Weltbrand - 2006 - The Cloud of Retaliation

Out of the Netherlands comes this Black Metal horde, with their second fullength. Presented here are eight tracks of mostly fast Black Metal with the odd slower track thrown in for variation plus one industrial sounding interlude and an outro. The sound actually has somewhat of a  eath Metal feel to it.

The vocals sound like a mix between Nimroth, formerly of Cirith Gorgor, Maniac, and early Emperor, with some Aldrahn and Quorthon showing up every now and then.

Musically this reminds me mostly of the Zyklon-B sideproject from the '90ies as well as earlier Frozen Shadows. Not at all a bad combination.

The soundquality is slightly murky and, as with the music presented here, also quite similar to Zyklon-B and Frozen Shadows, and as mentioned earlier with rather a Death Metal approach to it. The vocals are at the front with the guitars and the snare drum quite high in the mix as well. The rest of the drums and the bass unfortunately disappear to a certain extent in the murky production. This is quite good. Released as a limited A5 digi, as well as regular CD.

Standout tracks are "Channeling Black Energy", "Descending of the Black Ash Rain", "...And the Winds Brought Death".

Tuesday October 14 2008, by :Vragh:

Valaskjalf/Hrodvitnir - 2005 - Under the Ban ner of Vinlandic Heathen Might

Presented on this split effort are two American NS Black Metal bands. Each band contributes with four tracks.

Valaskjalf presents us with Black Metal ranging from slow to mid-paced, slightly melodic Black Metal in the vein of the real early '90ies bands, but with a melancholic sound rarely found. I find both Kvist, Beherit and Root influences here. Also presented on this release is a cover of Hellhammer's classic track "Euronymous".

The vocals mostly sound like a more guttural version of those done by Legion of Marduk and also somewhat like those done by Akhenaten of Judas Iscariot and Quorthon.

The soundquality is quite good, with all the instruments being audible in the mix.

Standout tracks are "Grove of the Neoliths" and  "Black Forest".

Hrodvitnir play a mid-paced to fast, more Viking / Folk themed Black Metal, and is the band I liked best on this release. Musically this sounds like a mix of Falkenbach and amore Black Metal oriented version of Borknagar, with vocals that mostly remind me of those done by Garm on the first Borknagar album. Some traces of Wyrd are also present in the overall sound here.

The soundquality on these four tracks varies a bit, which I found to be slightly annoying. You can hear the instruments and all, but the two last tracks have a murky, slightly distant sound to them, and the volume is lower.

Standout tracks are "Dawn of a New Aryan Empire" and "Hrodvitnir (The Wolf Unleashed)".

Quite a good split album, actually, with both bands being quite able to handle their instruments. This release is limited to 500 copies.

Friday December 2 2005, by :Vragh:

Muinainen Ruhtinas - 2006 - Tuskanvuorten Valtaistuin

Out of Finland comes this one man project. We are presented with three tracks of mid-paced Black Metal and an outro. There's some serious catchyness to this demo, without being too melodic, similar to the way Horna and Isvind can be quite catchy at times. This is a side project of Krimn V, the vocalist of Perisynti, another band well worth checking out.

The vocals remind me of those on the classic Kvist album For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike, and a less raspy version of those on Isvind's album and of course Perisynti.

The music sounds like a finnish version of Isvind I would say. You have the finnish sound here, no question about that, but with a slightly Norwegian feel to it. Add to that a slight bit of Bathory and you have a quite interesting mix.

The soundquality is somewhat towards the murkier kind with a sound that really does remind me of Isvind's Dark Waters Stir album. The vocals are at the front of the mix followed by keyboard and guitar, with drums mostly slightly at the back, but still quite clear. The keyboard is used to set the mood, so this is not some symphonic kind of thing. Tape limited to 666 copies.

Standout tracks are "Henkien Helki" and "Korpit".

Sunday October 12 2008, by :Vragh:

Long Voyage Back - 1998 - Long Voyage Back

This is the first album by this Australian one man band, featuring Phil Gresik who has previously been involved in Deströyer 666, Bestial Warlust and Hobb's Angel of Death. This album is very varied with influences ranging from Viking era Bathory via Borknagar, Gorgoroth and In the Woods... to regular Metal, from slow parts to faster parts and back again. A very progressive album, not too much Black Metal in it, really. Dark Metal, maybe?

The vocals remind me of Kreator at times, but they are as varied as the music,ranging from clear to spoken to growl, whichever fits the mood of the music at the time. The album has a good production, nice and clear. The overall feel to this album is one of Anti-Christian values and good musicianship, really.

Some really catchy songs here, without being In Flames catchy, of course. There are only five tracks, and all are actually very enjoyable. The bass is heard throughout the album, which is very nice. A drum machine seems to be utilized, but it doesn't really sound like one, which is a good thing. Drum machines are no good. The album following this one, just called II, is a lot softer than this one, so be forwarned.

Standout tracks are "Long Voyage Back / Poison Wood", "Reflection" and "Nomadic Paths".

Monday May 31 2004, by :Vragh:

Livjatan - 2004 - Witchcraft

Out of Denmark comes this Black Metal act with this cassette presenting three tracks of mid-paced to fast, very well executed thrashing Black Metal. The material on this tape sounds like a mix of mid '90ies Marduk and Disiplin with both Celtic Frost and Bathory in the music as well.

The vocals remind me of the ones done by Ausslavia on the Disiplin debut album, yet sounding more desperate and somewhat distant in the mix, which adds a haunting atmosphere to it all.

The soundquality on this recording is quite good. As I said earlier, the vocals are a bit in the back here, but that's not really so much of a problem, since it actually fits very well with the music. This is definitely a demo that grows on you. Be sure to check it out. This is a rerelease of the 7" released by Ancient Darkness Productions in 333 copies a while back.

Standout tracks are "Midnight Congregation" and "The Seventh Book of Moses".

Saturday February 12 2005, by :Vragh:

Kill - 2003 - Horned Holocaust

Swedish Black Metal act Kill have, after some delays, released their first fullength album, presenting 7 tracks and 30 minutes of necro Black Metal. Treble is the first thing you notice with this recording.
The second thing you notice is the killer melodies. The last track in particular stands out from the rest. The production on this album sounds somewhat like Von and Nifelheim, and also slightly like Ulver's Nattens Madrigal, if you will.

Musicwise they remind me a bit of Craft from their Total Soul Rape era and also some Under a Funeral Moon era Darkthrone at times (and some early Bathory thrown in for good measure),
with vocals sounding mostly like a mix of Legion formerly of Marduk, and Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone. This is necro Black Metal, just the way it should be - grim, yet catchy.

Standout tracks are "Virgin Sacrificed", "The Devil" and "Fields of Devastation".

Thursday February 5 2004, by :Vragh:

Horn of Valere - 2004 - Blood of the Heathen Ancients

From the U.S comes this Black Metal horde with their first official release containing their two demos so far, the first one being recorded with the bandname Basiliskk. Their music is wellplayed, slightly melodic mid-paced to fast Black Metal with influences from Bathory, Enslaved, earlier Satyricon and Thornium. The overall feeling is of slightly progressive and epic mid '90ies Scandinavian Black Metal. Not at all bad for an American band.

The vocals mostly remind me of those by Grutle of Enslaved with some earlier Marduk and also some slight Nocturno Culto from back in the early days, at times.

The soundquality here is quite good. The instruments can all be heard clearly, and the vocals are slightly in the background of the mix, which is quite good here. The bassdrum is slightly unclear, perhaps, but this is nothing that I feel is a problem. There is a slight difference in the soundquality between the two recordings, and I must say I prefer the older, slightly rougher sound, if I were to choose between the two.

Almost all of the tracks on this CD are longer than 7 minutes, with half of them being 10 minutes or longer. The shortest track is a cover of Bathory's "Call from the Grave".

Standout tracks are "Ageless Winds of Infinite Wisdom", "...of Pure Blood", "Eternal Desolation of the Weak" and "A Prophecy of Ivory Skies".

Friday December 2 2005, by :Vragh:

Haemophilia - 2006 - Demo 2006

Out of Sweden comes this Black Metal horde with their first demo. 4 tracks of well executed mid-paced to fast, slightly melodic blastbeating Black Metal with a slight twist of Death Metal from time to time is what we get here. There are some interesting ideas in the music here. There is a distinct Swedish sound to this release. This reminds me of the newer Swedish bands like Ondskapt, Watain and Chaos Omen. Quite interesting.

The vocals sound like a hoarser version of early Quorthon of Bathory, with added reverb and not as highpitched. Also slightly like Graav on the earlier Armagedda releases.

The soundquality is very good, well above the usual demo quality. Every instrument can be clearly heard in the mix, with a slight focus on the drums and the vocals. Over all a very enjoyable demo. This is a band that, if given time, can go far. They have since changed their name to Orcivus. Limited to just 50 copies, so act fast!

Standout tracks are "Interitus" and "Corpus Ferrugineum".

Monday November 27 2006, by :Vragh:

Dom Dracul - 2004 - Genocide in the Name of Satan

Here we have the latest demo from this Swedish one man Black Metal horde. Presented on this tape are four tracks of midpaced Black Metal and an intro. The soundquality is a bit murky, but still not at all bad. You can clearly hear the instruments and the vocals.

The vocals remind me of a mix of Satyr of Satyricon, Quorthon's Black Metal vocals and early Marduk, the music is somewhat similar to a slower Armagedda but with a bit more melody. The material is quite good, and there are many memorable riffs here.

The tape looks very professional, and is adorned with a very oldschool cover. There's at least one more tape by Dom Dracul, and that one should also be worth checking out. If I have to complain about one thing here it is the drumsound, but still I have heard far worse.

Standout tracks are "Die", "Weak Soul" and "Hellfire".

Monday July 19 2004, by :Vragh:

Dark Legions - 2005 - Awakening of the Legions

Swedish Satanic Thrashers Dark Legions have, after only a few weeks as a band released their first demo unto the underground. This is some seriously good Thrash, and coming from me that's not bad, since I'm not that fond of Thrash in general. They have drawn inspiration from the classics in the scene - Possessed, Celtic Frost, Slayer and early Bathory. Ripping guitars and well played drumming creates a feeling of the bands from the '90ies, as well as the classics, with an updated sound to it. Very nice. This reminds me somewhat of Clandestine Blaze, as well as a bit of the amazing, but very very
 obscure local band Slakters that released a few things on tape many a year ago. The circulation was not that big, so it doesn't really help in describing this band, though, I guess. The music is mostly mid-paced, and seriously groovy.

The vocals sound like early '90ies Swedish Death Metal vocals with a twist of classic Metal. Some parts L G Petrow of Entombed are present, but mostly they are a bit deeper and darker, reminding me somewhat of those by Ares on the later Aeternus albums.

The soundquality is well above that of an average demo recording. The guitars are a bit fuzzy, and the percussions sound slightly weird at times, but other than that there really isn't anything to complain about here. The vocals are more towards the front in the mix, with the other instruments being slightly in the back. These guys know their stuff, and perform it well. If you're into Thrash you could do far worse than buying this demo.

Standout tracks are "Purification", with its heavy groove, and "March of the Legions". "Purification" is a track that easily gets stuck in your head.

Friday January 20 2006, by :Vragh: