Viter: Springtime (2012)

Subway to Boredom

Guest review by Patrick, proprietor of Beards, Etc.

Viter are a Ukranian folk metal act with a good deal of electronic influence in their sound. The band released a series of singles over the course of this summer which were collected together last month, along with a new title track, to form their debut full-length album Springtime. My initial response to this curious synthesis of electronic tinges in folk metal was one of definite interest. I've encountered other works in this vein which I really enjoyed, so I was ready to hear more.

Metal Briefs: Candlelight Cult Series

OK, So It's Cult, but Is It Kvlt?

Candlelight is of course one of the best-known metal labels out there, but they don't strictly release the bigger names. The label's "cult series" celebrates lesser-known musical acts that the label apparently thinks are worth your time and money. Are they?

Khors: Wisdom of Centuries (2012)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Khors is a Ukrainian melodic black metal outfit who know how to write a memorable song that's simultaneously sad and angry. They use keyboards in such a way that they add to the atmosphere without drawing too much attention to themselves. The riffs are excellent (especially on "The Last Leaves"), the sound is great, the drums are very interesting. But there are some drawbacks to Wisdom of Centuries. Between the instrumentals and the other pensive musical passages, there's nearly as much time without distortion as there is with, and they are so much better with. Although they flirt with doom (the title track) and certainly aren't playing the same thing the whole time, the record really only has one mood that it explores. It's dynamic mostly in the sense of an on/off switch, without many layers. Still, check those riffs. Nice.



Buy Wisdom of Centuries

Kroda: Schwarzpfad (2011)

Review

Here's another one outside my area of expertise that appeared on Beards etc. Kroda is a Ukrainian pagan metal band. The unpronounceable Schwarzpfad is the band's fourth full-length, and first after significant personnel changes, including losing composer Viterzgir. It's hard to believe this was made by only one man.

It's through-composed black metal, played with some traditional sounds and folk-inspired melodies. The only genuine traditional instrument is a flute (or at least I think it's a real flute), although there are plenty of synthesized instruments. The songs are long, with the typical hard, black metal versus soft, acoustic folk dynamic all over the place. Clean vocals (I believe a baritone) show up in "Schwarzpfad IV (Heil Ragnarok!)". So at first blush, it seems fairly typical for the pagan metal genre. But after multiple listens, it becomes apparent that this is more than just another pagan metal album.

Metal Briefs: BombWorks Records

Almost a year ago, I got Lo-Ruhamah's The Glory of God, and it quickly became one of my all-time favorite albums. So, I recently decided to check out more artists on BombWorks Records, a small Christian metal label.

Darkness Before Dawn: King's to You (2009)

The Encyclopedia Metallum entry for Darkness Before Dawn lists them as melodic death metal. But they are Arizona-based, and if you take that plus their band picture--well, the math adds up to deathcore. And deathcore they are, sometimes taking the breakdowns way too far ("Shattered" or "The Slain Reunion"). At times everything comes together, like the title track, "Symbiosis", and "Prophetic Heresy". At other times they don't seem to play very tight, as if they were rushed to get out of the studio before they were happy with it (or they were too lazy to work to get it right). The keyboards could use some work; most of the time they are appropriately atmospheric, but other times (like the opener) they are way too distracting. The sound is pretty good, though, with some quality (if uninventive) vocals and a mostly-heavy approach to things. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

My Silent Wake: A Garland of Tears (2008)

My Silent Wake is part of a growing trend of bands of ambiguous Christianity (along with more well known acts As I Lay Dying and Shai Hulud). I'm not sure why this is happening, but there it is. In any case, between their name and the fact that they're from the UK, you might guess they sound a lot like My Dying Bride. And your guess would be right: This is definitely formed in the gothic death/doom mold cast by those other Brits. There are differences, though. The death growls are better here, but the clean singing isn't as strong. My Silent Wake throws in some female vocals here and there ("By My Own Hand" or "Cruel Grey Skies"), but when they really shine is when they bring some progressive tendencies to the table ("Wilderness of Thorns" or "Fall of the Flightless"). They even throw in some psychedelic sounds on opener "Tunnels". The album suffers a bit from lack of focus, with a folk interlude seemingly recorded onto the wrong album, and inconsistent songwriting. If they would run with the progressive/psychedelic gothic death/doom (let's call it psychprogothic death/doom) they could make something really great. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Holy Blood: The Patriot (2008)

Finally, we have Holy Blood, a Ukrainian folk metal band. They have obvious influences from black metal and death metal, and a sound which bears resemblance to both Amorphis and Orphaned Land. The most obvious folk elements are flute (a bit restrictive compared to strings) and synthesizers (a bit artificial). It works pretty well, though, when they have a more upbeat or epic medieval feel, with highlights like "War of the Human Soul" and "Ipytannaya Faith" the best examples. But when they stray out of their comfort zone and try to get too raw or dark, it doesn't seem to fit together--"Blood of Christ" and "Wind Death" are perfect examples. Since they only do one thing very well, it doesn't have much engaging variety, but it's not bad. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Nokturnal Mortum: Weltanschauung (2005) Review

Nokturnal Mortum is a Ukrainian pagan metal band (i.e. black metal mixed with folk metal) associated with NSBM, and on the No Colours Records label. For those who don't know, NSBM is "national socialist" black metal (why the ideology dictates a different genre name, I'll never understand), and No Colours Records has often been associated with NSBM, though they seem to be indifferent to the ideology of the groups they sign.

I was intrigued by the sound of the band first, having never listened to anything which really falls into the pagan metal genre. After researching the band, I was a little leery of getting an album from a band which promotes these kinds of ideas. Then I smacked myself on the head. Who cares? National socialism is less offensive to me, personally, than some of the other things I listen to. Just because society as a whole has a special superhatred reserved only for racism doesn't mean it's objectively any worse than anti-Christian or any of the other multidudes of heinous ideologies.

The reason I won't buy Burzum records is because Varg Vikernes acted on his disgusting beliefs in contravention to law. Espousing them I can deal with. So I picked up Weltanschauung.

The black metal elements are mostly in the more ambient parts of the Norwegian style. Not bad at all, but what makes this stand out is the Ukrainian folk music infused throughout. It has a somewhat Oriental kind of sound to it, ironically (considering their own weltanschauung) conjuring images of gypsies, Arabs, and Persians, at least to my Western ears.

It's actually very good stuff, musically speaking. I don't recall understanding a word of the lyrics, thankfully, except for the title of one of the songs--much of it is in Russian and Ukrainian. The album is definitely NOT for those with short attention spans: it has a pattern of alternating between 1-3 minute ambient synthesizer/folk songs and 8+ minute metal songs, and the whole thing clocks in at over 74 minutes.



The Verdict: Actually, this is good stuff, if you can get past the NS taboo have a good attention span. I actually enjoyed the folksy interludes, as they tend to break up the album nicely, contrasting pretty with ugly. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.