Paimonia - Disease Named Humanity

"Black, Bleak & Blistering"


I like my black metal the way I like my coffee: unblended, dense, and preferably with no sugary additives.

And dark as pitch, of course. Pitch-fucking-dark.

“Disease Named Humanity” is the debut full-length release of the Serbian duo Paimonia, who have since issued a split vinyl and a live recording on VHS, effectively staying busy and active. In a time and day when black metal is a teeming, worldwide phenomenon (and where having suckled mountain trolls at the icy-cold bottom of a faraway fjord someplace where Norway becomes Niflheim is no longer a mandatory credential for delivering properly grim and frostbitten svartmetal), it takes much more than just a few croaks atop the regular potpourri of buzz ‘n’ fuzz guitars, zero bass, and minimalist tick-tock drumming to raise eyebrows.

Paimonia deliver a lot more than that, fortunately.

Although slightly unremarkable and forgettable in places, “Disease Named Humanity” is a vigorous, ably executed slab of dynamic modern-day black metal – and, considering it’s a debut full-length release, very promising indeed. Intelligent, stimulating riffwork is prevalent throughout all 41 minutes of album length, and the duo of Bojan (vocals, guitars, bass) and Nikola (drums) keep things interesting with a few tricks & turns in the songwriting formula, notably by contrasting animated blastbeat-driven passages with slower, occasionally acoustic, interludes. What they basically lack in outstanding character, Paimonia make up for with quality riffs, topnotch musicianship, clever variation and sheer intensity.

“Disease Named Humanity” consists of just seven tracks, fittingly ending on a high note with the standout atmosphere-laden dirge “Funeral of Decaying World” and its instrumental addendum “Opus VII”, together spanning almost 13 minutes. Other highlights include album opener “As Plague Scourge This World Apart” (please don’t mind the English!) with its zany, dissonant riffing – not unlike a cleaner, less grimy version of Watain – as well as the epic, rather polymorphous “Depth Within Nothingness Called Life”, which features Gothenburg-esque melodic riffing and an eerie, haunting midsection that would make for a killer recurring theme in a classic horror movie.

All in all, Paimonia is an outfit worth a mental bookmark for black metal fans with a particularly tender spot for the atmospheric and melodic, yet still hard-hitting and savage. First-tier bands like the aforementioned Watain and 1349 are not many hyperborean leagues away from the core of “Disease Named Humanity”, but there is plenty of individuality on display here to make for a praiseworthy stand-alone offering, as well as one which sets the tone for a decidedly gobsmacking follow-up.

Rating

7.0

Triumphant - Herald the Unsung

"Herald the Triumphant"


Triumphant is a brand new band (more or less) from Austria. They've been appearing under a couple of monikers over the years but without releasing a full-length album. But 2014 saw the release of Herald the Unsung, which is a fantastic and diverse record, so we got a lot of ground to cover here!

Before digging into the record, I would like to bring up why I simply love this band. They don't restrict themselves to one genre and then stay inside that box, whether it's thrash metal or black metal. The band themselves refer to their genre as evil metal, and that fits the record quite well. You will hear the smashing influences from thrash metal, with the atmosphere and riffing from black metal. If you want a perfect example of that, then listen to the song Devotion. You'll also get a chunk of the 80's thrown into your face, all delivered with a great and diverse vocal. However it's still hard to pin down the overall sound of this record. Triumphant is a versatile band, they explore and mix everything they love about metal. And that's what makes this band so fresh and exciting! It's something you have to hear and explore yourself. Don't judge the record on just one track, but go through the whole thing, as I said, these guys love to mix everything they love about metal.

I guess it won't surprise you when I say the production this album is crisp and it brings forth the best aspects of the record. It fits the atmosphere and the hard hitting moments perfectly, and I really don't have many griefs when it comes to the production. The only thing is the rapid fadeout on the last track, Triumphant. Staying on that subject, it is actually one of the best, if not the best song off the album. The song will take you straight back to the 80's with its out of mind guitar harmonies, which simply sound outstanding. However the band put their own touch onto the 80's style with this song, as lead singer Bekim Leatherdemon's vocals varies from the black/thrash oriented vocal style to a clean vocal. But does it sound good? Yes, it sounds amazing, and I didn't really notice it because it seems so natural and fits the song perfect. And it only adds to the possibilities Triumphant has making music. Returning to the sound, every instrument is moulded well together in an old school way, so it doesn't sound too modern, and yet it doesn't sound too raw and unproduced either. The two introduction tracks, Triumfator and Nightfall are filled with great atmosphere and add a lot of depth to the record, plus they each lead up to a great track. To sum it up a bit, this album has been put together perfectly.

From the beginning and till the harmonic end of this album, it's and amazing experience. The three winners on the album is Life Under the Inverted Cross, Devotion and Triumphant. In a time where you can record a full-length album in your bedroom and countless bands keep popping up, it's hard to set yourself apart. That is something a lot of bands fails to do, but Triumphant is not one of those bands. With their self-proclaimed "evil metal" they set their music apart, and I'm excited to see what the future brings from this band. Herald the Unsung is definitely a strong contender for one of the best albums of 2014. So if you're in for a batch of evil metal, then I suggest you get your hands on this masterpiece!
 
Follow Triumphant on Facebook and get a taste of this album on their Bandcamp profile.

Rating

9

Forgotten Ones: Tågefolket - Lad Asketid Begynde

"I See Fog People"


We, Danes have never been that efficient at creating our own unique metal genres. Not like our Scandinavian brothers, such as the Swedes death metal or the Norwegians black metal. But still we have good bands in both of those areas such as Iniquity, Deus Otiosus, Denial of God and Nortt. Ynleborgaz, on the other hand is better than good. He is a Danish primal one-man band machine with a lot of ideas. With bands such as Angantyr, Make a Change... Kill Yourself and Holmgang on his resumé. Tågefolket was a project made by him and Huul from Blodarv, and different from other bands he was or is in. The atmospheric button has been dialled way up and overall feel is very claustrophobic and haunting.

Lad Asketid Begynde, which can be translated to 'Let the Time of Ashes Begin', I thought was a re-recording of the 1996 demo of the same name but that is not really the case, I think, although I could be wrong on that one... Anyhow, the album cover fits the music perfectly, it is simple, grey and spooky. The medium paced-passage in the end of the first song has a very eerie atmosphere about it... A feeling that there is people singing in edges of the forest but you can´t see them while you're walking by. Ynleborgaz mostly implement simple riffs with not a lot of meat on them, but they don't ruin the EP completely, as they are quite eerie in sound. The production is not really special, the drums have a hollow production but are at least well-played with a lot of awesome fills and beats, especially on Lad Asketid Begynde, Del I. The bass is sometimes inaudible, but usually just lies in background chilling with sixteenth note tremolo riffs. As I said before the guitars are nothing special, but do the majority of the job to give a very neurotic and tight atmosphere.

The vocals are quite good, they sound like a thicker and a more agonizing version of Fenriz, but with a more flexing behaviour and a small dose of chanting clean vocals on the first track. Lad Asketid Begynde, does suffer from a couple of things, mainly the length of the demo and variation. If there were more passages such as on track one with more catchy mid-paced riffs like on Lad Asketid Begynde, Del II. This demo would have been much greater, but too many times I felt the riffs were kind of dull, simple and unvaried,  It has the potential, especially with the atmosphere, if you can dig it up somewhere I would recommend this to any black metal fan.

Rating

Vestiges / Panopticon Split

"Songs of Sadness"


This split features the music of two high quality bands. Panopticon is a one-man atmospheric black metal with folk elements from Louisville, Kentucky. The image of this band is to a great extent about philosophy and nature. Vestiges is a band that in their early prime had much more crust and hardcore elements to their music, though on this latest release they seem to have moved more away from the hardcore elements and focusing on a form of cascadian black metal alike Wolves in the Throne Room. The skills of both bands are really extensive, whether you prefer the folk-ish and haunting melodies of Panopticon or Vestiges hardcore-infused cascadian-style black metal, the music is surreal and absolutely fantastic on both parts.

As I never heard Vestiges before this split, I did not know what to expect but I was very surprised with their side of this split. The first track, VII is a ambient and built-up track for what is to come, it is actually a good track on its own. I listened to it while I took a walk in the woods near my house and it proved to make a great atmosphere, but enough of that, the second track, VIII is the masterpiece of Vestiges' side. It starts out pretty harsh in a manner that reminds me of Panopticon, though with a discrete touch of hardcore. The breakdown which occurs around four minutes in is also stunning, which gave me a funeral doom kinda feel.

All in all, I really came to like Vestiges despite I haven't really liked what they've done in the past, and I will definitely watch out for more material with them.

All right, so with the warmup introduced by Vestiges, Panopticon sets the earthquake in motion with my favourite track from this split, A Letter. A very emotional song I have to admit, you can almost feel A Lunn's anger flowing out through your speakers. The song is full of haunting and saddening melodies, which is evident from the start. It is especially clear about one minute in when he plays a slow melody with a more soft-hitting traditional blast-beating over it. It is unlike anything I've ever heard, and me go 'That is what I love about Panopticon.'. The song ends with A. Lunn making some intricate drumpatterns and a guitarsolo. And so, The Eulogy begins, it starts out quiet and play melancholic riffs to a mid-paced beat with creative drum fills. This all changes though when you get three minutes into the track, where it goes into blast beating and makes you reminiscent of that Panopticon's usual fast-paced style of black metal. The vocals on this track are really good, they sound very painful, almost torturous. Now the last track, Collapse & Die, I kinda feel is out of place, don't get me wrong it is a very good song and cover of Suicide Nation. Though it is a short song compared to Panopticon's usual song lengths and doesn't feel quite epic as the two songs before it. It is a satisfying way of ending this split.

So, this is definitely one of my favourite splits of this year, if not THE best. The bands compliment each other heavily and fits together nicely. Vestiges transformation into a more black metal-ish entity is a welcoming addition and Panopticon is majestic as always. My final word is that this split is definitely worth paying for even though it is at a 'name your price'-deal.

Be sure to check out both Vestiges and Panopticon on Facebook!

Rating

Monuments - The December Sessions

"A Monument Itself"


Monuments is a black/doom metal band from Netherlands, and was formed in 2012 and The December Sessions is their first piece of material to hit the streets. The band is forged together by five musicians from different musical backgrounds, but it's worth noticing the two guitarists other projects, which I will bring up a bit later in the review.

"We are but dust"

This debut EP contains two tracks that together spans almost eighteen minutes, and in spite of their length, the tracks never become dull but they keep intriguing the listener. That is mainly because of the outstanding musicianship and the production, which both go hand in hand. The two guitarists, Yuri and Ruben are a perfect match and they both got experience in the atmospheric black metal field, which clearly is present on this release. It blends perfect with the black/doom style and the lyrical themes of the band, however the lyrics are not available. But vocalist Mitch mentions: "Our lyrics deal with nature, esotericism, the eternal cycle between life and death and negative experiences in life". You don't even have to take my word, or Mitch's word for that matter, just listen to the music and you'll get the idea. Even though the vocals are black metal oriented it is possible to draw excerpts of the lyrics. 

"We are monuments"

It would be rude of me not to mention drummer, Martijn and bassist, Dennis as well. Both of the guys adds so much to the whole organic feel of the record and it probably would not be the same if just one of the members of the band (counting all five) were not present on The December Sessions. The drums keeps the music fresh, and even in the slower passages there is added small nudges here and there. Dennis and his bass is invaluable to this record (and his bandmates as well) and the thick sound adds to the atmosphere of the two tracks. And furthermore, the whole production just lifts not only the bass, but everything up. I don't really know how to describe the vocal, and if I did there would probably be a lot of people who would not get the same idea. Especially if I said, that Mitch sounds like this vocalist but also got qualities similar to this vocalist. But as I mentioned, they are black metal oriented so don't expect Candlemass vocals. There is also backing vocals from guitarist Yuri, which are perfectly slipped in "beneath" Mitch's vocals. And they really match sound-wise and gives the vocals a bigger sound from time to time.

I've seen many bands describing their music, trying to make it more interesting and make you anticipate things. Stuff like "this is a musical journey like never before" and all kind of other stuff, I'm sure you have seen it yourself sometime. The thing is that Monuments does no such thing, instead of that they let their music do the talking. Summing up this EP, I find it to be the perfect blend between black- and doom metal. You're bound to be caught by this record, its magnificence and its atmosphere. Sit back and dim the lights or go for an evening walk listening to this EP, it will match perfect.

"We stand proud"

Be sure to support the band on Facebook, and check out their fantastic music on Bandcamp.

Rating

9.5

Forgotten Ones: Feikn - Helhesten

"The Sun is red above the vaulted Sky"

Feikn is a band that started in 1997 and the members was situated both in southern Jylland and mid Sjælland. They had the same line-up for both the demo, Visse Ting Som Hænder and the EP, Helhesten. Though they had planned to record a 10'' called Gamle Sagn Lever Om Natten, the unfortunate nature of bassist Inanna's suicide, prevented this record from ever happening.

It starts out with a mellow acoustic guitar intro, also worthy of mentioning here is the clearness of the bass, which gives the music a deeper and cloudy atmosphere. The drums play simple beats, sometimes including some neats double bass patterns. Though the snare hits at times crack the production sound which threw me off a couple of times. The first track, Helhesten changes between acoustic passages and more traditional norwegian black metal riffs and beats while Aamanden consistently has a more mid-paced beat and feel to it.

The vocals, which are mainly performed by guitarist Isaz, consists of a more harsh yelling rather than the traditional black metal raspy screeching and a more operatic style of vocals, which are extremely well done. I adore them, at first they felt like they did not belong there, but a after a fourth and fifth listen I realized they fit the music and atmosphere perfectly. Drummer/vocalist Charon also have some pretty decent clean vocals which appear on the track, Aamanden. The distorted guitars are somewhat left in the background and not that much audible, which I felt is okay since the riffs does not sound that intriguing from what I can hear. But atleast they sound grieving and sorrowful when they play slow. Solos are nowhere to be found, and that dissapointed me a little bit.

Helhesten is a dark and sad near ten minutes of black metal, though it doesn't feel that way. If you like black metal in general, and want to hear something a little different, then this is highly recommended.

Rating

7.3

Wormlust - The Feral Wisdom

'Black Metal Ambrosia'



This Icelandic band was founded by H.V Lyngdal in 2003 under the moniker of Wolfheart and joined by drummer Bjarni Einarsson on The Feral Wisdom. Lyngdal changed Wolfheart into Wormlust in 2006 with some demos the following years, one of them was the astonishing Seven Paths demo, he finally released The Feral Wisdom in mid 2013.

Wormlust are a very strange band to describe. Let us say, an ethereal hybrid of a psychedelic and atmospheric style of black metal. And it really intensifies the ambiance of the album. Above all, the word I would use to describe Wormlust best is mesmerizing. An almost murmuring, spacey and vociferous sound production enchants the listener to their magnificent and grand-epic style of the first track Sex Augu, Tólf Stjörnur. Although it starts with an ambient intro, the feral and noisy beast that is Wormlust is unleashed with an absolutely destroying sound that left me with my jaw dropping down to the floor. The vehement and dissonant sounds continued to echo in my room leaving my hopes for enlightenment all but abolished. Halfway through the track, the sound gets even more magnificent with the use of mid-tempo beats and synthesizer to its eminent sound. I was also really surprised how insame the bass sounds sometimes around the 6:30 minute mark. A scarce number of melodic leads are also incorporated into this track, the track ends with two minutes of ambient experimentation.

And now for an abrupt turn of events, Wormlust lies their grand-epic style aside once more as we are allowed to indulge in a very mirky and melodic touch at the start of Djöflasýra. The riffs in this song are very hypnotic, and the mid-tempo moments of this song works great to finish the listeners ascend into the ethereal skies. The vehement sounds are still delivered, but this song have somewhat a lesser aggressive approach than the first track, but that has given way for even more soaring ambiance around 3 minutes in. The song then builts itself up in a crawling pace, resuming at the seven minute mark what resembles the chaotic and psychotic form Sex Auga, Tólf Stjörnur had. In contrast, this song ends on a high note as the first ended in with ambient music.

While the first half of the album was a schizophrenic frenzy of unwordly music, the second half of The Feral Wisdom is quite different. It begins with the track, Á Altari Meistarans makes this album do a full collision into psychedelic territory. The track evolves with a long slowness, and feels a little droning. Although certainly different, the end of this song fits perfectly into the next, Iður Úti. There was a certain tension to this track, I felt like something was going to happen. And it did, almost three minutes in, the music becomes what you recognize from the two first songs, but before you know it... it ends. Developing the track once more with silent, eerie sounds. The last four minutes, which the band puts all their energi into, go back the maniacal black metal from before. Even though I think this song is weirdly built, it sounds very natural, it is also completely nuts at the same time.

The only downside that I had with this record was the transition between the two halves of the it. They are outright strange. But above all else, the album is really well put together and heavy, so heavy it is brain sickening in fact, but in a good way. For those of you, who are looking for black metal with complexity, depth and absolute insanity, then this is for you. This is a wandering to the outlying empty spaces of our galaxy, and then back. This album is a journey so dark it will drive you to madness and left craving for more.

Rating:
9.7

Satyricon - Now, Diabolical

"Siege and Advance"


I explored Satyricon back in 2006 when the single K.I.N.G. got released. A friend of mine told me to check it out and also check out the other new song the band had put out, called The Pentagram Burns. The last mentioned is a song I fell in love with straight away and up to this day it is still my favourite song by the band. Back then I had never heard anything in the vein of this melodic black metal style that Satyricon has developed. Even though this album leans more towards some kind of modern black metal since the core of the black metal sound are more, think the other term is more fitting, since they continued down that road as well. It's been some years since it has been released and I have grown very fond of the album. But of course objectivity comes into play. The album got a rather rough production, even though this it not something that may strike you at first, then compared to their later work, it is. If I had done this review prior to '08 my opinion would more likely be different.

Compared to the successor this album proves to be more evil in its sound and also vocally. A thing it shares a bit with The Age of Nero, definitely is the dark sound, but as the darker sounds took over on Nero and I think the black metal roots are easier to hear on Now, Diabolical. That may make it more easy to listen to if you're a black metal fan and prefer the stuff done in the 90's, if not, I can describe it as a harder version of The Age of Nero. Through some tracks, for example The Rite of Our Cross the band uses some slower riffing played in the likes of a more atmospheric sounding guitar to kind of give some of the song a kind of haunting feel and sound, and in the song mentioned here it really works well.

Satyricon have the ability to pick out some really good covers from time to time, the only cover I don't really like is Rebel Extravaganza. A cover I really like from the bands earlier days is Nemesis Divina, even though Dark Medieval Times also has a splendid cover, Divina is more relevant since Per Heimly who was behind the work of that cover back in '96 also got employed for the artwork of Now, Diabolical. Since it is the most recognized cover from the band, at least when I look back it is fair to say a good job was done for this cover, and I think it looks great, but you be the judge of that! 

Songs I would call fourth from this album are K.I.N.G., The Pentagram Burns, The Rite of Our Cross and To the Mountains, but it is worth going through the whole album. Even though it contains some really good gems and my favourite song by the band the production and consistency of the album just can't match The Age of Nero.

Rating

8.5

Satyricon - The Age of Nero

"The Darkness You Wish to Hide"


Satyricon, a band that is fairly hated in the black metal community for creating this melodic black metal style. Yes, I called it melodic black metal, since it is neither black metal or black 'n' roll. You can take Carcass and their shift towards melodic death metal back in '93 with the album Heartwork. As they did, Satyricon went from black metal to a style still keeping black elements but also a more heavy form of metal. Of course there is the vocals as well, which actually at some times could be compared to Jeff Walker's.

The production has improved since Now, Diabolical and it sounds much more professional. On some tracks on the album there has been added a tuba which really blends in with the music, and gives it a nice feel, where the previous album had a more evil sound to it, The Age of Nero has a more dark sound but also keeping the evilness. To be honest I really hope that the band will sit down soon and work on a new album in the same vein of this release, and Now, Diabolical as well. Hopefully the addition of some orchestral music on the next record maybe to give it a diverse feel. It has been four years since the release of this album at the time of this review, so maybe the band will announce something soon.
The first song I encountered from this album was my skin is cold, the version on this album is different though, as the version I heard first and still prefer is from the EP of the same name. Not that the album version is bad, the EP version just has I better sound to it. This release also sees the return of a song in Norwegian in the likes of 'Den Siste' which means 'The Last'.

The album cover for this release is pretty good, at least for my taste. The picture of the black crow and its dark surroundings gives it a dark feel, and it is kind of in the same vein when you talk layout as the previous two albums. At the time of this review it has been four years since this album was released. There's plenty of highlights from this album, even though they may not strike you as memorable songs at first. Though I always prefer to recommend people to listen to the entire album, there is some people who are more than lazy. The Wolfpack, Black Crow on a Tombstone, My Skin is Cold, The Sign of the Trident and Den Siste is the tracks that really shines through, but again, listen to the whole album.

If you expect black metal, or some kind of modern black metal, then keep away from this album. But saying that is kind of mean... Keep an open mind when you listen to new music, ignore all the bash talk that angry black metal kids are slinging around the internet about Satyricon, this album is great, dark and entertaining.
There has also been a lot of people talking trash about the way the band looks on the promo shots and videos for this album, no it may not be "trve kvlt blerk mertl" and I am very thankful for that. So I would like to end this review with a quote.

"Oh the irony of black metal fans criticising someone for their appearance..."

Rating

8.9