I gave Butcher the Weak five-stars for that behavior because it worked, and this 40-minute maelstrom of gothic evil lasts without a real blemish throughout its 40 minutes.  I mean, technically each song is predictable when you think about it: heavy start, several symphonic riffs, abrupt ending.  But each song is pulled off in an almost beautiful manner.

There is dirty, edgy and speed-based metal like Darkthrone or Immortal which knows how to amaze, and then there's the orchestral presence of Emperor, especially on Welkins, where the album doesn't simply "emit demonic energy: it glows black and violet behind its thickly green album cover, never oozing or dripping, just glowing.  The definition of the album is majesty, and is a rare example of me giving an album with "technically" samey behavior on a song-to-song basis five stars.  The finest tuned axample of symphonic black metal I can think of, Welkins is a rare breed by a band all about crafting a different kind of breed each album.  All of these songs amaze with the various influences, and that shows something: Emperor can actually get away with the behavior that leads many bands to write the same song over and over again, because Emperor still had new rhythmic and melodic tricks up their sleeves.

100/100

Mayhem - "Pure Fucking Armageddon" demo (1986)

I've never really enjoyed 80's Mayhem to tell you the truth & their ultra-primitive first up effort is a prime example of why as it really offers very little in the way of musical value. The awful attempt at recording vocals through the "studio" side is the most significant stumbling block for me with the instrumental versions of the same songs on the unmixed side being far more palatable. The sound quality in general is quite abysmal though. Euronymous' guitar tone is quite possibly the filthiest sound ever created by man & must have hit anyone within a few miles like an out-of-control freight train. This is blackened thrash metal in its rawest & most visceral form. It's just a pity that it's so hard to listen to. I'm afraid time hasn't done much to change my initial poor impressions from back in my tape trading days. For fans of Tormentor, Hellhammer & Sarcofago.

2/5

Sarcófago - "The Black Vomit" demo (1986)

I got pretty heavily into Brazilian extreme metal legends Sarcófago very early on in my early 1990's tape trading days which led me to securing all of their demo tapes from a South American trader. This one is both the earliest & the most obscure one but I like it the most of the three nonetheless. The intro track "Recrucify" is devastatingly dark & wonderfully effective while both of the proper tracks "The Black Vomit" & "Satanas" are pretty decent too. This demo is pure black metal to my ears & is miles better than the greatly overhyped Mayhem material from the same year. It's well worth checking out if you're into super-underground, lo-fi demo stuff.

4/5

Sarcófago - "Satanic Lust" demo (1987)

The Brazilians second demo tape was a couple of steps down from the first in my opinion, mainly because it was ruined by a pretty awful production job that featured a piss-weak drum sound. It was a bit of a shame as there's a fair amount of potential in the song-writing (as seen in the alternate versions on the "Die... Hard" compilation). Once again, this demo is predominantly black metal with a little blackened thrash appearing on the heavily Hellhammer influenced final track "Third Slaughter".

3/5

Sarcófago - "Die... Hard!!!" (2015)

The underground tape trading scene of the early-to-mid 1990’s was very kind to me. The feeling of excitement I’d have every time a package of new music would arrive from some foreign part of the world is something that the youth of today probably can’t understand given the ready access everyone has to literally every piece of music ever recorded but it was seriously addictive for a young, fresh-faced me who was still relatively new to this whole extreme metal thing. A South American kid I was trading with used to keep me up to speed with all of the cool underground stuff that his continent had to offer & I'd return the favour with the better Aussie bands like diSEMBOWELMENT, Armoured Angel & Sadistik Exekution. One particular package I received from this trader included the 1987 “INRI” debut album from Brazilian black/thrash metal legends Sarcófago, a band that I’d heard a little bit about but had never had the pleasure of experiencing. Upon listening to it though, I discovered that these South Americans knew a thing or two about raw extremity, a gift that I valued very highly at the time & still do. I’d subsequently request copies of any other Sarcófago releases I could get my hands on, including their three seminal mid-80’s demo tapes.

You may have noticed that I’ve recently been reliving those times by revisiting many of the releases I flogged in my early-to-mid teenage years, an exercise that’s ended up being much more significant than initially I thought it might be. As a part of that I’ve been spinning quite a number of demo-quality releases for the first time in many decades too which has brought back some quite vivid memories. When I went to look for the old Sarcófago material I found that there was a 2015 compilation album called “Die… Hard!!!” which apparently brings together all of the band’s demos & unreleased material on the one disk which was handy. This seemed to serve my purpose brilliantly so I’ve been giving the compilation a fair bit of time over the last few days. The results have been… well…. pretty mixed though if I’m being honest.

“Die… Hard!!!” kicks off with three rounds of the same four song run, only they’ve been recorded in different sessions. Tracks one to eight are previously unreleased recordings from 1985 while tracks nine through twelve are taken from the 1986 “Satanic Lust” demo. Strangely, the unreleased & apparently much earlier versions are significantly better than those released on the demo which was admittedly always the one that I found to be the weakest of the three Sarcófago tapes. “Satanic Lust” is marred by an awful production which includes a diabolically poor drum sound which goes a long way to ruining the faster material like “Satanas” & the heavily Hellhammer influenced “Third Slaughter”. The slower “Nightmare” is left largely unharmed but it was enough to spoil the cassette for me so I appreciated the alternate versions. I’d just question the need to have TWO of them because I really don’t think too many people will want to sit through three versions of the same thing.

1987’s “Christ’s Death” demo (the third & last of the three) fares much better, championing a sound that I’ve always thought was close enough to genuine war metal, only a good two years before Blasphemy’s seminal “Blood Upon The Altar” demo first saw the light of day. This stuff would have to have been the most brutal & evil material to ever see the light of day at the time, out-savaging even Bathory’s highly influential “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark” album from the same year. It still sounds pretty good too just quietly, although admittedly not essential. That just leaves Sarcófago’s first demo “The Black Vomit” (my personal favourite) then, doesn’t it? Soooo…. uuuummm… where is it then? I can’t seem to find it. Apparently it hasn’t been included for one reason or another which is a little frustrating. Perhaps due to the poor sound quality of the recordings? I dunno but it’s a strange omission, especially given that the remainder of “Die… Hard!!!” is made up of inessential rehearsal recordings & unreleased outtakes, most of which don’t exactly set the world on fire with a previously unreleased version of “Black Vomit” from the sessions for the “Warfare Noise I” compilation being the best of them.

If you give “Die… Hard!!!” some dedicated attention then you’ll no doubt come to the realization that Sarcófago have never gotten the full credit they were due. Some of this stuff sits amongst the earliest examples of authentic black metal material ever recorded & it still stands up today in terms of intensity. It’s just that you have to sit through a fair bit of inconsistency to reach the gold in his 20-song tracklisting, particularly towards the back end with some of the more recent tracks like the awful “Alcoholic Coma” & the flat “Secrets of a Window” being closer to traditional thrash than black metal. If you’re a total Sarcófago tragic or an obsessive fan of bands like Vulcano, Blasphemy & early Sepultura then I probably don’t need to tell you that “Die… Hard!!!” is a bit of a no-brainer but I can’t see the necessity for more casual listener. I mean, do I really need a drum machine-driven version of “Satanic Lust” in my life when the original wasn’t that great to begin with? I’d suggest that the better value option might be to hunt down the three demo tapes on YouTube actually, especially considering that the best of them isn’t even included on this compilation.

3/5

Burzum - "Reh/Demo 91" demo (1991)

Another early Burzum demo tape I picked up through the tape trading scene after falling in love with Varg's first couple of proper releases during the first part of the 1990's. "Reh/Demo 91" is once again a purely instrumental release, this time featuring an extremely inconsistent tracklisting as far as sound quality goes. There's more up-tempo traditional black metal here than on the self-titled 1991 demo tape too with the more atmospheric stuff being relegated to a supporting role but the end result is pretty similar in terms of overall quality. The first five tracks are virtually destroyed by a terrible (read: non-existent) production job but there are a number of more than decent inclusions amongst the remaining seven pieces, mainly due to the improved recording techniques. Interestingly, there are a couple of genuine doom metal tracks here that fans might not be familiar with & they show you a different side to Varg as an artist. Still... this is hardly an essential release with the first half being pretty tough going to say the least. If pushed I’d probably take the first Burzum demo over this one by the barest of margins. The strange, out-of-time metronome sound in the background of some of the tracks certainly doesn’t help it’s cause though. For Burzum completists only.

2.5/5

Samael - "Worship Him" (1991)

Ben & I got onboard with Samael pretty early on in their recording career & always had their 1990's releases floating around our bedrooms as youngsters. 1994's classic "Ceremony of Opposites" album was the biggest player but I've always felt that their earlier works are far too often overlooked, particularly their 1991 debut album "Worship Him" which was recorded as early as March 1990 but presents a sound that is not too dissimilar to the one the Norwegians used to change the metal world a couple of years later. In fact, I'd be very surprised if a young Fenriz was not all over "Worship Him" as Samael had already presented most of the concepts we'd fall in love with on Darkthrone's "A Blaze In The Northern Sky" here, although they're admittedly not executed quite as well as the more classic second wave releases.

"Worship Him" sees Samael combining the influences of "In The Sign Of The Black Mark"-era Bathory with the first couple of Celtic Frost records for a highly compelling result that is the very epitome of early black metal. The riff structures are intentionally kept very simple with the tempos largely sitting in the slow-to-mid range which allows Samael to maximize the impact of some pretty catchy song-writing. The tracklisting is very consistent with no weak tracks included while the lengthier, doomier tracks like the title track & "Into The Pentagram" showcase Samael's early sound best. The short "Rite of Cthulhu", neoclassical darkwave piece "Last Benediction" & closing instrumental "The Dark" are also very solid inclusions but there aren't really any total classics here which is no doubt why we're don't see Samael being spoken of in similar terms to the Darkthrone's or Burzum's. There's more than enough depth & atmosphere to make "Worship Him" an essential purchase for early black metal fans though in my opinion. It reminds me a fair bit of the early Greek bands (see Rotting Christ, Varathron) in its uncomplicated, uncluttered approach actually & I love the grim vocals of guitarist Vorphalack. "Worship Him" comes highly recommended from this old extreme metalhead.

4/5

Taake -Et hav av avstand (2023)

Taake mainman Hoest is an interesting and somewhat underappreciated contributor to the history of Norwegian black metal. Beginning the band in Bergen as Thule in 1993 he has been around that infamous scene since it's earliest days. Whilst undoubtedly taking his cues from those raw, primal black metal beginnings, he has always been an artist who treads his own path. He has never shied away from longer tracks, having several clocking in around ten mibutes, but here he goes all-in with the album's 42 minutes being taken up by just four tracks, with opener "Denne forblaaste ruin av en bro" and following track, "Utarmede gruver" running into each other and coming off as one long twenty-minute-plus epic.

The album is jam-packed with tremolo-picked riffs that are generally quite catchy and melodic, yet Takke's skill is in not making it sound at all like a melodic black metal album and believe me when I say that this is jam-packed with riffs then you had better believe it, the tracks switch from riff to riff like a hyperactive toddler in a Coca-Cola factory. Despite his riffs incorporating influences from everything from trad metal to post-punk, he still imbues them with enough true black metal rawness to leave no one in any doubt that this is indeed a norwegian black metal album. That aesthetic is more than ably reinforced by Hoest's searing, screeching vocals, that provide that quintessentially authentic nordic black metal vocal experience and leave you in no doubt as to what type of album you are listening to.

The opening diptych is followed by the album's shortest track, Gid sprakk vi, which is the most obviously black metal of the tracks here, it's icy blasting reaching reaching for us through the years from the time of Darkthrone's unholy trilogy and producing a shiver down the spine of real black metal afficianados. That blast of nostalgia is followed by the closer and the album's longest single track, Et uhyre av en kniv. This has a progressive feeling to it with an overarchingly melancholic atmosphere, sounding to me a bit like something you may have heard from Ihsahn early in his solo career.

In summation I would say that Hoest has pulled off quite the trick here, releasing an album that is atmospheric, melodic and progressive, but that wears the monochromatic clothes of blistering and raw true norwegian black metal, leaving the listener with a decidedly original experience. I don't suppose this will receive too much attention but it really should as I think it is a wonderously creative slice of modern black metal that appeals to me far more than the preponderance of unlistenable dissonant and avant-garde black metal that everyone seems to be championing nowadays.

4/5

Narbeleth - A Pale Crown (2024)

Ah, Cuba, the home of the world's finest cigars, Twentieth century revolutionaries and the first, although in all probability not the last, potential flashpoint to nuclear armageddon. It is also the original home of Dakkar, the man behind black metal project Narbeleth, although he now calls Galicia in Spain home. It may just be my ignorance showing here, but I never heard of much of a metal scene in Cuba, yet it makes perfect sense for a band like Narbeleth, black metal being pretty much an outsider's style of metal, I would imagine Dakkar being very much an outsider in the Caribbean place of his birth.

Musically, Narbeleth are very much an old-school black metal act, with recognisable and memorable tremolo riffing in the style of luminaries such as Immortal and Satyricon, with a cover of the latter's "The King of the Shadowthrone" even closing out the album. The production isn't as raw as we would have expected from the band's influencers thirty years ago, but the modern production values don't rob the music of any of it's icy aggression and is such that it enables all the constituent parts to be heard clearly. Dakkar has a real ear for a frosty-sounding riff, with his true talent coming in knowing exactly when to throttle back the tempo and when to put his foot down, as it were. This transition between full-on blasting and a more mid-paced tempo provides a lot of the impetus and dynamism in his songwriting and is wielded exceedingly deftly. He also possesses one of those frost-rimed voices that has you imagining visible clouds of icy breath issuing from his lips as he shrieks his occult-heavy lyrics into the night sky.

It would also be remiss of me not to mention the second band member, Vindok, and his supporting role on drums, which he fulfills perfectly, providing a precise battery which injects added impetus to the faster sections and adds depth to the slower tempo parts. Nothing showy, but well-judged and effective black metal skinsmanship. All things considered, I found this to be an immensely enjoyable trip back to the 1990's black metal heyday, with a bit of a modern twist in the higher production values, but that manages to remain authentic-sounding and illustrating perfectly that you don't need to have grown up in the frozen forests of Scandinavia to be able to produce trve black metal frostiness.

4/5

Master's Hammer - "Ritual" (1991)

1991's debut album "Ritual" represented my entry point into the world of Czech black metallers Master's Hammer back in the day, an experience that would see me experimenting with most of the remainder of their back-catalogue at one point or another with the exception of their 1995 electronic/experimental third album "Šlágry" which I've never found the courage to investigate. The band's second & third demo tapes were pretty decent as well as their 1992 sophomore album "Jilemnický okultista" but the remainder of the Master's Hammer discography is largely underwhelming with only 2012's "Vracejte konve na místo" seeing me leaving with a positive outlook. It's really this first-up full-length that will forever be the centrepiece of Master's Hammer's legacy though & I'd suggest that it's influence can be easily picked up on many of the early Second Wave of Black Metal releases.

"Ritual" is a funny record for me as I can easily hear its importance in the evolution of the modern black metal sound but there's quite often one element or another that holds me back from fully committing. The riffs are a lot thrashier than most early 90's black metal bands would opt for which was perhaps more of a reflection of Master's Hammer's First Wave credentials than anything else while the primitive blast-beats give "Ritual" a fair whack of old-school street credibility. There's a quirkiness to their sound though that I find hard to put my finger on with the vocals of front man Franta Štorm often taking an unusual yet captivating route, despite the clear influence from Bathory's Quorthon. In fact, the Bathory influence is clear throughout "Ritual" with all eras of that classic artist appearing in one shape or form, the most significant of which being the wonderfully epic closer & album highlight "Útok" which reeks of Bathory's Viking metal period.

The tracklisting is relatively consistent with only the weak "Géniové..." failing to hit the mark but I'd suggest that there aren't enough genuine highlights for me to be considering my higher scores with only the high-quality instrumental title-track & the very solid "Černá svatozář" competing with the closer for highlight status. I do quite enjoy the opening intro piece "Intro (King of the Bohemian Forest)" though & feel that it sets the mood for the album quite well. The rest of the record is nothing more than mildly enjoyable though & doesn't justify the sort of praise you'll see from some parties. I genuinely feel that there's an element of getting carried away from a purely timeline-driven perspective with some reviewers as there's no doubt that "Ritual" was slightly ahead of its time. I find that I can hear their influence the most prominently with Norwegian Second Wave legends Enslaved & would be very surprised if there wasn't a link there. For me personally though, I can't quite position Master's Hammer's debut in as positive a light as I do the debut album from fellow late-First Wavers Samael whose "Worship Him" album from the same year left a noticeably deeper mark on my youth. Perhaps Master's Hammer are just a little too quirky for my taste but I do still enjoy "Ritual" without it ever really commanding that I give it regular revisits. Those with a taste for late First Wave artists like Root, Tormentor & Mortuary Drape may get more out of it than I do though & I'd still recommend that any black metal nut worthy of their bullet belt should at least have an understanding of "Ritual", if only for the sake of completism.

3.5/5

Necrowretch - Swords of Dajjal (2024)

Released 2nd February on Season of Mist Underground Activists

France's Necrowretch are a four-piece centred around guitarist, vocalist and founding member Vlad and, despite them being around for over fifteen years now, I have never crossed paths with before. Swords of Dajjal is their fifth full-length with the title referring to an evil entity from Islamic tradition. Musically Necrowretch play a muscular form of black metal that contains a significant quantity of death metal DNA which gives it a more solid, denser sound than you would necessarily expect, whilst remaining emphatically within the black metal realm.

Drumming duties are handled by Nicolas Ferrero, ex-member of Fhoi Myore and Brutal Avengers, under the pseudonym N. Destroyer and he turns in an admirably controlled, yet powerful performance which is pushed to the fore at times and thunders like the rumblings of the very heavens themselves. The riffs are fast and frenetic in the main, but the band are also able to throttle it back and drop into a more doomy sound that feels more ominous than any amount of out and out blasting. There is some decent lead work, handled by guitarist Wenceslas Carrieu (as W. Cadaver), although it is submerged in the mix to a degree and doesn't necessarily cut like it could as a result. Vlad's vocals are of the ragged, savage, shrieking variety that so well define the archetypal black metal singer and are spot on.

I think that ultimately appreciation of Swords of Dajjal will come down to how the listener views the mixing of the album, with the drums most definitely having a more dominant presence than is usual and their booming and thundering presence may be too overwhelming for some, although I confess they are one of the reasons that I like this so much. The flipside of this is that, for some the lead guitar may be too overwhelmed and buried under this all-consuming battery and although the riffs are perfectly audible the solos are swamped. As I said, I quite like this thundering style and am well on board with how this has turned out with it being a visceral-sounding and energetic blast of black metal indulgence.

4/5

Emperor - "Wrath of the Tyrant" demo (1992)

I got onboard the Emperor train very early on after picking up their split release with Enslaved on CD upon release back in 1993 & by the time their debut album "In The Nightside Eclipse" was released the following year I was absolutely sold on them. So, when I spotted an original copy of their 1992 "Wrath of the Tyrant" demo tape at the Hammerhouse in Sydney shortly afterwards I didn't hesitate to pick it up. "Wrath of the Tyrant" is a nine-song effort that features a lo-fi production job & includes all of the early Emperor recordings with many of them going on to become more significant pieces in future years. Emperor was just a three-piece at the time with a 16 year-old Ihsahn (Thou Shalt Suffer/Hardingrock/Peccatum/Zyklon-B) handling all of the guitars & vocals, 16 year-old dungeon synth master Mortiis (Cintecele Diavolui/Fata Morgana/Vond) playing bass & an 18 year-old Samoth (Scum/The Wretched End/Arcturus/Gorgoroth/Thou Shalt Suffer/Satyricon/Zyklon/Zyklon-B) behind the drum kit. The drumming is still fairly primitive which isn't surprising when you consider that Samoth is generally known as a guitarist rather than a drummer. In fact, there aren't actually very many blast-beats included here yet but the notorious atmosphere of the early Second Wave of Black Metal is certainly there is droves, despite the noticeable lack of Emperor's signature symphonics. Those of you looking for something akin to Limbonic Art, Dimmu Borgir or Vargrav will be sorely disappointed as "Wrath of the Tyrant" is far more traditionally constructed with the early works of Mayhem, Darkthrone & Burzum as well as 1985-87 period Bathory being the clear sources of inspiration. It's not a bad listen either it has to be said with no weak tracks included but it rarely reaches the sort of levels we'd come to expect from Emperor in the coming years with "My Empire's Doom" & "Witche's Sabbath" being the pieces that I'd suggest are the most impactful. Overall, I'd suggest that this crude, lo-fi demo tape is more of a rewarding novelty for the completists than it is an essential piece of the black metal puzzle.

3.5/5

Enslaved - "Yggdrasill" demo (1992)

Another early example of the Norwegian Second Wave of Black Metal sound from one of the long-time protagonists of the movement. I discovered Enslaved through their 1993 split release with Emperor & proceeded to pick up their debut album "Vikingligr veldi" upon release in 1994. I really enjoyed both of those records so when I spied a split bootleg CD that included Enslaved's second demo "Yggdrasill" & Satyricon's 1993 "The Forest Is My Throne" demo a year later I didn't hesitate in purchasing it. As with the Emperor demo I discussed yesterday, "Yggdrasill" already showcases a pretty mature black metal sound that possesses most of the calling cards that the Norwegians would become known for over the next three or four years. The band were just a young trio at the time with 19 year-old bass-playing front man Grutle Kjellson (Trinacria), 15 year-old guitarist Ivar Bjørnson (Borknagar/Trinacria) & 18 year-old drummer Trym Torson (Emperor/Zyklon) creating a soundscape that seems quite well defined for such a youthful group. It was certainly miles ahead of Enslaved's 1991 "Nema" demo tape which didn't do much for me if my memory serves me correctly. Opening track "Heimdallr" is the clear highlight of the five pieces on offer although there are parts of "Allfǫðr Oðinn" that really hit the spot too. The strong use of open-string tremolo-picked riffs is worth paying attention to given that we were still a couple of years out from Darkthrone's genre-defining "Transilvanian Hunger" record. Kjellson's super-abrasive vocals are also impressive & sound a little more maniacal than he'd end up going with for most of his career.

I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the final proper song "Niunda heim" & the quality does tend to slowly dip after a very strong start to the tape. For this reason, I do tend to favour the Emperor demo over this one for overall consistency but it's still worth a listen, particularly from an historical perspective as it was certainly ahead of its time. The main reason for checking it out would be to experience some pretty high-quality tremolo-picked riffs at such an early stage in the Norwegian black metal scene's development. Despite the trio's age, you can already tell they were a class act too. The way they utilize synthesizers is a good case in point as, despite sounding a little clunky at times, Enslaved were already setting trends rather than following them. Think of "Yggdrasill" as an interesting yet inessential look at a scene that was bubbling away beneath the surface of the underground & just about to explode onto the world stage.

3.5/5