Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Behexen - My Soul For His Glory (2008)

    I was waiting for a while since Behexen last’s release. And let me tell you my wait was in vain. While My Soul For His Glory is a pretty solid release for a band of the caliber of Behexen, it’s still missing one very important feature: the shiver inducing vocals of the previous 2 releases.

    The music sounds more mature than their previous 2 releases, marking a clear progression of the quality of musicianship that the members of Behexen have. After 13 years since the band’s conception, you can hear that each instrument complements each other in a perfect diabolical ‘harmony’.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Celestial Bloodshed – Cursed, Scarred And Forever Possessed (2008)

    This album is the first ‘full length’ by these Celestial Bloodshed hailing from Norway. I put full length in quotes because the album lasts only 35 minutes or so. And in my opinion this is one of the problems with the release and not because it sucks and it’s too long (like many other releases). But because it left me wanting more!!

    The band plays a traditional old school black metal that sounds very raw and brutal. No fancy things here, just the basic vocals, guitars, bass and drums combination.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Samael - Illumination (2009)

    After listening to this single, I have to say that Samael is preparing for a strong comeback with something more brutal than their most recent albums. The two tracks included in this single blew me away they showcase the intensity Samael was known for in the past. The music is more guitar driven and the vocals are as good as ever, while they don’t rely much on keyboards they are still present. The intensity of the guitars and the drumming are the focal points of these 2 songs.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fen - The Malediction Fields (2009)

    When this album starts, I started saying to my self” “here comes another shitty atmospheric black metal band”, like I often find telling my self and being completely right. Well for Fen I ate my own words, while their style is indeed atmospheric black/dark metal they have carefully crafted elements of folk and post-rock, to create a great unique sound.

    I would say they kind of resemble Alcest or even Agalloch at some points, but they have their own original ideas and sound embedded in their music.

    This album also evokes some memories of Ulver’s opus: Bergtatt. While at some points the music is very harsh, it’s perfectly balanced by great acoustic interludes changing the pace entirely of the songs.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    IXXI - Elect Darkness (2009)

    IXXI sound is very traditional of the current progression of many black metal bands, since they combine elements of black metal with trash metal with perfection. Most of the song have catchy melodies while being aggressive, it kind of reminds me of Satyricon when they released Volcano, however I prefer this album.

    The harsh vocals are almost identical to Satyr’s vocals and provide a perfect match for the sound of the band. The guitar riffs are strong and repetitive but never dull, the drums are perfectly executed and typical of a black metal release.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Blut Aus Nord...Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars (2009)

    When you listen to Blut Aus Nord you can count on listening to a band that has the same musical style since they where conceived. However their style, while primitive, is more mature in this release than their previous albums.

    If you like fast paced harsh black metal this is the album for you, however they do have some nice instrumental interludes in their songs and also some calm parts that sound better than the majority of the album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism (2009)

    As they mention in their myspace page, this is sick music for sick individuals, and I can’t agree more. This is something that every true black metal fan should listen and have in their regular playlists.

    This band has truly captured the old feeling of black metal and has managed to improve on it by their use of synthesizers along some their songs, reminding me of Alghazanth’s The polarity axiom and Osiris - Typhon Unmasked.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Norinian - Absent Seizure (2009)

    When this demo starts, the first track provides almost 3 minutes of nothing, since it is only a few noises and that’s it. I fail to see how this sets the mood for the album.

    This band labels themselves as black metal, however, the second track is an industrial type of song with some beats and deep vocals. At the same time, neither of the previous things is well realized and it just gets monotone and it’s easily forgotten.

    This band seriously needs to either define their style or just stop playing, since the next 3 songs are just a weird mixture of different genres and ideas meshed together in 3 different songs. While Cacotopian Masses is a more ‘straight forward’ black metal song, and the last 2 are more industrial-based, they are still in a few words: pretty bad.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Wolves In The Throne Room - Malevolent Grain (2009)

    When I first started listening to this album in the first few seconds I said to myself: “Another shitty band trying to sound like ‘true’ black metal that recorded this in their backyard and it’s going to suck”, well let me tell you I was wrong!!! While the recording itself is low quality, it actually adds to the bands general feeling and the feeling of the songs.

    The album starts like a typical low budget recording with some very ‘true’ black metal sounding distorted guitars, but when the vocals start…. they are clean female vocals, that sound really, really depressing.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Absu - Absu (2009)

    It’s been a while since I’ve heard from this black metal band from Texas, and they are returning with full strength to recover their place among the best of their genre. Their style is a peculiar mix of black and trash metal that reminds me of the old school trash releases from years ago, with interesting overtones of black metal elements.

    This album takes you by assault since it starts with fast-paced melodies that hold you and don’t let go.

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