Burial Hordes - Incendium (2014)

One would never accuse the Burial Hordes of taking the most 'subtle' or 'quaint' approach to black metal among their peers. They possess a sound that isn't even remotely Greek, perhaps, nor is it quite original, but it is undeniably brutal and effective due to the death metal overtures in the vocals. Hell, you wouldn't want to meet these guys around a bonfire when they ran out of goat-meat, and black metal NEEDS that sort of 'threat' factor present if it's to continue being taken seriously (or not seriously, as the case may be for some individuals). Granted, for all I know the members of this band are courteous, friendly puppies in the real world, but throw them into a studio with some instruments and what comes out is not fucking pretty, and not safe to adopt from the pound.

When I closely examine the riffing techniques here, my mind is immediate drawn back to the legends like Bathory, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal and Marduk, and while I loathe such 'broken record' name dropping, I've been listening to this shit for almost 25 years, have heard it many thousands of times and find it impossible to make more contemporary comparisons when I am constantly drawn to the originals. But you get the point: it's a contrast of blasted pacing over either tremolo-picked notes or rapid chord progressions, against slower Hellhammer/Darkthrone grooves embedded that break up the momentum to give the mind and limbs a chance to rest without abandoning the 'evil' nature of the music. Where Burial Hordes expound upon the tradition is through this loud, roiling, rich production style which simply mightn't have been possible when the classics were being released in the early 90s. Incendium is resonant and raucous in tone, and you fully get the point even when the riffing patterns are mildly on the bland or predictable side, that they set an inescapable foundation of intensity, and the fell glories attained by the more melodic guitar lines which are almost redolent of melodic black/death crossover stuff like Necrophobic.

The drums are an organic tempest of flawless blasting, limbs everywhere, and I can honestly say that where they want to hit hard, they do. Hit fast, they do. Entirely dependable in any situation this music finds itself in, whether the straight opening attack of "Nailed Curse" or the moodier atmospheric calm deeper inside when a series of higher, sparser notes ring out over a light beat. Bass is audible but takes a backseat to the more prominent rhythm guitars which sound great whether they're speed-picking or trilling on some primordial, doomy groove like those near the sample in "Abomination". Having Cthonos' ominous, deeper growled vocals makes all the difference in tying the record together and distinguishing it slightly from those who prefer the rasped vocals...it's not a practice exclusive to Burial Hordes, but it gives the entire experience this predatory confidence, and the sustain of the guttural is simply more atmospheric. Incendium is ultimately not a novel experience, and a large percentage of the riff selection is less memorable than the remainder, but it definitely held my attention as much as their sophomore (Devotion to Unholy Creed) and well worth hearing if you like black metal with the consistency of a bulldozer. Ready to work! Ready to slay!

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://burialhordes.tripod.com/

Burial Hordes - Devotion to Unholy Creed (2008)

Devotion to Unholy Creed seems like a pretty well regarded album in general, and just about every I know who's heard it claims it to be one of the best traditional black metal works of the 21st century, with an unflinching old school attitude that pays tribute to the progenitors of the medium (Hellhammer, Darkthrone, Bathory, Mayhem, the list goes on). After being only mildly impressed with the Burial Hordes debut, and seeking something new and exciting from the Hellenic soils, I was expecting to have my ears bloodied and brains knocked out, yet I'm disappointed to say that it's honestly not that much better than War, Revenge & Total Annihilation. The production is quite incendiary, I'll grant it, and there are a few highly inspired moments of magnificence, but this is one of those albums where I actually found the creepy interludes and distractions to be more interesting than the music, which features a lot of the samey, familiar riffing we've heard through countless cycles already.

I do quite like the wheelbarrow guitar tone, mind you, and the variation that the Greeks exhibit from track to track, but once I dissect the riffs they all feel a bit warm, fuzzy and derivative, with very few standouts, like the eerie tranquility of the "Splendid Destruction" intro or the bristling, thick melodies in the depths of "Hellborn". With the exception of a few lengthier bits ("Stench of Immortal Doom" and "God's Cutthroat"), they keep most of the tracks on the shorter length, so there's not really any chance they'll wear out their welcome or incorporate spare, needless sequences to pad the length. Where Burial Hordes really excels is in how they've set up the progression of the album, and the horrifying ligaments between them, like the end of the title track: distorted swells of opera with sounds of freaky torment and crying; or the baleful howls that bridge "God's Cutthroat" and "Abysmal Goatfeast", rolling right into the blocky, mid-paced Hellhammer/Darkthrone riffs. A few more instances of this infernal atmosphere would not have hurt the album.

Otherwise, it's all pretty average fare, just on the plus side. I'm reminded of fellow Hellenic blackhearts Ravencult, whose Temples of Torment followed a similar approach: guitars out front where they belong, solid if ultimately unmemorable riffing structure, and a forceful atmosphere dealt largely through the burgeoning rhythms themselves. Burial Hordes use a grimier guitar tone, though, and the notation is not quite so sadistic and penetrating. At any rate, I can see the appeal to this sort of album, it certainly is a little bit more exciting and versatile than many other recordings in its niche, and I enjoyed it somewhat more than the debut, if not by a wide margin. It's successful as far as offering its influences an option to time travel into the present, but doesn't produce any songs I'm going to want to hear months or even weeks later.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://burialhordes.tripod.com/

Burial Hordes - War, Revenge and Total Annihilation (2006)

One of the more wretched and vile Greek black metal entities, the Burial Hordes were unearthed in the early 21st century to wreak havoc through a number of scathing demos that culled influence from the very roots of the black metal genre. Both first and second wave sounds are heard in their punishing meat sculptures, from Bathory and Celtic Frost to Mayhem, and at least here on their debut, they have this nasty take no prisoners mentality involving an incendiary and writhing addiction to blasted speed that they wisely alternate with breakdowns into moody, dissonant nightmares or surges of mid-paced, spine rocking chords that summon up memories of Hellhammer and Darkthrone.

War, Revenge and Total Annihilation is all too apt a title for their full-length debut, for while it might not be the most unique or enduring slab of black aggression on the block, it is without any doubt destructive. Ominous, dark tolling heralds the churning mass of "Bestial Bloodwar" which is just so caustic and loud that it peels any layers remaining, epidermal innocence from the skin of the listener. "Aeons of Hell" baits the audience with further lightning fervor before lurching into a twist of colon crushing chords. The architecture of hostile, minor melodies that introduce "Cosmic Genocide" drip like nihilistic vampire fangs over its bruising black acceleration, and "The Rapture of Hatred" builds itself brick by brick like a tower of blood-mortared stones. Of course, if you seek simply to have your face ripped off by songs that make Marduk and Mayhem sound like elevator muzak, then Burial Hordes also provides you with fare like "Unholy, Ultra-Violent Domination" and "Army of Heretics" which will reduce you to nuclear ash.

Filthy, indomitable, and borne of pure punishing abyss-winds, this is a debut destined to appeal to those that seek out black metal for no other reason than skull fractures and slipped vertebrae. In this way, they remind me of the more extreme Northern storms like 1349, but with a mildly less surgical and technical approach to the riff writing. The mix of the guitars is both rich and textured, even if the riffs themselves do not exactly stand outside of the hellish sum of the band's parts. Burial Hordes represent savage efficiency and truth to despotic ideals more so than any sense for subtlety or complexity, and as such, there is an undeterred authenticity to their sound, which trumps several of their Greek peers (Naer Mataron, etc) in pure hostility. Several of the members here have played in numerous other scene bands (Mortuus Caelum, Enshadowed, and Dead Congregation to name a few), and the experience shows.

That said, War, Revenge and Total Annihilation is not the most memorable concussion in its field. Decidedly less retro than its successor (Devotion to Unholy Creed), it's merely a competent and crashing execution of the form, with decent lyrics. Difficult to pick out or recall even a single guitar line from the entire album, but unquestionably unbridled in its fury.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (embraced by the absolute)

http://burialhordes.tripod.com/