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:

Orcustus - 2002 - Demo

Orcustus is a Norwegian Black Metal band with a few rather known names in the ranks. Tormentor (Gorgoroth, Gaahlskagg), Dirge Rep (Gehenna, Enslaved) and Infernus (Gorgoroth) are members of this band, along with newcomer Taipan. This demo is really great, retro Black Metal at its finest.
The soundquality and vocals give a feeling of classic 1992-93 era Black Metal with the vocals sounding reminiscent to those of Emperor on their split with Enslaved and Marduk on their Those of the Unlight album.

The music is midpaced to fast with influences from the Emperor part of the aforementioned Emperor / Enslaved split and early Gorgoroth. The last track, "Lucifuge Damnation", could very well have been from Zyklon-B's Blood Must be Shed MCD. This is very interesting, and the coming fullength, to be released probably towards the end of 2004, certainly is something to look forward to.

Two of the three tracks from this demo, "World Dirtnap" and "Death Becomes You", have also been released on a 7" by Southern Lords in 2003. Unfortunately both of these releases are sold out. Both the demo and the 7" were limited to 1000 copies.

Standout track is "Death Becomes You".

Thursday May 20 2004, by :Vragh:

Frozen Shadows - 2004 - Hantises

Here we have the second assault from this Canadian Black Metal horde. We had to wait for 5 years for this release, but it was well worth the wait. 8 tracks of blistering fast Black Metal with the occasional slower and heavier parts is what we are presented with here. As with their first album, this
sounds very Nordic and it is nice to hear that some bands can still get that special old sound. Musically I would say that this reminds me of the newer school of bands, like Watain and Ondskapt as well as older Immortal, Enslaved and the old side project Zyklon-B, with members of Emperor, Satyricon and Dødheimsgard.

The vocals remind me mostly of those by Grutle of Enslaved, mainly because they sound as insane as the ones he did on the Frost album. If you've heard that album you know what I'm talking about.

The soundquality is very good. The drums and the vocals are what you hear most in the mix, but the guitars are not far behind. I must say that I really do enjoy this album. A keyboard is utilized at times on this album as well, but as with their previous album they're used sparsely. Good musicianship and good production gets us a real good album. I would strongly urge you to get this album. If you're lucky you might even find the limited edition of this album with their demo as a bonus cd.

Standout tracks are "As Old as Time Itself", "Des Siecles d'Epitaphes", "Battered Souls" and "Towards the Chambers of Nihil".

Monday November 27 by :Vragh:

Bloodoline - 2005 - Storm and Brilliance

Out of Spain comes this Black Metal band with their first album. The material on this recording has been waiting for a few years to be recorded, and judging from the songs here, this was not at all a bad thing. This is an album that is very well executed, and it seems the arrangements are well thought through. We are presented with thirteen tracks on this album, with six instrumental interludes
and an outro. Musically this reminds me of a lot of things. I find both La Masquerade era Arcturus and some 1349 here, but mostly I think this sounds like early Borknagar with a twist of Zyklon-B, the Norwegian allstar band. This recording sounds very Scandinavian. Really good.

The vocals sound like a mix of Chuck Schuldiner of Death and Garm of Borknagar, being somewhat similar to those by Garm on their first album, but a bit more growled and sounding quite desperate at times. The instrumental interludes sound like a mix of earlier Mortiis and the instrumental Borknagar tracks that usually are present on their albums.

The soundquality is quite good, you hear all the instruments and the vocals clearly. The vocals are slightly in the front of the mix, being the driving force with the guitars. Be sure to check this album out! To be released by Blackend Records in March 2005, so it should be available to order from your local store or distro.

Standout tracks are "Warlike Spirit", "Aeons End" and "Nihil Storm".

Monday March 7 2005, by :Vragh: