Monday, December 29, 2008

Nethervoid - Sirens of the Blistering Light (2008)


Iowa must be a pretty grim place. To whatever, wherever or whomever inspired this young USBM act to create these eight acts of glorious blasphemy, I say continue! I can't cite a lot of originality on this debut album, but what they create is a successful and driving form of black metal with grungy guitars, searing vocals and the perfect level of atmosphere.

Every track on the record is darkly consistent. It begins with the knockout combination of the epic title track and the thunderous "Wyrm of World's End". "The Nethers Nativity" is a wall of somber riffing, delightful bass note selection and a nice breakdown. "Southern Convex" is fucking eerie, with a dour acoustic presence accompanying the vile black guitars and terrifying vocals. "Of This Sacred Circle" rocks with a low end, menacing riff. "Vines in a Virgins Body" is a crawling morass of black doom. And for possible song title of the year, you have "1000 Hands of the Assiduous Specter", a killer track to finish the album.

This is seriously one of the better releases this year in US black metal. It's not totally original, it's not extremely dynamic, but it is expressive and goddamned evil sounding and I enjoy their choice of guitar tone. Recommended for those cold countryside evenings, digging graves and resolutely placing your hope and dreams in them. Hail the Midwest.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]


http://www.myspace.com/absolutefuckingevil

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