Zyklon-B - Blood Must Be Shed (1995)^{Release ID: 10434}

A fantastic lineup created some immensely ripping black metal, but it's too short to be essential.

On paper this is a dream black metal line-up! Samoth (Emperor, Zyklon) playing both forms of guitar, Ihsahn (Emperor, Peccatum) on keyboards, Frost (Satyricon, 1349) handling drums and Draug (Dodheimsgard, Thorns) performing vocals. It doesn't get much more legendary than that! It's certainly the sort of supergroup we'd all like to have had around for quite some time to see what they could come up with. Unfortunately, all we've got to show for it is this 3 track EP, which also happens to run for a total of 11 minutes. That doesn't sound like a particularly noteworthy release and yet somehow Blood Must be Shed has become an underground, cult EP. I think there are numerous reasons for that, and the names involved is only part of the puzzle.

It's not at all surprising that this little piece of history was extremely controversial upon its release. Naming your band Zyklon-B, which was a delousing agent used to kill prisoners in concentration camps in Nazi Germany, is not going to please everyone. The band have stated that their intention was never to associate themselves with racial hatred or Nazism, but with a band name like Zyklon-B, lyrics that seem to encourage war and destruction, and a nuclear explosion adorning the cover, it's pretty tough to be completely convinced. I can't recall black metal ever really attempting to be politically correct, nor would I want it to, so I'll forgive these individuals for their perhaps immature thematic decisions.

Enough about the history of the release, what's the music like. The short answer (and that's all there really is) is that Blood Must be Shed is a ripping black metal release with three full tilt tracks filled with blistering riffs, orgasmic drumming and chaotic, insane vocals. There's enough venomous intensity contained within these 11 minutes to fill a full-length release, and all three tracks have a certain level of chaos associated with them. Frost's drumming is top-notch as usual and Samoth's riffs are pure black metal gold. Ihsahn's keyboards certainly add a bit of atmosphere to proceedings but they're nowhere near as dominant as on an Emperor release. Draug is without doubt the least famous of the band members, but I've always been a fan of his work. His shouted, unrestrained performance here is entirely fitting for the musical mayhem surrounding him.

All up, Blood Must be Shed is certainly worth checking out for those interested in black metal's long, fascinating history. More importantly though, it's a damn fine EP that you can listen to 2 or 3 times in a row to get a good fix. There's no denying though that it's stupendously short, and for that reason alone, I just can't give it more than 3 and a half stars. The music is worth more but the EP itself simply isn't, no matter how many drooling fans it may have.