Pantheon of Blood - Consociatio Solis et Lunae EP (2011)

Finland is no stranger to the more primordial side of the black metal spectrum, with scores of its prominent artists helping keep alive (or dead, depending on your perspective) the grim savagery of the Old Guard of Scandinavia, newsprint-toned progenitors of evil that are still wildly worshiped to this day. Into this maelstrom of morbidity is thrust Pantheon of Blood, an act formed in 2009, which attempts, successfully I might add, to fuse the primal aesthetics of its parent genre into a broader mysticism that carries it well beyond the reach of mere, predictable derivation. All the while, the EP remains loyal to its blackened roots via the threat generated through its crude, grimy guitar tone and desperate, spacious desolation of the vocals, which are surprisingly manifest in more of a guttural timbre than the rasp or snarl you might normally expect.

As the title implies, Consociatio Solis et Lunae provides a metaphysical examination of the lush, classics concepts of Sun & Moon through the contrasted context of barbaric rhythms guitars, brutal vocals and existential, image-rich lyricism that champions a mythological perspective on the poles of light and darkness. A wonderfully packaged gatefold 7" through Glorious North Productions out of the UK, its complete with colorful paintings of a, surreal, almost psychedelic artwork that stirs both the mind and loins of the beholder. As for its production, the vocals of Boreas prove most resilient, haunted and echoing guttural drudgery that echoes as widely across the fuzz of the retching chords as it its titular celestial bodies span the solar system. Drums are tinny but supportive, bass seems almost an obsequious afterthought, but the real focus is on the domineering of its poignant prose and the callow churning of the guitars which eschew any real notion of complexity in order to promote an antediluvian hypnosis.

It's a little hard to compare Pantheon of Blood to any one of their peers, because where I might the generally slower riffing structures similar to something like Horna, Beherit, Warloghe or Baptism, the addition of the more ominous vocals and the implementation of cackling laughter and soaring, abyssal chants creates this refreshing level of hostility that breeds some distinction and individuality. Clean guitars are incorporated in the first track, "Overflowing Manifestation", while its more doom-laden companion "The Crimson Empress of Night" features a stronger melodic undercurrent and even a bluesy lead (courtesy of Shu-Ananda from the grisly Saturnian Mist and Charnel Winds). I found the latter mildly more impressive, with its slower build of harrowing guitars and the meter of the vocals to the skeleton of the rhythm, but both provided a corpulent, oft frightening tribute to their illuminated subjects.

If there could be any complaint leveled against the music, it's simply that the structure of the guitars doesn't quite match the creative expanse and atmosphere of the vocals or the chants. There is little subtlety or nuance, just a slough of familiar texture and ideas that have manifest through hundreds if not thousands of similar recordings. That said, the dressing slathered upon them through the vocals of Boreas, and the incredibly vulgar mixdown of the music lends it a lot of character that its riffing architecture might otherwise have lacked. Pantheon of Blood broods and elevates with an effective, passionate carnage that will certainly suit fans of like-minded black metal acts, or even those enamored of the more cavernous climes of the current death metal retrospective. The excellent packaging and atmosphere of the music are worth experiencing, though I feel the Finns' music will be better suited to an extended, full-length evolution, with more substance explored through the guitars, and a deeper immersion conjured through a greater duration.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (memories of a thousand passed aeons)

http://www.myspace.com/pantheonofblood

Darkthrone - Sempiternal Past: The Darkthrone Demos (2011)

Does the world really need another re-release of the Darkthrone demos? That really all depends on how much of a fanatic one has become for the band, or whether or not one finds particular format more appealing than the previous conditions under which they were issued upon the niche audience. A handful of years ago, in 2008, Peaceville put out the 21st anniversary collection Frostland Tapes which included all the material in a rougher form, on three CDs packed with extras. Even earlier than that, the Preparing for War collection included a number of the demo tracks though in a less sequential, incomplete package. So really, it's hard not to think of Sempiternal Past: The Darkthrone Demos as a bit of a redundancy despite the decision to remaster and restore the material with the best possible quality. Even the cover art has already been used...

However, if one had not previously acquired those earlier compilations, then Sempiternal Past is a great way of gathering the demos in one place in their proper, chronological order. As hinted, they audio has been better flushed out from the original source tapes here, and so even their most primordial, amateurish compositions like "Forest of Darkness" from the 1988 Land of Frost demo feels more brazen and fulfilling with the filtered, odd vocals and drudging, primitive riffs. I feel that personally the drums sound a little better, and even the guitars, though I've never been a huge proponent for these earlier tapes as they offered nothing more than groundwork for the Norwegians to establish the later, death metal style of Soulside Journey. There's also the fact that, well, do compositions as prehistoric as these of Land of Frost or A New Dimension even NEED to be brushed up? Doesn't the very base nature of their sound on the prior collections or even just tracking down filthy digital versions sort of lend to their charm? I don't necessarily see the point of polishing a turd if the very charm of it was the stench to begin with...

But then, on the other hand, Sempiternal Past feels like the 'de facto' format with which to experience the material. Whether you've got the vinyls or the CD set, the demos are carefully laid out in order without arbitrary interference from rehearsals or other bits. There are bonus tracks included after the four demos, including the two 1989 live performances that were aired on television in Oslo ("Soria Moria Slott" and "Eon/Thulcandra" medley). But then, anyone with the special edition of Preparing for War already experienced them. Probably the best part of Semptineral Reign is having the track "God of Disturbance and Friction" for your collection, but then this is a pretty average piece with standard Celtic Frost inspired, mid-paced chords and rasping that isn't among their better written, or more sinister executions.

Ultimately, with two previous collections available with three discs each, I didn't come away from this feeling as if I'd gotten anything new or important. None of the demo material is capable of superceding the album incarnations (where applicable), and neither does the skimpy bonus material impress. If you don't already have the Frostland Tapes, and you're looking to complete your Darkthrone collection or replace whatever dubs or rips you have of the old demos, then this is an acceptable solution (and maybe bump my rating up a notch or two). It's not like Fenriz, Culto and Peaceville just regurgitated this to turn a buck, some effort was used in refinishing the levels of the mix and giving you a version they were happy with you hearing. But I didn't end up enjoying these particular tunes more than past exposures, and thus my preference remains with Preparing for War as it had that sweet DVD, or especially Frostland for that added instrumental disc. If you're ever faced with the choice, just be forewarned what you'll be getting in each case. I'm sure the double vinyl will at least prove collectible since that format is all the rage right now.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://www.peaceville.com/bands/2194

Revel in Flesh - Deathevokation (2012)

Revel in Flesh face an immediate uphill battle in that they perform the same brand of 90s Swedeath worship that's so widespread and prevalent in recent years. But despite that, I was eager to check out their full-length debut Deathevokation, the reason being that a few of these Germans were once counted among the ranks of the great Apophis, a severely underrated band who performed a memorable, melodic and old school take on the Egyptology worship that Nile later made huge waves with. I still spin Heliopolis to this day, and while granted I'm not clear as to whether the alumni here played on that record, it's still a cause for some excitement.

Yeah, you already know what this album is going to sound like from my first sentence, or from the fact that the band's name is drawn from a great Entombed cut from their 1990 debut, Left Hand Path. This is an utter throwback to the days of that record, Clandestine, Dismember's first two efforts and also the earlier Grave sound, and Revel in Flesh make no apologies for the absolute lack of anything novel or frankly, interesting. It's all about the logo, the cover art, and paying tribute to an age which was obviously quite important to the members as they first exploring the possibilities of extreme metal. Even though the musicians have an already established pedigree through Apophis, Immortal Rites and Dawn of Dreams, I didn't feel a lot of influence coming through from any of those acts, more of a straight burn to the Sunlight dominated guitar tone and thuggish, driving tremolo lines and d-beat punk undercurrent that transformed the aesthetic into such a worldwide phenomenon.

That said, where other new acts like Feral gravitate towards the whole Wolverine Blues death & roll riffing, Deathevokation travels along the axis of the purely brutal. The vocals here are a bit more blunt and gory, than say a L-G Petrov, and you can tell they've been listening to their Grave or Seance records just as much as if not more than Left Hand Path, because the riffs get a bit more violent and take their queues from the late 80s Floridian forefathers as often as they do from the punk and hardcore foundation that went into Nihilist or Carnage. There's a fair share of variation, from the multitude of mid-paced churners to the slower breakdown grooves, and they often lay into some appreciable, atmospheric leads as in "Wings of Death" which slice out above the fray with belligerent, warlike progressions reminiscent of Bolt Thrower. The tone of the guitars is bright and bludgeoning, the vocals often pair up their guttural timbre with a sidereal snarler, and they perform with the reliability of a well tended brick wall.

Unfortunately, there was another brick wall for me here, and that's simply that I've heard the style done so damned often in the past 20+ years that I didn't find the album able to hold my attention for long periods of time. There have been bands lately like Tormented, Miasmal and the aforementioned Feral that have overcome this pervasive sense of familiarity with incredible atmospheres or riff structures that can often rival the original sources, but even in its most exciting pieces like the crushing, moody "Iron Coffin", Deathevokation never really hit me with a 'wow' factor, just more of the same. That said, I can't fault the band for wanting to live out their influences, and this is far from a bad record. The execution and ability here are well versed and tight, the production overpowering and bound to burst from your speakers like cannon shells, and those heavily enamored with the broadside artillery of an Entrails, Bloodbath or Hail of Bullets, are not likely to be disappointed.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Revel-in-Flesh/304228902958414

Eternum - Veil of Ancient Darkness (2012)

Eternum proves yet another reason why Australia is leading the pack when it comes to this latest generation of atmospheric black metal, traditionally based but dowsed in reverb and resonance that gives it some legs to stand on. Striborg and Drowning the Light are two of the more prolific acts in this scene, but they've been joined by a host of newcomers like Atra, Temple Nightside, and Moon who all exhibit a great grasp of immersion. I was first exposed to the duo of Nightwolf and Azgorh (both also involved with Drowning the Light themselves) on the Oath of Defiance split with Finnentum of Finland, and thought they held their own alongside another of the mighty Shatraug's impressive projects. This full-length debut could be viewed as the logical extension of that dreamlike, desolate and dense material, and it's a clear means of escape for the darkling imagination.

Don't be misled by the cover image, because Veil of Ancient Darkness is a lot more textured and emotionally draining than the traditional 'forest pose' might normally imply. The shining wall of distortion promoted through the guitar is a staple for several of the bands in this microcosm, hailing back to the formative tones used on earlier Burzum recordings like Filosofem, only its heavily drowned in an airy polish and backing synths and choirs that creates this rich flood of suffering to coincide with Azgorh's harsh, full and echoed rasping. There are not a lot of subtle threads being woven through the music, just the clang of the percussion and the doomed, majestic certainty of the chords and tremolo melodies, but often you'll hear a deep male choir in the background (as in the opener "Tyrannos Regnare in Aeternum") or some other device that keeps the music fresh and leaden with appropriate grief. Eternum is not a one track, pony, though and mid paced cruisers like "Tyrannos..." and "Shores of the Impaled" are offset by the sheer savagery of "Dark Unholy Empire" and "The Iron Winter", or the resilient acoustic interludes like "Ghosts of Warriors in the Dead of Night" or "Burial of Heroes".

I place a great deal of value on this genre's ability to get me out of my current headspace and into some bleak approximation of antiquity, a sojourn Veils of Ancient Darkness is well capable of granting. Favorites included the late 80s Bathory-like momentum of "As Black Smoke Covers the Sun" and the speed picked, lush acoustics of the finale "As the Ravens Watch the Battle", but there wasn't a break on the whole album in terms of its consistent aesthetics of fell, tangible loss and glory. It's not the most 'malevolent' sound, granted. There is no real sense that you're being confined and tortured in a crypt (as with DtL's Catacombs of Blood), but more of this brazen openness, as if the Hessian who has just emerged from the woodland on its cover was about to conquer and immolate some local village, raising morningstar spikes to the sky as the smoke from the cottage fires drifts out towards the sea. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, it's this salient swath of demeanor which so engraves the album's warrior conscience onto the listener, and while it's not necessarily perfect or novel, it's a solid recommendation for fans of the members' other projects, or atmospheric black metal in general.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.darkadversary.com/

Hellvetron - Death Scroll of Seven Hells and Its Infernal Majesties (2012)

What I love about an album like Death Scroll of Seven Hells and Its Infernal Majesties is how you go into it expecting one thing and then come out having experienced a different sound. The logo, the din of the red and black cover with its draconic, 7-headed abomination and the title all read like a pretty standard occult black metal experience, and there'd be nothing wrong with that, but Hellvetron surprised me with their sluggish, evil blackened death/doom pacing and the effective revulsion of Alal'Xhaasztur's monstrous growls and snarls. This guy sounds like he's howling out proclamations throughout crimson stained skylines and cavernous depths of the Seven Hells, amplified enough that all the tortured and damned cannot escape his edicts regardless of their individual, eternal punishment. And I don't think he's announcing the next ham & bean charity supper over in the city of Dis...

But a diabolic front man would be nothing without the support of the music itself, and here the Hellvetron also succeeds. Ominous, drudging beats are laid out below the raw, filthy guitar tone. Doomed, drawling chords are interspersed with primordial late 80s death metal tremolo guitar lines which occasionally scale into a higher register like redeemed souls that are on the verge of escaping the conflagration until they are suddenly jerked back down by their horned and hooved tormentors. Haunted, brooding chants and other atmospherics are asserted liberally wherever they can exponentially improve the sheer horror of the spacious, reverb saturated gutturals, and let's get something straight: you will not come away from this album smiling unless you are one of the sickest fucks in all Creation. It is the stuff of pure nightmare, just as subterranean and menacing as any of the 'cavern core' Incantation clone death metal, and the Old Testament-rooted darkness of the titles and lyrics make it all the more harrowing and 'ancient' in tone.

Occasionally songs like "Abaddon - Wings of Perdition" and "Gehinnom - Hellwomb of the Impure Hag Queens" come to these points where they seem more calamitous and less structured that the surroundings, with more off-kilter drum fills and no central riff to drive the funereal burden, but even then they never drag down the writhing, crawling torment of the vocals. The fact that the album is about 25 minutes long also doesn't hurt, since you'd generally associate this sort of slower paced project with mind numbing, repetitious torture and 10 minute 'compositions'. Hellvetron turns this and several other assumptions on their sides, and then violates them with an inverted cross until they scream 'uncle'. I can't say that I was gripped by the actual riffing through much of Death Scrolls, since its secondary to the arching, foreboding atmosphere, but its antiquarian horrors should earn it much praise, or at least conversation. With stuff like this and Bahimiron coming out of Texas, who knows what lovably disgusting, ungodly beast the Lone Star State will turn loose on us next...

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/hellvetron/

Deathhammer - Onward to the Pits (2012)

Deathhammer has always been a band possessed of that highly sought, cult 'it factor' since their inception, but then, that's not much of a shock as the members have been hanging around other classy Norwegian underground fixtures for years. Prominent figures in that scene have touted them as a band to watch, but up to this point I admit that I've never been thrilled by their music. Let's be honest, throwbacks to the Venom, Slayer and Bathory camp are hardly novel, and though the band had an unquenchable fire and energy to their earlier recordings which made them 'fun', the songs on Forever Ripping Fast and even their 2010 full-length Phantom Knights did not exactly resonate for me beyond a few weeks.

That all changes with Onward to the Pits, an album upon which they seem to have finally gelled as songwriters, even if their modus operandi is one and the same with its predecessors. Make no mistake about it, this is pure leather, denim and velocity given audio flesh, and its proprietors have no concern other than to live vicariously through their influences. The dense onslaught of the percussive, hyper speed guitar tone draws a straight line back to mid-80s Kreator circa Endless Pain or Pleasure to Kill, while the vocals draw upon Mille's abusive, bloodied carnage with a few thrusts into Tom Araya's formative, line-ending screams. Clearly the raw speed and violence with which they carve out numbers like "Deathrashing Sacrifice", "Voodoo Rites" and "Emperor of Sins" are a clear nod back to the Bathory s/t debut in 1984, and as usual you get the feeling they've been reared on Venom and Motörhead at some point, though the influence might feel further removed due to the intensity of the blasting beats and hellish, focused fire of the album's atmosphere.

But Deathhammer do not just rifle their way through a bunch of average, dirty black/speed metal songs here and call it a day like so many others. The Norwegians have very meticulously constructed this thing to provide other thrills, like the tolling bells and cement chord grooves that inaugurate "Emperor of Sin", or the jarring organ in "Lead Us to Hell". Leads liberally dispersed through the track list provide an added dimension of musicality as they soar off into the night sky above the rapid, rhythmic witch burning below, and in general each is well constructed to draw the ears back to it repeatedly. They also shift tempos enough here that Onward to the Pits does not suffer from the monotony of many peer albums. Frilly, old school Destruction and Bathory explode in "To the Evil" or "Fullmoon Sorcery", for example, but then "Final Black Mass" and "Seduced by the Flames" have mid-paced, bouncing rhythms which prove just as threatening.

In the end, it all accrues into an admittedly great album which dusts up the floor with their prior releases, and should absolutely blow the minds of everyone seeking to relive 1985, or to ford those faux-Satanic depths for the very first time. Hells Headbangers Records remains a perfect home for the duo. The production is brutally clear but has just enough of that retro flair that it never seems sterile or plastic, and Sadomancer and his partner Sergeant Salsten perform the duties of four men with ease. As usual for Deathhammer and a lot of their contemporaries, one should go into the record expecting innovation lyrically or musically, just a thrill ride from the past to the present, so bearing that in mind, it passes with flying, devil-scorched colors. It's not poetry, just a pastiche of predictable blasphemy, but they still get in a winning line or two like 'we rip the arms off Jesus and eat his head'. Just shut the mind down and bang thy head if you can keep up with their frenzied pace. The more beers, the better, of course, but I found it was also effective sober.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://home.no/deathhammer/

Shroud of Despondency - Pine (2012)

As with the two previous Shroud of Despondency albums I've encountered, Pine drags its listener into an emotional, conceptual journey which spans the realms of thriving nature and a cold, final death. The simple and almost surreal cover hints at obscured, rustic scenery, and the band does a good job of culling this through the evocative songwriting, whereas the 2011 album Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion lived up to its cave-like faceplate. But the real strength of this Midwest entity is its songwriting, a rare ability to thread creative melodies and dynamics into their tracks that keep the listener affixed throughout. the experience Rory Heikkila never got the memo that underground black metal be dull, repetitious and entirely redundant, so there's a subtext of hopeful craftmanship here reminiscent of an Agalloch or Cormorant, only I like Shroud's music much more.

The acoustic intro to this thing: "Winged Seed in the Breeze", the first of the four "Wanderlust" instrumentals on the album, is utterly brilliant. Low, brooding effects and crackling leaf sounds in a steady, subdued wind help the plucky clean guitar passage win its way deep into the solemnity of the autumn spirit. It's successors more or less continue the same texture and atmosphere, but each layers in something different: narrative samples, pianos or added guitar effects. They go a long way to break up the heavier tunes and grant the album a consistent center, almost as if they were beckoning the audience with a brief meditative focus before drowning he or she back into the sinister strides of harrowing blasts and the vicious black rasping. Yet, these longing ligaments and lamentations would mean nothing if the meat of the metal wasn't also so effective...

What you'll first notice is just how much effort is placed in the construction of the guitars. Take the first barn burner, "Overshadow" and you'll experience all manner of careening, ascending and descending melodies and dynamic fluctuations where they cycle from blasted, Swedish style melodic death circa Dissection to chugging alongside a raunchy tone with guttural vocals in the bridge, to an almost psychedelic, swirling climax. Don't get too attached to any one aesthetic, because then the next track "New Trees" opens with excellent, surgical death metal riffing and teensy sweeps which inevitably lead to the glorious, mystical lead melodies of its own bridge. No two tunes here are exactly alike, for example "Half Opens Gates" is a melodic black doom epic with loads of atmospheric guitar crescendos, while "Light Words, Dark Graves" is an almost grinding black/death surge. Hell, closer "The Unchaining of an Animal" is pure guitar folk with clean, layered vocals...

Pine might very well have turned into some scattershot assembly of ideas with poor execution, but strangely enough it all seems to come together in this rural tapestry of regrets. The mix of the music is subdued, underground and independent yet maintains the complete clarity of a more professionally budgeted effort. The lyrics are paeans to nature and depression loaded with tasteful, simple prose, almost like a black metal Faulkner, and the ability of the musicians knows no real bounds. I wouldn't say this was perfect, if only because I feel I need to be in a specific mood to immerse myself in its sorrowed boughs, and despite it's many strengths the individual songs are not always the most memorable out there. However, I enjoyed it more than either of their previous full-length efforts, and its talent and vision are indisputable. Fans of the well-liked, aforementioned Agalloch and Cormorant, or Minnesota's Obsequiae, or hell, even the first two Opeth records (Orchid and Morningrise), where they were writing in a more rustic vein with lots of acoustic appeal, should snap this right up.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (from the footsteps and the ashes)

http://www.myspace.com/shroudofdespondency

Funeral Whore - Step Into Damnation (2012)

Step Into Damnation presents another convincing argument that not all throwback death metal must prescribe to the tenets established by Entombed or Incantation in the 90s, that there are a wealth of other sources to tap for inspiration. While I certainly can't claim this Dutch band has no understanding of those sounds, as they'll once in a while bust out a d-beat/punk patterned riffing sequence as in the track "Obidience", I was getting more of a flashback towards carnal pioneers and countrymen Asphyx and Acrostichon, or a bit of Bolt Thrower in the warlike double bass battering, all built upon the standards set by Floridian forebears Xecutioner/Obituary or Death in the late 80s.

Funeral Whore keeps the pace varied and the rhythm guitar infantry well balanced with brief but effective, atmospheric leads which really open up their sound to something broader, and I almost wish they had incorporated more melodies since the combination of the two extremes instantly seems more attractive. For the most part, though, they slog along with simplistic and familiar, if not too derivative grooves and down tuned chugging that any fan of formative death metal (both sides of the Atlantic) will certainly recognize in flavor, and either appreciate for its primordial honesty or rue for its redundant nature. I loved the breadth of the bass tone, best felt in those little grooves like the bridge of "El Salvador Death Squad", but found in general that it simply followed the guitar line a bit much. Vocalist Roy has a good, resonant guttural pitch well matched to this niche, reminiscent of Karl Willetts, Corinne van der Brand or Martin van Drunen, but it's not all that dynamic or something we haven't heard a lot of in the past.

In all, though, Step Into Damnation balances itself well enough that despite any 'been there done that' misgivings it still does its job effectively. All the songs are kept within the 3-4 minute range, built off a dependable, drudging architecture which ensures that individual riffs never stick around for an excess of repetitions. The use of the leads and also the intro horror samples from staples like Friday the 13th and Phantasm II help lubricate the album's chassis of brutality with appropriate viscera, and there is no denying the sincere, bludgeoning guitar tone and the sheer, doomed consistency manifest through the corpulent production. Ultimately, after several spins I was not able to form a strong bond to the music, but it's not without a few decent ideas or some genuine, headbanging moments, and fans of its direct influences, or other old school group active in the new millenia like Texans War Master or Pennsylvanians Funerus might gets some good mileage out of this album.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/funeralwhore

Yayla - Sathimasal (2012)

Balancing ambient and black metal aesthetics against one another efficiently is not as easy as it might sound, but it's this very coupling which saves Yayla's sophomore Sathimasal from becoming what might otherwise prove a relatively average blast off into the bowels of this super saturated genre. On the surface, this is a one man act from Turkey, with Emir Togrul performing all instruments and ominous vocals. He's created a clamor of sodden death and decay here which fully soaks the listener into its cavernous and oft chaotic disposition. Deeper and darker albums than this one are seldom experienced, but those not in the mood for dipping their heads into its churning, volatile ichor would be best avoiding it, because despite the tranquil transitions speckling its onslaught, this is neither subtle nor accessible by any stretch of the imagination.

As if to prime the audience directly for the ensuing punishment, Sathimasal opens with a 7+ minute rush of blasted instrumentality called "Fordreame Wonderlore". This is a long way to go without a structural change, yet it maintains its tempo with confidence while the synthesizers play off against the writhing, incendiary burst of early 90s Mayhem-like tremolo chords. Thankfully, the other four tracks, which are all considerably longer in duration, feature a wider dynamic. "Emperor; Elegy to Wars Never Fought" intersperses its own blasting with a delightful ambient/synth break seeped in angelic, shimmering choirs; or churns into a slower, molten groove above which Emir's vocals feel like disembodied spirits haunting a subterranean cathedral. "Conjurer; Prophetillars Will Hollow" has higher pitched riffing, tolling bell tones and a brighter rasp that seems to tear at its structure like a hell hound pawing and tearing at blood-tinted curtains. But my favorite track here was the nigh on 140minute closer, "Will to Walk Paths to No Temple" which almost felt like an underground alternative to Summoning, not only for the title but for how it moaning its obscurity over the broken beat, a current of dense and deadly sadness.

Sathimasal does often run into problems with its sense of overwhelming repetition, especially in the faster drum sequences, but this is hardly a unique issue to Yayla. A bit more variation would not hurt this music, in fact it would seem welcome in its expansive, hostile atmosphere. That said, I had an even greater issue with the production. It seems far too level, and as a result the vocals, which are distant to begin with, often find themselves too lost under the weight of the riffs and the savagery of the blasting, or the denseness of the keys. Perhaps if they were panned more, or if the voice itself was more eclectic in its percussive meter, it would become more prominent. Beyond these issues, Sathimasal delivers what it promises, a bleak and unnervingly drowning trip into the muted red arches of horror implied by its cover image. Try and envision a blacker, hyper interpretation of the ominous, resonant death of bands like Embrace of Thorns, Vasaeleth, or Mitochondrion only with a cavernous aesthetic and submerged keyboard eloquence not unlike the Australian project The Crevices Below; nearly always on the attack.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://merdumgiriz.org/Yayla_Official.html

Celtic Frost - Monotheist (2006)

After experiencing their Prototype recording earlier in the 21st century, I had no hope that Celtic Frost would ever be returning to the level of artistry and quality that they once reached through their mid-80s albums To Mega Therion and Into the Pandemonium. It had become clear that 'creativity' wasn't an issue, since Warrior was experimenting with industrial/electronics, and even awful hip hop influences, but it felt wholly misguided. Imagine the surprise then, when just a few years later, after a lot of effort and hard work, the Swiss idols would release another heavy album to great praise, with worldwide distribution through Century Media. Arguably, this was the Celtic Frost record fans had been waiting on for nearly 20 years, but its uncompromising, massive sound was also welcoming towards those decades of newer fans who came up on death and black metal, extremities who in part owe their existence to this band's very legacy.

Unfortunately, I feel like the huge production and overwhelming grooves on the album have gone a long way towards its popularity, and less concern seems to be placed upon the actual construction of the riffing or enduring nature of the tracks. Don't mistake me for someone who hates the album, because after a gulf of 10 years, Monotheist was a breath of relief that the band had stopped fucking around. I like it alright, and listen to it once in a great while, but there is no chance in hell that it's quite so great as many would seem to believe. Greatest comeback ever? Work of genius? Absolutely not. Celtic Frost's primal riffing was a boon in the 80s, a clever antithesis to the increasing complexity of the thrash and speed metal scenes, but there in 2006 a lot of the guitar patterns felt irritably derived, and I'm rather surprised that it took Warrior, Ain and their new band mates '4 years of songwriting' to arrive at what a group of 'core kids jamming on the corner of my street could have come up with in 15 minutes in an afternoon session.

Of course, Celtic Frost are more or less cashing in debts on something they had a heavy hand in first creating. A lot of the palm muted chugging that filtered on down through thrash, hardcore and groove metal scenes first originated with bands like this who played them with muscle, and so if Monotheist often reminds me of younger acts that broke out through the 90s, then they're automatically forgiven. Some of the open, groovier low end open note rhythms in tracks like "Ground", "Progeny" or "Ain Elohim" remind me of the first two albums from New Yorkers Life of Agony due to that voluminous guitar tone. More surprising, the whole album reeks of a modern doom metal effort more than any other specific genre. Granted, works like Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion had a huge impact on a lot of the death/doom that originated from England like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, almost as much as Sabbath, but this is the first Celtic Frost record that I would classify as predominantly doom, with a hint of their formative, thrashing fervor. Not a bad thing, per se, but it certainly plays into how one experiences the album.

For any who might have worried that Frost had lost its 'worldliness', fear not. Touches of Into the Pandemonium's eclectic nature are retained here, even if they're in the minority. Examples include "Incantation Against", a Mesopotamian inspired guest vocal piece by featuring Simone Vollenweider's gorgeous voice against a brooding, monotonous male choir backdrop. "Os Abysmi Vel Daath" features alternations of crushing, simplistic riffs with some dark noise passages; while "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh" opens with brooding, dark clean guitars and desolate crooning by the man himself. There are also a number of guest slots throughout the album like Satyr and Peter Tägtgren lending vocals for the 14 minute slog "Synagoga Satanae", or Ravn from 1349 appearing on "Temple of Depression". Considering how many death and black metal bands pay tribute to Frost on a normal basis, it makes a lot of sense that that various personas would have been lining up to contribute. In general, though, Monotheist is far less dynamically ranged than Into the Pandemonium, perhaps even less than To Mega Therion: as a whole it congeals into a very consistent, depressing experience.

There are two primary suspects holding me back from appreciating this comeback as fully as some of my peers. First: the guitar riffs. I like that they're crude and loud, almost as if Warrior was reaching back into the primordial ooze from which he first shaped Hellhammer for a new strain of pummeling slime to unleash upon his followers. But the actual patterns of notes are so often treacherously dull and uninspired, 'first thing that came to mind' progressions that might thrill people attuned solely to the leaden distortion and Franco Sesca's concrete foundation, but seem to lack all the charisma of their old songs. Whereas "Return to the Eve" or "Circle of the Tyrants" have survived for 20+ years in my memory, feeling fresh even today, something like "Ground" or "Obscured" is almost impossible for me to recall even a week later. The guitars were such a prominent feature of their classics, but here they might just belong to any other run of the mill doom metal band of Sabbath lineage. They are no way even nearing impressive, and this is a fault I also found with the subsequent Triptykon debut, which has an even more brazen and 'bigger budget' production sound.

Since the guitars don't really stand out other than their tone, they rely all too heavily on the pacing of the beats and the lyrical narrative to fuel the album, and this leads me to my other major complaint against Monotheist: the lyrics very often suck from the same bone that they did with the Prototype demo. Lots of 'I am I am I am I am' which appears in about half the songs on the frickin' album, and far too much repetition of lines like 'Oh God, why have you forsaken me?' ("Ground") or 'I am a dying God, coming into human flesh' (guess the track), 'I deny my own desire' ("Os Abysmi Vel Daath"), etc. I realize that the actual purpose behind the lyrics is to provide a dark, hypnotic and tormented mantra alongside the simplicity of the riffing, but with so little to enjoy in the guitars themselves, I found that the lyric patterns and choruses seemed lazy and forgettable, as if partially inspired by a lot of miserable groove and nu-metal acts throughout the 90s who had the poetic eloquence of a manhole cover. It's not that what is being said is not 'important', but it's just not being said by the most interesting means.

Tom, on the other hand sounds pretty damn good. He had clearly aged, but his gruff bark has lost little power over the years. It even seems a little more daunting and acidic among the concrete chords that carve out "My Domain of Decay". His froglike gutterglam whines circa Cold Lake have been supplanted by a cleaner, wavering Gothic tone which, while not as charismatic as his lines on "Mesmerized" or "Babylon Fell" from Into the Pandemonium, is acceptable enough on a depressive, atmospheric droning cut like "Obscured" (on which he's joined by female vocals to provide what must be the catchiest single passage on the whole of the album). The new rhythm section seems to gel together quite nicely, granted they're not doing so much outside of accenting the guitars, but there's a more tribal nature to Sesa's performance than I can recall from Reed St. Mark or Stephen Priestly. Ain contributes backing vocals and writing, and the new guitarist Erol Unala (who had been with them since Prototype) is a fitting match for Warrior.

In the end, Monotheist overcomes my sizable gripes if only because it still provides an alluring atmosphere in which the listener can drown him or herself for 70 minutes, and has a few aural climaxes scattered about its cratered, sorrow-scarred surface that compensate for its ruddy, often overbearingly and tactless gloom. It's a good example of a cult act adapting itself to a modern environment without losing all of its identity, though as we know it was not exactly the most seamless of transitions (listen to the two prior demos, or the 'glam' phase). The cover image is great not only because it sticks with you, but it also matches the haunted aesthetics of the music. That aside, this is not an album I want to render down to its individual components very often, or I'll become too annoyed with the lackluster architecture of the riffs and the general predictability of the songs as they stray forth into the apocryphal dusk.

Verdict: (Barely a) Win [7/10] (I am no more than a lie)

http://www.celticfrost.com/