Asenheim: Elbenblut
Out 24th April on Dominance of Darkness
Somewhere beneath this bloated mess sits an intriguing and flamboyant iteration of blackened folk metal. Extended interludes of symphonic darkwave curate us with a degree of mysticism despite the hammy delivery, effectively and regularly resetting the tone before we are furnished with another metallic segment. The issue is not so much quality as it is quantity. The riff palette veers from heavy to black metal with ease, officiated by its distinctive folk identity. But Asenheim’s editing process is poor to non-existent, to the extent that one gets the impression they were working to a quota of tracks in both length and number. The result is rank repetition of otherwise serviceable melodic inflections, the frequent use of domesticated rock chord sequences, or else reliance on cathartic release that defines post metal and is anathema to the tradition this music allegedly draws from. All is not helped by a somewhat tinny guitar tone that, whilst serviceable in the rhythm section, becomes almost unbearable when articulating extended lead passages. One gets the sense that the intention was for a degree of clunky intimacy to further immerse the listener in the escapism of the epic. But the melodies are simply not fleshed out enough to achieve this, thus leaving us with the dull monotony of overwrought emotionalism.
Pig’s Blood: Destroying the Spirit
Out 24th April on Dark Descent Records
Guttural war metal finds solidity through a sturdy foundation of basic death metal riffing. All is bass within the mix, including the snare, meaning that the loose speed runs take on a murky quality, but these find a welcome bookend in percussive barbs that allow the listener to signpost their way through each segment. Thrash ephemera is updated via the rhythmic lawlessness of the blast-beat, thus injecting a sense of entropy into the riff lineage of this music. Equally welcome are the distinctive melodic elements that almost play the role of host in each track, a compere guiding us from one passage of anomic violence to the next. Drums play their part in supplementing the monotony of war metal with a degree of tension between tempos, as slower segments almost undermine the music’s ability to draw power from speed alone, forcing it to articulate a more totalising vision, thus creating space, intrigue, and life between the cracks. A dual vocal attack of guttural and midrange growls serves to widen the palette of the album, furnishing us with barbaric abandon and a more considered sadism. ‘Destroying the Spirit’ is a welcome return for primal, rudimentary death metal that smuggles in a wealth of glum enthusiasm beneath its veil of simplicity.
Blood Countess: Imperatrix Sanguinis
Out 24th April on Dominance of Darkness
Tightly strung black metal walks the line between dark atmospheric currents and the raw physicalism expressed through restless shifts in tempo. Riffs may be generic and basic, borrowing in part from Lord Belial or Marduk, replicating the tinge of gothic grandeur blended with misanthropic aggression. And in turn they suffer from the same shortcoming as these antecedents in that, for all the motion and activity within the music, it fails to move beyond a fixed emotive stance. Creative lead work and a solid rhythmic framing offered by the drums go some way to compensating for this however, as for brief moments we are serviced with hints of development, either via effective melodic decoration or creative drum patterns granting more mileage out of even the most rudimentary idea. But such moments are all too rare and brief, leaving the macro picture somewhat sparse despite the clarity and competence of the performances. As a celebration of form Blood Countess are a cut above the populous competition, being at least capable of articulating an identity over and above their influences. But the lasting impression remains rank monotony regardless.
Riverflame: Lunar Crusades
Out 24th April on code666
The irony behind metal’s sense of adventure is that, despite it being a rather naïve impulse, it required a degree of maturity to fully express it, one that, in the genre’s pre-digital formative years, arose from the strength of its imaginative impetus that can only come from a place of boredom. ‘Lunar Crusades’ is archetypical of a post boredom age. A restless incontinence of expressions paraded past the listener, each one appearing as shiny and new but devoid of context or meaning. To articulate an imagined fantasy world through music that truly engages, one must in the first instance be bored. Meditatively bored. Only from their can one fully immerse themselves in the experience. In order to be transported, one must be furnished with a context, otherwise known as world building. Only from there can the adventure, journey, or narrative, begin. In this sense Riverflame provide the black metal equivalent of ironic power metal. A fleeting cavalcade of highly decorated music designed to overwhelm rather than transport. We remain fixed in place as the music parades in front of us. This exists in stark contrast to the adventures that Summoning or early Amorphis took us on – albeit through very different means – by pulling the listener out of their present context and placing them into a new environment, and only then extending their expressive range into a place of motion and fanfare. Riverflame are strip teasers by comparison, asking us to remain fixed in place and absorb a conveyor belt of mild stimulation.
Shadowlands: 004
Out 24th April on Seeing Red Records
Dreamy post punk melding jangle pop with synthwave stylings, a marriage officiated by no small degree of folk organicism in the sharp vocal melodies and richly naturalistic drums. Guitars circle around simple ambient leads consisting of a handful of notes and the sharper arpeggios common to goth. The bulk of the mix is taken up by rich synth lines that veer from lead instrument to rhythm guitar by proxy, their centrality coating all in a haze comforting in its understatement. The shadow of Siouxsie Sioux still lingers large over this form of music, most notably through the drums as they veer from bouncy clipped rhythms to tribal tom fills, this despite Shadowlands adopting a somewhat drabber demeanour. There is a tendency amongst modern goth bands attempting a more traditional style to bog the guitar tone down in excessive chorus and reverb, thus robbing the music of any clarity beyond a fog of textures. But Shadowlands manage to balance a strong atmospheric current with melodic sharpness, creating a pleasingly immersive yet navigable experience.
Mortuary: Great Black Earth
Out 24th April on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions
Mexico’s Mortuary return with a brief EP of classic speed metal revamped with the expressive flamboyance of death metal. The result seems to tidy up the loose ends of German thrash with riffs that resolve more intentionally at one end, and a more expansive vision of thrash at the other, taking in both the idiosyncratic melodic core of death metal whilst leveraging a variety of tempos to inject tension and release, thus salvaging us from the monotony of younger artists attempting to write love letters to the music of the past. Mortuary appear as at home as ever in their style, elevating the familiar to a place of excitement and novelty thanks to their understanding of riff construction alongside a surprisingly diverse vision, taking in an array of moods and tones throughout this brief EP. The music is accessible in the sense that each development is easy to follow, yet through these intuitive evolutions it continues to surprise through creative phrasing and articulation. A fine balance of subversion and reaffirmation retains the attention, and reminds us that true novelty is in the first instance contingent on an ability to frame and express the norms one seeks to subvert, without such an anchor novelty dissolves into rudderless hysteria.
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