Enslaved: RIITIIR (2012)

The Sleeping Gods

Enslaved need no introduction.

Let’s get this out of the way up front: RIITIIR is BOORIING. By any standard you can use to judge a band like Enslaved, anyway. The Norwegian legends have been on a winning streak for so long that it’s easy to think they can do no wrong. Judging by some of the reviews I read before I decided to buy RIITIIR (I have yet to receive any promos from Nuclear Blast), many journalists must have seen fit to write based on that assumption, without really listening to it. I seriously doubt the band got lazy; their work ethic is as legendary as their discography. It’s more likely that after years of effusive, universal praise, they started to buy into their own legend.

Silent Leges Inter Arma: Silent Leges Inter Arma (2012)

Guest review by Patrick, proprietor of Beards, Etc.

Silent Leges Inter Arma are a German black metal/black'n'roll band who formed only a few years ago. They released their self-titled full-length debut October 12th.

This band, despite their Metal Archives classification as just "black metal", do not have a sound that I would describe as being at all typical of that sub-genre in its pure form. The guitar work, rather than creating a thin wall of coldly clinging notes, is much more open and full-bodied. The drumming rarely falls back on clattering blasts of speed, and instead it feels surprisingly straight-forward and rock oriented. The vocals, too, are not really standard black metal fare, as they frequently dip down into deeper reaches that at times sound more like they belong on a death metal album. The band have clear black metal roots that show through in many places and they stick to a black metal aesthetic, but they are not a straight black metal band.

Necroven: Worship of Humiliation (2012)

Worship the Occult

Guest review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

Occult death metal is a style that has remained underground out of necessity. To say that the style is extreme is a massive understatement. Though it formed from the music of Morbid Angel, Incantation, and Immolation, it has progressed beyond even those dark and sinister boundaries that those bands pushed. This is evil music.

Necroven is an occult death metal band in the vein of Drawn and Quartered, Angelcorpse, Nox, Lecherous Nocturne, and other much more underground bands. The riffs are jagged and distorted. The drumming is typically blastbeat-driven though not entirely. The production is fairly murky but not to the extent that the music can not be heard. A lot of other occult death metal bands make the mistake of having too muddy of production and it all sounds like a sloppy mess. This is not pristine, but at least everything can be heard. It is the kind of production that sounds best with this music. The vocals are incredibly deep.

Ataraxy: Revelations of the Ethereal (2012)

Old School or Death

Guest review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

I had previously pointed out that some death metal just has such an intense, filthy, otherworldly quality that makes it a ton of fun to listen to. I then pointed out a number of groups who had this unknown quality to just put out some amazing death metal. Well add Ataraxy to that list. This is the debut album for the Spanish death metal band and they truly do an amazing job on this release. Ataraxy will definitely be a band to continue watching.

I suppose the best point of reference for a sound is The Chasm along with Asphyx. The guitar tone here is incredible. It is crunchy and gives off a sinister and evil atmosphere. This is definitely an old-school death metal sounding album but at the same time, it sounds fresh. It is not stale, cookie-cutter death metal at all. Ataraxy do their best to craft their own sound, one not done thousands of times before.

Metal Briefs: Stoner Doom 2012

You Don't Have to Be High to Love It

I've mentioned it before, but I've never partaken of any illicit drugs, marijuana included. Sometimes, that means there's music I can't enjoy, or at least not the way the artist intended. Stoner doom is, nonetheless, one of my favorite genres, and there's never a shortage of new material in that strain.

S:t Erik: From Under the Tarn (2012)
(4 out of 5 stars)

S:t Erik is a Swedish band who sound like Sleep mixed with Hawkwind. Most importantly, their drummer has an impeccable sense of groove, but the rest of the band members aren't slouches either. The music is dynamic, with a wide range of tempos and volume levels. The hoarse, clean vocals give their own excellent hooks (check opener "Goddess") with, again, an excellent sense of timing and rhythm (of the utmost importance for this style of music). Finally, a synthesizer adds outer-space sounds. The writing isn't revolutionary; they use tried-and-true tactics like riff/ringing chord with vocals/riff/repeat, but they handle it well. When it's good, it is so damn good. "Your Highness" makes me think of a spaceship hurtling inexorably toward the sun. The second half of the album isn't quite as strong, but nonetheless the whole thing is entertaining.



Spora Recordz

Haiduk: Spellbook (2012)

Damn Right, Canada is (Slightly Less) Awesome

Guest review by joanismylover, who completes the trifecta of attorneys writing for this blog. That is the first of The Signs. Tomorrow: The sun will be blotted from the sky.

Among the 200+ episodes of The Simpsons is the one where Bart and Millhouse make the Canadian Olympic basketball team. When Bart asks Homer if the family would go to Canada to support him, Homer asks the relevant question, "Why would I want to go to America, Junior?" And of course South Park's Bigger, Louder, Uncut was basically just one big joke about Canada starting with the Canadians bombing the Baldwin brothers at their Hollywood mansion from WWII era B-29 bombers.

It's easy to make fun of Canada, and, well, it's fun. But it's also easy to forget that a lot of talent hails from those northward frozen tundras. Just about every single SNL original was Canadian. Neil Young was Canadian though the southern man didn't need him around. Leonard Cohen, Shannon Tweed, and Keanu Reeves are Canadian. Though "the Canadian government has apologized for Bryan Adams on several occasions," Metalattorney rightly points out that their metal collective is unassailable. I'd add Infernal Majesty, Weapon, Bison (BC), and Exciter to his list. Canada, while fun to make fun of, kicks ass.

Ysengrin: To Endotaton (2012)

A Huge Shift

A year ago, I reviewed Tragedies – Liber Hermetis, the second album from the French band Ysengrin. It was fairly unremarkable death/doom with some blackened influence, but had such excellent production that it was well worth listening anyway. Their new record doesn’t even sound like the work of the same band, despite the fact they’ve had no lineup changes.

To Endotaton is not produced nearly as well, though it’s by no means a poor job. This time, it's the production that's unremarkable. The music, on the other hand, is much more interesting. Instead of death/doom, this time around it’s mostly a dark sort of heavy/doom metal, with some very cool heavy metal riffs. The vocals are still death growls, with the occasional spoken/chanted piece (mixed a bit too loud). There are other things at play here, such as the keyboard which sounds as if it were manned partly by King Diamond and partly by John Carpenter, some bluesy guitar noodling in one part, and the black/Viking metal section at the end.

Bädr Vogu: Exitium (2011)

Crusty Doomy Goodness

Guest review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

I will be completely honest up front and say that my experiences with crust are extremely limited. As in virtually non-existent, particularly in its pure form. I have heard a few bands that combined crust with forms of metal such as Gallhammer, but that is about it. Bädr Vogu is a band that combines crust with doom metal, so I am not in completely foreign territory on this release.

Metal Briefs: Death/Doom 2012

The Best of Both Worlds

Death and doom are the chocolate and peanut butter of metal. There is no better combination. Have a few Reese's cups.

Hooded Menace: Effigies of Evil
4 out of 5 stars

How can I possibly review an album like Effigies of Evil, the third from Finland's Hooded Menace? It's such a straight-forward example of death/doom, with extended, deep death growls and slow, crushing riffs. I can't say, "This is how it's different." And it's done very well, with solid riffs, solid songwriting, great control of varying tempos, and great production. I can't say, "This is what they did wrong." And I am, sadly, not familiar enough with old zombie movies to write some kind of extended metaphor about how their music perfectly reflects their inspiration. So, all I can say is this: If you like death/doom, you'll like Effigies of Evil.



Buy Effigies of Evil

Bestial Summoning: The Dark War has Begun (1992)

Resurrected from Obscurity

Guest review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

Apparently this is a reissue of a 20 year old album from the Netherlands-based Bestial Summoning. This was originally released when black metal was just starting to make waves in Norway. It actually pre-dates many of the big-name black metal releases of the Second Wave. It is a very overlooked gem that I have actually not heard of myself.

This is tremolo riff-based black metal with some incredibly intense drumming driving things. The riffs are down-tuned giving off an evil-sounding tone. Most of the songs are broken up briefly with the occasional slower moment. This keeps things from becoming too one-dimensional. The drums are blast-beat driven and are absolutely crushing. The vocals are delivered in an Attila Csihar-esque groaning screech. They do not have the same distinct personality, but do have the other-worldly quality.