Marduk – “Wormwood”

 

What’s this, bass solos? In MY Black Metal? Is this the Marduk we know and love? That depends on your relationship with this infamous Swedish syndicate.

The familiar Marduk earned their reputation with 1999’s Panzer Division Marduk, a half hour of constant blast-beat drumming and guitar riffs like a blizzard of daggers. Coupled with this extreme take on the genre, smacked with the pejorative of “Norsecore,” was the band’s lyrical fascination with World War II. The false reputation of Nazi sympathy was likely influential on the visas denied them for US tours.

So what has become of Marduk in the past decade? 2004’s Plague Angel was the perfection of the formula, with superior production and the vocal virtuosity of Mortuus. The result was a relentless storm of hellfire, never again recaptured. Why? They gave into criticism, and 2007’s Romans 5:12 saw a forced attempt at progression: more emotional melodies, clean vocals, and slower tempos. But as Daniel Dennett said, true evolution produces “competence without comprehension.” Change cannot be forced, it must occur naturally.

With Wormwood, Marduk starts over, closer to the merciless fury of Plague Angel, but at the same time more dynamic and mature. Whereas prior experiments separated standard all-blasting songs and slower, groovier songs, tracks on this album have more transitions within the songs. This allows the intensity to be more consistently sustained, producing a more flowing, cohesive narrative.

Mortuus, as his name suggests, is the voice of death, one of the best in the genre. His vitriolic vocals range from throat-ripping shrieks, to guttural growls, to yells of malefic triumph. His variegated performance fits well the band’s departure from being a one-trick-demon-pony. The riffs, cleverly crafted as always, now sport the alliance of engaging drum rhythms just as much as the ruthless blast-beat attacks, in which this band is often accused of overindulging. All these elements combine most perfectly on the track “Into Utter Madness,” a malevolent onslaught both catchy and complex.

As my initial perplexity implies, the bass guitar on this album enjoys much more prominence than on your typical Black Metal opus. Its place in the production offers a fuller, deeper sound absent from the thinner, icier works of the past. On the other hand, this incites more claustrophobia than the cavernous Romans 5:12. The handful of bass solos, such as what ends the opening track, glimpse the more emotional side of Marduk, unveiling the undercurrent of sorrow beneath this aural vortex of violence.

Lyrically, the band has backed away from tanks and concentration camps, to the safer territory of death and blasphemy. The controversy was key to their identity, but if this is the price of letting these guys tour the US, I’ll take it.

So how does Wormwood measure up? On the one hand, it’s a marked improvement over the forced evolution of the previous album. Sadly, the spirit of that Black Metal blitzkrieg called Plague Angel could not be harnessed again. Still, through blood and iron, Marduk have sealed their status among the signature acts of Scandinavian Extreme Metal.

Body Hammer – “Jigoku”

Imagine yourself slowly transforming, losing your humanity to a cancer of scrap metal consuming your body from within. Imminent terror grips your mechanizing limbs. A fetishistic maniac is turning you against your loved ones, then against yourself, and finally, against mankind.

Now set that nightmare to music and Jigoku is a frighteningly close approximation. UMaine’s own Ryan Page, inspired by the 1989 film Testuo: The Iron Man, interprets this experience beyond the bounds of musical orthodoxy, crafting a truly unique opus of terror.

For those out of the loop, Tetsuo is a cyberpunk horror-fantasy by Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto. Filmed in black-and-white, this disturbing achievement of cinematography soon earned cult status. Body Hammer doesn’t necessarily rewrite the soundtrack to this movie—the late-80’s industrial rock score was appropriate enough. Rather Jigoku translates its themes into a musical journey into an abyss of madness, despair, and nihilistic rage.

Before even opening the package, Jigoku’s cover art conveys the essence of the Tetsuo concept: the hideous fusion of man and machine envisioned in the art of H. R. Giger. Witness a dark future: the obsolescence of humankind to technology. Think of the mental anguish of being the only remaining biological entity in a matrix of metal.

Musically, this boils down to cybergrind in counterpoint to dark ambient industrial—a mouthful, I know. Body Hammer doesn’t fall into pigeonholes. Rather, we have an amalgam of influences. On the one hand, we get grindcore: extremely short bursts of insanely fast drumming, riffing, and hardcore vocals. “The Bystander Effect” and “Blue Eyed Assassin” strike like lightning from the brooding storm cloud that is this album. Nor is this cookie-cutter grindcore. Metal is a key element in the riffing, especially on tracks like “29 Second Stairway.”

On the other hand, we have a prevailing ambient element, with atmospheres of distorted guitars and distant screams. Occasionally we hear clean guitar chanting a haunting eastern melody. But as suits the theme, the human element is stifled by the impending mechanical world, an industrial morass collapsing upon the listener. This is best achieved at “The Square Root of 964,” the closest the album comes to Black Metal—this track could have easily gone on the latest Black Funeral album.

I cannot stress enough that this is challenging music, a work in and of itself, and not a soundtrack. It is a carefully crafted conception of a purgatorial spiral of the mind. So support local music and pick this up. And if you dare, check out Tetsuo the Iron Man for a visual complement. Jigoku is proof that New Media students do much more than worship Steve Jobs and Adobe Photoshop.

Behemoth – “Evangelion”

“All hail slain and risen god!
All hail Dionysus!”

They have returned, the most blasphemous force out of Poland since the heliocentric model. Evangelion translates to “good news,” in this case for the Behemoth fanboys; but recent critics should pay attention to this remarkable improvement over 2007’s The Apostasy. Fans of Zos Kia Cultus should delight in this return to form, while those who acclaim Demigod shall witness a stunning progression. However, that’s not to say either work has been surpassed. Still, it’s awkward to give such praise to a Metal act so commercially exalted as to appear at Ozzfest and like events so abhorrent to the Underground.

Expectedly, this is the modern Death Metal Behemoth has come to epitomize: professional production, chaotic riffing and solos, and gratuitous amounts of blast-beats. Add in the band’s trademark use of Asiatic melodies, ancient mythology, and overuse of the preposition “Ov.”

Opening hymn “Daimonos” blasts off with all guns blazing, as does “Shemhamforash,” with such passionate violence not achieved since “Slaves Shall Serve.” Arguably the strongest tracks on the album, they envelope the listener in a maelstrom of blast-beats and blood-pumping riffs. Behemoth sacrificed technicality so as to honor the wall-of-sound principle, often borrowing Black Metal elements to achieve depth and flow. Jumping ship to a new producer also helped.

A little known fact is that Behemoth started out as pure Black Metal in the mid 90’s, and such reminisces permeate the album: an arpeggio here, a tremolo there, and even some Mayhem-style melodies. You’ll hear this especially in the closing track, where the band steps out of character for a simplistic, yet utterly sinister postlude.

Of course, this is Death Metal at its heart. “Transmigrating Beyond Realms Ov Amenti” could have come straight off of Demigod, sustaining a high level of brutality throughout the album. Matching this is Nergal’s vitriolic vocals, sounding pissed-off as ever. It’s a shame his Black Metal scream is completely gone. Inferno mixes up the cymbal work and fills on top of his nearly constant blasting, but his other drum patterns are too few and uninteresting. Orion’s bass, while adding firepower, does nothing remarkable (though I still recommend his band Vesania).

This being the band’s ninth studio album, it’s no surprise their dearth of fresh ideas. Few things, not even the guitar solos, are exceptional. Rather the album works on a consistent theme, rather than a mediocre sequence punctuated by sensational singles. However, the band has already premiered a music video for “Ov Fire and Void,” parts of which remind me of the one Rammstein did for “Mein Teil.” The downside of such homogeneity is that the formula gets tedious after a while. Three or four songs into it, you’ve gotten all it has to offer, and the rest is recycled material until the recessional hymn in this unholy mass of ordinary time.

This year has seen a dramatic resurgence of old school Death Metal, with stellar releases by Asphyx, Excoriate and Slugathor (personal chart-toppers). But as always, Behemoth continue to carry the new school’s standard into battle against religion, society and your eardrums.

Candlemass – “Death Magic Doom”

“I saw the execution of my tomorrow, saw it and bowed
in the theater of hellfire; the inferno is now.
I am lost again. I lean against the purgatory gates.
To ease my suffering, you’re offering to unlock my fate.”

From the snowscapes of Sweden, the legendary Candlemass are back with a vengeance. With little expectation, the masters of Doom Metal have unleashed a monolithic opus worthy of the title “Death Magic Doom” (perhaps a gibe at Metallica’s “Death Magnetic”).
The opening hymn “If I Ever Die” launches abruptly into the band’s newer, more aggressive style characteristic of their eponymous 2003 rebirth. The instantly memorable first riff sets a higher standard, maintained all the way to the album’s conclusion. Despite their doomy classification, Candlemass aren’t afraid to pick up the pace. This creates dynamic contrasts that diversify the album’s moods. Such creative energy combined with a thick and crushing production creates a relentless showcase welcome to the modern listener. Gone are the atmosphere and reverbed-to-the-max snare drums of “Nightfall.” But this departure doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten their roots and their diehard fans.

This change is most evident in the vocal department. Rob Lowe has at last settled into his new role, matching the music’s more abrasive approach. Messiah Marcolin’s operatics better suited the epic style of the 80’s albums, but seemed out of place on the self-titled album. Lowe, on the other hand, never overpowers the instruments, finding his place within the music rather than in counterpoint to it. Still, he sings his heart out, running the gamut of emotions, from sadness to hatred to malevolence. Though an objectively weaker vocalist, he sounds more human.

And Lowe isn’t the only musician who gives it his all. Jan Lindh’s drumwork is marvelous, ranging from triumphal marches, to rocking grooves to, well, downright doominess! Even after 25 years, Leif Edling perfects the art of the guitar riff from the bass on up. The Dantean lyrical themes, demonstrated at this review’s opening, are nothing original, but appropriate for a band whose works are as timeless (to a true Metal fan) as the Divine Comedy itself.

And that leads us to songwriting. “Death Magic Doom” shines brightest in its choruses, where the time shifts and the anthems ring. This is most apparent in “The Bleeding Baroness” and especially “Dead Angel,” where Lowe, at a haunting pitch, is in dialogue with the lead guitar. One of Candlemass’ classic strengths is the subtle use of synths and samples, here with the hellish bells chiming in the crusher “Hammer of Doom.” All these unique qualities aside, this is a Heavy Metal tour de force.

With this release, their best since 1989’s “Tales of Creation,” the rebirth of Candlemass has reached its triumphant climax, reasserting the band’s place at the pinnacle of Doom Metal and, in the shadow of Black Sabbath, one of the greatest Metal bands of all time. 

 

DJ of the Month

Coincidentally, on the month of my birth, WMEB honored me with their employee of the month display outside the station in the Memorial Union. Here’s the text of the blurb written for it. Consider it a taste for what’s the come, as my roommate Zev Eisenberg is creating a feature on my show for a New Media project. Here’s the full text:

“Jeremy Swist is a second-year Honors College student, majoring in Latin and History with a minor in Classics. A former Bostonian, he calls Westport Island his home. Last summer he wrote reviews for The Metal Observer webzine. In addition to Metal he enjoys classical music, ancient history and attending first-year Honors lectures for the hell of it. He serves the Modern Languages & Classics department as a Latin tutor.

“Ministry of Metal” has been running strong for a full year, with a mission to restore dignity to a genre so diluted by commercialization. This is achieved by playing both modern extreme metal and the old school classics. A typical show features Black Metal acts like Bathory, Emperor and Deathspell Omega, Death Metal like Morbid Angel and Asphyx, and Traditional Metal like Candlemass and Manilla Road. Jeremy taps a collection of over 500 albums, spanning several genres and over three decades of music. With a focus on European acts, he flies Metal’s true colors as an international phenomenon, expressing cultural pride and the plight of the human condition. A full broadcast explores the genre’s prolific development and vastness of styles, then dares you to affirm that “it still all sounds the same.” What began as a schism from Rock n’ Roll today incorporates diverse elements from industrial to symphonic. Invited are both veteran headbangers and open-minded initiates. Jeremy takes requests via FirstClass, but receives most through his multinational fan-base centered at UltimateMetal.com.

“Ministry of Metal” airs Sundays 7-10 PM.” 

Blut Aus Nord – “Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars”

Witness the majestic return of one of the vanguards of the French Black Metal revolution. Nominally a sequel to their 1996 epic, this is not so much a back-to-your-roots album as it is the marriage of their original style with recent experimental offerings. Blut Aus Nord have birthed a worthy successor to both Memoria Vetusta I and the pioneering Work Which Transforms God of 2003. When so many bands don crowns of decaying laurels, Vindsval’s triumvirate remains ever the masters of their craft.

The first song “Antithesis of the Flesh” storms through your headphones in a transcendent synthesis of old and new. Copious melodies weave through atmospheric keyboards and monastic chants. Meanwhile inhuman blasts and industrial drumbeats propel the listener into galactic soundscapes. Scenes of terror and mystique give way to regal fanfare. Incorporating elements from Ultima Thulée through Odinist, rarely is an album so diverse yet euphoniously consistent.

For a genre immersed in darkness and misanthropy, dare I say this composition is colorful and enlivening? The artwork alone paints an organic yet otherworldly exhibition. Musically, it contrasts emotive melodies with the mathematical rhythms of the drum computer; futuristic yet as ancient as the human condition itself. Lyrics are absent, offering freer interpretation and drawing the listener closer to the music’s own eloquence.

This is as far removed from standard Black Metal as Oslo from Paris. Buzz saw guitar riffing underlies clean and acoustic guitar harmonies and solos, shimmering with progressive highlights. Contemplative ambience interplays with headbangable riffs. Screeching vocals blend into a musical fabric drenched in beautiful pain. All sense of traditional song structure is discarded for an intelligently structured opus worth several listens just to comprehend its magnificence.

Black Metal stalwarts may find discomfort in the cleaner production and experimental elements. As for the unenlightened, this is the perfect gateway to Metal in its true grandeur. Leave your pop culture stereotypes at the dock and dive in. Let this album drown you in an ocean of sound, for both meditation and catharsis. It’s far too early for an “album of the year” declaration, but if anything will contend with this, 2009 should be a glorious year for Metal.   

Enslaved – “Blodhemn”

As most of you know, Enslaved is a big name out there in the Metal scene. Along with Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon, they are a second-wave Norwegian Black Metal band that has received exceptional popularity in recent years. Like the other two mentioned, they accomplished this by branching out and fusing styles. Enslaved, even from the start, had a progressive edge over their more predictable countrymen. Many BM stalwarts hail their debut Vikigligr Veldi as their first and finest hour. Balancing that out are the prog fanboys going gaga over their latest outputs.

However, it is the middle of the spectrum that deserves the most attention, and Blodhemn is the least appreciated of this transition period. It’s deeply rooted in the harsh, Viking-themed Metal of its three predecessors, but it hints at the unique progressions (and dilutions) of its posterity. This is not ambiguity. This is the peak of their power, before the future digressions watered it down.

The production is clean and sharp, like a storm of razor blades backed by thunderous artillery. Gone is the murky atmosphere of the past, but that merely turns up the barometric pressure, and you’re breathing fresh air, charging across the battlefield in broad daylight. This top-gun production is also necessary to showcase the complexity of every second of music. But even with clinical production, you can still lose yourself in a monolithic wall of sound.

Not one musician underplays his role, from the unique drum patterns, to the mind-bending riffs, to the hypnotic clean vocals interplaying with Grutle Kjellson’s vitriolic growls. This album is consistently fast, and takes a few listens to keep track of what’s going on. Pleasing from the start, and forever enduring, are the quality riffs, such as the opener to “Eit Auga Til Mimir” (one of my favorite riffs of all time), which has a resemblance to Mayhem. The melodies are evocative and overwhelmingly triumphant.

I’m baffled by how underrated this album is. Its songs are rarely played live, as if this were a chapter the band soon forgot. Perhaps the gratuitous amounts of energy required to record this album simply couldn’t be matched in a live setting. All the Pink Floyd-related substances must have weakened their Viking resolve.

Whoever said that Black Metal died in the late 90’s has likely never heard Blodhemn.

Deathspell Omega – “Manifestations 2002″

2007 saw the release of Fas – Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum as the second panel in a monumental triptych begun three years prior. It was a clear departure from many standards of Black Metal, even the revolutionary Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice. Many fans embraced this new brand of dark, calculated chaos. Abandoned were those too conservative to stray beyond their Black Metal orthodoxy.

For this latter group (but really all DsO fans in general) the Manifestations compilations are a glorious blessing. We feel like archaeologists who discovered a lost history. This is especially true on Manifestations 2002, of which no material was released prior. Like filling in gaps in the fossil record, we can now appreciate how these French Darkthrone worshippers evolved into the apotheosis of Black Metal’s 3^rd wave.

So you can see why those wary of the latest material are beyond excitement. Just the artwork itself foreshadows the storm of darkness and hatred unleashed upon pressing play. “Tyrants And Slaves” delivers such an assault, with relentless blast-beats and oppressive riffing. Rasping amidst the tempest are Shaxul’s shrieks, higher pitched than Mikko’s signature growls, reflective of the band’s adolescence. This track also showcases the haunting melodies their lead guitars are capable of.

As a transition piece, Manifestations 2002 reveals a step up in complexity and a firmer grip on their craft. With this they rise to a level beyond even their countrymen Antaeus’s latest output, Blood Libels. But amidst this passion and vigor we find elements employed in their later material. For example, “Procreation Epidemic” contains the same melody used to greater effect in “Kénôse II” three years later. With this compilation (though all from a single recording session) the jump from the formulaic Inquisitors of Satan to Si Monumentum… no longer seems miraculous, but a logical progression. The music itself is evidence of a turbulent era, from which Shaxul departed the band, citing the clandestine philosophy that DsO was adopting.

This is by no means a money-grabber compilation of B-sides. This was material intended for release, but pushed aside in preparation for the band’s monolithic breakthrough. Currently on their way to the trinity’s conclusion, the band has unveiled a hidden chapter crucial to understanding the coalescence of a cryptic vision. And even for those new to the band, this is the perfect place to start. For this is supreme quality Black Metal by any standards: vicious, melancholy, and dark as the depths of Erebus. Manifestations 2002 is further proof that Deathspell Omega are the pontifices maximi of post-millennium Black Metal. 

Limbonic Art – “In Abhorrence Dementia”

Too often an album is reviewed after only a few listens. This temptation befalls not only zealous fanboys and “noobies”, but also the more literate demands of a zine reviewer. I had belonged to both classes of writers, but after a long hiatus I have returned with a new idea of what it means to justly encapsulate an album’s merit into words. So I begin with In Abhorrence Dementia, one of few albums I have given so much devotion to fully understand and appreciate.

For the span of a year I honored Limbonic Art as my favorite band. I immersed myself in their works, giving every detail its due. At this moment only a fraction has withstood the test of time. Moon in the Scorpio captivates me with a transcendent aura, while Ad Noctum provides a malevolent catharsis to my deepest hatred. But in between these opuses comes the masterstroke, the pinnacle of complexity and creative energy: In Abhorrence Dementia.

I came to understand this monument not only as Black Metal or even symphonic Black Metal, but as the transcendence of the former and the quintessence of the latter. Imagine Black Metal as Judaism and symphonic Black Metal as Christianity. Limbonic Art as saviors have resurrected from the ashes of the 2nd wave a fresh interpretation of extreme music. They sculpt the maligned dualism of SBM not into a unity of opposites but a colossal symphony. For as Beethoven expanded the classical orchestra, Limbonic Art count guitars and percussion not as the base elements but as just another rank of instruments: stops on the console. 

Such a paradigm is unique to In Abhorrence Dementia, where on other albums the standard Metal template was favored. That’s not to say the aesthetic is gone; punishing drumbeats, atmospheric guitars and banshee vocals pervade the massive soundscape this album conveys. Through this ether the orchestra weaves melodies and harmonies at multiple levels. For example, the flutes take center stage opening songs like “Descend to Oblivion” while the piano shines on “A Demonoid Virtue”. The full range of synthesized instruments work in ensemble rather than taking turns backing up the guitars. One could listen to this album ten times and focus on a different layer each time.

This diversity flows with remarkable consistency, from ambient passages to majestic climaxes. The latter of which often demonstrates the best use of clean vocals in Black Metal (i.e. the title track). It runs the gamut of emotions, from brooding darkness to apocalyptic glory, to carnivalesque insanity. A church organist once called this the “soundtrack to a Hieronymous Bosch painting.” It is a must for any metalhead inclined toward classical music. So rarely is the synchronization of extreme metal and classical music so deftly executed: Limbonic Art’s finest hour.

Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2008

Happy New Year! 2009 has arrived, and it’s time to list my favorite Black Metal albums from the now previous year. As a bonus, I made a short film counting down each album, with a sample song and artwork from each. Enjoy!

 

And the list…

10. I SHALT BECOME – WANDERINGS

This USBM solo project, a decade dormant, resurges in a cloud of melancholy, atmospheric Black Metal. A stronger effort that the stale debut Wanderings, Requiem presents a clearer production and more use of synthesizers to paint a depressive picture. For fans of the mellower side of the genre. 

9. NEO INFERNO 262 – HACKING THE HOLY CODE

Industrial Black Metal is a hit-or-miss genre. This attempt is a French “supergroup” of members from Antaeus, Arkhon Infaustus and Vorkreist. They do it right, with twisted riffs and eclectic samples set over trance beats and inhuman blast volleys. There’s never a dull moment on this, one of the most unique albums I’ve yet to hear.

 8. LEVIATHAN – MASSIVE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ALL LIFE

This is Wrest’s magnum opus. Years of countless demos and splits culminate in this moment of grandeur. The Deathspell Omega influences help, but it’s Leviathan at its core. The scariest part, though, is that Wrest claims to have a few similar albums waiting in the wings.

 

7. VENEFICIUM – DE OCCULTA PHILOSOPHIA: A MISSAE TENEBRAE

 

This is symphonic Black Metal taken to the next level. Rather than laying synths over a Metal track, Veneficium play classical music with Black Metal instrumentation. Backed by strings and a mighty organ, the compositions ebb and flow with uncompromising power.

 

6. ARCKANUM – ANTIKOSMOS

 

Shamanistic ritual meets straight-up Black Metal styling. Their first full-length in a decade busts out crunchy, catchy and epic riffs, organic drumming and signature vocals.

 

5. NACHTMYSTIUM – ASSASSINS: BLACK MEDDLE PT. 1

 

2006’s Instinct: Decay was the perfect fusion of dark, ethereal Black Metal and psychedlic rock. This year’s output is the natural progression from that, and the Pink Floyd influence is now at the forefront. While they can never top their ’06 opus, Assassins delivers sufficient force drenched in trippy effects.

 

4. DARKESTRAH – THE GREAT SILK ROAD

 

I’m not much a fan of Folk/Black Metal, but when your native land is Kyrgyzstan, the ethnic flavors are most appetizing. This unique formula of Middle Eastern melodies and epic/melancholy riffing (provided by the German Anti) combine into a tour de force, celebrating centuries of tradition with a modern approach. And if their sound isn’t unique enough, they sport a rare female vocalist.

 

3. AVERSE SEFIRA – ADVENT PARALLAX

 

My first experience with this trio was at a show in New Hampshire. There I made this the first 2008 album I purchased (and got autographed) and it’s held up for many months against competing releases. Ironically, this band from Texas pen incredibly complex, “intellectual” Black Metal (just read the lyrics).

 

2. DARKSPACE – DARK SPACE III

 

This release blew through my soul like a supernova. This space-themed syndicate are masters of atmospheric Black Metal. Their third album combines their relentless debut with the maturity of its followup (Dark Space II), and stands a the Swiss’ best yet. My best description for this album is “being eternally blown in and out of a black hole.”

 

1. BEHEXEN – MY SOUL FOR HIS GLORY

 

This band took me completely by surprise. Since I picked up this gem in July I fell in love with these Finns’ whole discography. Of all the excellent efforts affording my ears this year, this is the one that struck the deepest nerve and gave me lasting pleasure through dozens of listens. Please check out my review of this victorious album.