Necronoclast - Ashes (2011)

Ashes is the 4th full-length album from the one man Scottish black metal entity Necronoclast, and his 2nd through Moribund. It also happens to be the first I've heard, so my knowledge of his back efforts is lacking entirely, but the formula here is common enough that to identify. Greg Edwards performs all of the instruments and vocals, using programmed drums and incredibly raw, fuzzy tones to create an authentic return to the aesthetics of the early to mid 90s. You'll hear a clear influence from Burzum, Ulver and Darkthrone, at least in the fabric of the guitars, but Edwards uses a mix of death/growls for added, ballistic aggression. One band I am actually quite reminded of is Sweden's Niden Div. 187, who possessed a similar nihilistic breadth and comparably unflattering, caustic tones.

Certainly, Edwards sets up a steady atmosphere here, and to his credit he paces himself, with tracks like "Ghostways" and "Ashes" swerving into slower terrain to counterbalance the utter blasted chaos which can sadly grow repetitious. But the problem faced with Ashes is that most of the chords, while eerie, just don't manifest into interesting patterns that catch the ear with more than appreciable vitriol. Even the gleaming, dire melodies that propagate through the voluptuous bridge of "Veil of Flies" feel more predictable than uncanny, and this might be my single favorite moment on the album, though to be fair, the following "Kajicnicke Saty" is a more curious piece that flirts with a bobbing and weaving structure of hostility and obscured majesty.

You don't really hear much straight black metal out of Scotland, so there's a tiny spark of nuance at the fact that this is arriving from that corner of the world. Black metal purists who so admire honest excursions into the fundamentals of modern, necrotic primacy will probably appreciate Edwards' sincerity, because he does represent a legitimate manifestation of horror without all the trappings of excess studio polish or noodling wankery. There is no 'symphony' here aside from the backdrop he sets up with the chords and cold, machine drumming. The emotional edge of this album is nothing more than a razor sawing through the veins, and to that extent, Ashes is a fairly effective, if unmemorable experience. Not bad for one man, but I'd like to hear him reach further into his demons and disintegrate all opposition.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.necronoclast.com/

Disfigure the Insane - Ouroboros (2010)

The logo presentation for the Disfigure the Insane debut Ourorboros doesn't hold out much hope for the quality of its contents, but before I proceed I should probably establish what exactly this is. Disfigure the Insane is the project of Callum Cant and Craig Robinson, a pair of Scots with a good sense of humor and a sensible grasp of their own limitations (I found their MySpace page enormously entertaining, to tell the truth). Ouroboros is a good old twitching of the death metal nerve, and it's got more than its share of problems, but believe it or not, there is something quite more to it...

What really stunned me about this album is how similar it sounds to Morbid Angel's classic Altars of Madness, only completely batshit insane, and with a drum machine. If you take that ripping, old death/thrashing tone and apply it more chaotically with myriad time shifts that don't always make sense, you've come up with something nearing Disfigure the Insane. Granted, you'll hear some other sounds in here like Deicide, the sporadic intensity of Atheist, or even the vicious twist of black metal venom in some of the vocals, but the way the guitars tear off across the hostility of the vocals truly reminds me of Trey and David Vincent. Such vitriolic fuel makes a track like "Slaughter of Figures...Once Divine" or "Crooked Cage" not only tolerable, but honestly quite good. Both the bassist and guitarist have a solid level of ability, whether pounding out the rapid chords or masturbating into a little shred work.

There are downsides here, like the unfortunate "Kentucky Fried Children". Yes, the lyrics are obviously funny in that least effort sort of way, but my real issue was that it sort of steers away from the great, Altars of Madness feel I get from other compositions. Other tracks deviate from the formula with greater success, like "Ouroboros" itself which makes great use of evil, clinical guitars, or "Sado - Necropolism" which sounds like a jamboree of insane, progressive technical with a strangely uplifting in the bridge. The drum programming, while tight enough to keep the rhythms and even flip its own lid, simply doesn't service this sort of band as much as a live drummer (but they're working on it). Also, sometimes the compositions are so twisted that they tend to crash in upon themselves, with various riffs meshing together that make little sense and become distracting. Fortunately, this is not that often, and you can generally pick up what the band are putting down without achieving a migraine or colostomy.

So, what's next? Certainly, if Disfigure the Insane pulled themselves together, got a drummer and packaged these tunes properly, they would turn some heads. I noticed a lot of death metal bands from this region of the world like Mithras, Scythian and Dãm tend to channel the Morbid Angel influence heavily, but these Scots seem to jerk it forth straight from 1989 and layer it into a modern, spastic context. Ouroboros is a bit of a mess, but it would be foolish to ignore the potential pushing below that mess, like an unhatched fetus trying not to choke itself off in the umbilical, so it picks up a guitar and saws its own nutrient sac in half, dooming itself, and yet giving everyone in the inevitable operating room mental scars for life. Flawed? Most assuredly. Fun? You betcha.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.myspace.com/demonstrationofficial