Aura Noir - Hades Rise (2008)

I'm a huge fan of bands like Sarke, Slegest and Darkthrone, and also enjoy the black & roll era of Satyricon or the newer Tulus records which also employ a very stripped-down aesthetic. There's just this very centered vibe with the clear mixes, honing each riff and vocal line to be sinister and effective without the smokescreen of ceaseless extremity and rawness. Those are both formidable devices in their own right, mind you, but I appreciate that this sort of sub-scene has developed parallel to the rest of Norse black metal's evolution. I bring it up because I feel Aura Noir also belongs in that realm, albeit approaching it more from the thrash embedded in their past works. Hades Rise might be the foremost example of this catchy simplification through their canon, and it also happens to be one of my favorite records they've released.

Right from the start, you're getting these amazing, memorable grooves and hooks which feel like the prodigy of that Hellhammer influence I've mentioned elsewhere, tempered with a little pure dirty heavy metal ("Hades Rise") or some Slayer-like licks (in the amazing "Gaping Grave Awaits"). All of the chords feel so carefully chosen and timeless, and there's little fat to be had, where a few of the past records would spit out savage hit-or-miss vitriolic progressions. The vocals have a dry hostility to them, as they're not too dressed up in effects, but at the same time you can capture all the emotion of the throats torn to each syllable, and it works just as well as Nocturno Culto's great performance on the Sarke albums. The bass is a lot more prominent and the guitar tone has an organic charm to it, delivering pure riffage rather than studio wizardry or technical wanking. The drums have a strong shuffle about them and aren't as acidic or splashy sounding as they once were. Clearly this is still thrash metal, there are plenty of classic licks of that vein paraphrased throughout, with even a little early dissonant Voivod influence ("Schitzoid Paranoid"), but you can also hear the punch-drunkenness, rock & roll bravado and the lingering darkness of the black metal throughout, or even a little death metal in the verses to "Iron Night/Torment Storm".

This is also extremely consistent, perhaps the Aura Noir record that I'm most willing to listen straight through. None of the tunes overstay their welcome, the lyrics are evocative and awesome, and there's enough variation within that black/thrash/rock aesthetic where it's recognizably coherent but never too repetitive...the more brash "South American Death", for example, with its looser leads and wall-like barrage of riffs is quite different than "Gaping Grave Awaits". It's a fantastic effort that has only grown with me through time, I remember first hearing both this and The Merciless and being hypnotized by them far more than the earlier efforts that my friends and bandmates had championed upon me. Hades Rise is not something they would quite repeat with the follow-ups, however it does inform their sound enough they retain a lot of its sticky riffing and crank up the intensity. Love this disc.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

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