Bokkerijders: Crush Kill Destroy
Out 23rd October on Personal Records
The debut album from this Belgium outfit smuggles in a surprisingly broad sweep of meditative, melodic, emotive black metal beneath a superficial façade of old school speed metal. Initially we are taken in by the homebrewed energy of Aura Noir or Merciless, only to be swept off into ambient, folk, and atmospheric territory by the second half of the album as epic tracts gradually stretch their limbs, sometimes reminiscent of earlier Enslaved, albeit with a thick thrash lacquer applied for good measure.
In this sense ‘Crush Kill Destroy’ is a quintessential game of two halves. The album is frontloaded with off-the-shelf black thrash riffs which might pass without note were it not the competency and authenticity of the performance itself. There is a conviction to the way Bokkerijders convey this material, aided and abetted by the polished production which, one would hope, might draw in a broader sweep of listeners beyond the underground microcosms. We are greeted by a tight, fluid array of punchy, physical tracks, marginally shorter than the handful of lengthier tombs weighing down the second half of this album, as the music suddenly develops into longer tracts consisting of highly melodic yet compellingly sparse terrain.
The production is relatively straightforward. There are no keyboards or atmospheric flourishes deployed to decorate the material, which maybe speaks of a desire to emphasise that this as a work of straightforward, old fashioned values. The guitar tone is rich, polished, but recognisably designed for a black metal setting, the distortion being on the harsher side, its jagged edges giving full clarity to the choppy interchange of riffs and lead refrains. Drums are a little bass heavy, but in the context of this frenetic music this provides some much needed depth and, in the absence of any underlying synth textures, at least outlines the implication of an orchestral quality, indeed a quality that is required in order to fully flesh out Bokkerijders’ more epic tendencies. Harsh, barked black metal vocals amp up the punk like demeanour, the face this band wish to put forward as if to subvert our expectations. But given the simplicity of the setup, and the reliance on patiently developing themes across multiple passages of gradually evolving riffs, the fact that nothing notable is happening at the mixing desk is only to their credit. We are left undistracted as the cacophony unfolds.
Despite the meditative posture adopted as the album progresses, Bokkerijders lose none of their energy. Choppy percussive breaks are a perennial feature. But pieces tend to expand out into reflective, flattened off ruminations pivoting on a limited but well realised set of themes, allowing us to scrutinise them in closer detail, only to eventually get lost within a monomaniacal revelry. Each idea is dissected in hypnotic sequences, both single minded in their intent to fully unpack individual ideas, but frenzied insofar as the manner in which this is carried out. An old school thrash band contemplating the prospect of stretching individual riffs into vast yet developed soundscapes.
All this makes ‘Crush Kill Destroy’ a quality all-rounder of an album. It scratches an itch – if it even needed scratching at all by this point – for the honest, homespun charms of youthful metal enthusiasm. The speed, intensity, technical precision, and willingness to get completely lost in the sheer, immediate force of the moment. But beneath these superficial qualities sits a bulky underbelly. Weight, complexity, depth, and a relentlessly curious ethos, willing to explore corridors and territories well beyond the immediate present of atonal, ground level thrash riffing. It weaves elaborate tapestries of trancelike black metal, materially simple as far as melodic signatures are concerned, yet significant in their compositional reach and the sheer honesty behind the execution itself.
Estertor: Evil Black Church
Out 23rd October on Black Lion Records
European thrash that manages to combine a solidity of riffing with a dramatic flair befitting of their chosen subject matter in Italian horror cinema. In this sense it’s refreshing to encounter a modern thrash band drawing on the legacy of early speed metal, updating it into an expression of muscular, technically coherent metal whilst retaining a degree of lawless eccentricity. Many contemporary thrash bands manage the former, but often neglect the latter, resting on 80s stenography. Estertor make their character known atop these raw materials. This informs the direction and flow of riffs, enhancing their impact even at their most generic. This, for want of a better phrase, could be called world building. There is much to admire in the nuts and bolts of the approach taken in crafting this material, but care and attention has been taken in the delivery. Namely, the arrangement, production, and performance, all of which brings to life material that in other hands may come across as more disposable fodder for pastiche. Proof that novelty isn’t always a detriment. It can salvage average material, if said material is crafted with a degree of clarity.
Wyrm Chasm: Wyrm Chasm
Out 23rd October, self-released
Between this and the latest Hulder release I’m almost ready to call a resurgence of interest in 2000s third wave black metal. I’ve mixed feelings about this as I did the value of the atmospheric-cum-melodic approach of Cascadian and British bands at the time. There’s no denying that this has the sheen of something, an inviting ambience that speaks of rolling hills, vast forests, and a contemplation of the sublime. But when taken against the rich legacy of black metal in the round, it always falls short. Lacking a more imaginative melodic signature, any distinctive riffs to speak of, but also lacking any dramatic flair or flamboyant sense of occasion. Also lacking is the drive to burrow into the soul of a particular idea and fully explore it to the extent that the best in ambient/meditative black metal can be so adept at. To be charitable, one could call this a neat introduction to the genre for the curious. A Jack of all trades master of none type of album that presents a reasonable simulation of the look and feel of black metal without over emphasising any of its infamously more abrasive qualities.
In Pain: My Knife Cuts Flesh
Out 23rd October on Helter Skelter Productions
Swedish death metal latecomers offer a new album of stale Autopsy reruns hiding behind the HM-2 style. If I didn’t know any different I would say the music was deliberately deflated, specifically designed to be as low effort as possible for the sake of capitalising on a guitar effect with international renown. There are scant signs that some thought went into this material. The odd melody that looks like it was crafted with forethought, the occasional guitar lead that knits neatly into its context. But these are scattered far and wide across an otherwise tepid landscape of barebones riffing, plodding rhythms, and generic subject matter.
Last Agony: Death Wave
Out 23rd October on Sentient Ruin
Intense crust punk delivers a semblance of apocalyptic revelry that feels much needed within a genre that can sometimes lose touch with its underrated atmospheric roots. The music is undeniably physical, blistering through intense d-beat runs part way between Doom, Discharge, and the upgraded chaos of Extreme Noise Terror. But the simplicity of the delivery, and the levels within the mix give ‘Death Wave’ a sense of ambient foreboding that works above this grounded immediacy, one eye on the macro events that are playing into humanity’s ultimate self-destruction. The overkill of the guitar tone lends the music a degree of inertia, as each riff or percussive break struggles to catch up with itself, creating an oddly ambient quality which in turn forces the riffs into basic yet effective chord fragments. Supressed, barked vocals anchor us in a rhythmic foundation which feels necessary given that the drums, although present, are somewhat beholden to the unstoppable flow of distorted energy breaking across the mid-range. Thundering bass acts as a law unto itself beneath, bringing weight and gravitas as it smothers the last remaining patches of light shining between the cracks.
Grotesqueries: Nightmare Delirium
Out 30th October on Caligari Records
This EP deliveries a brief but above average slab of choppy death metal. Despite being enamoured by the modern penchant for cavernous atmospheres, the music never sinks into the overwrought filler that defined much of the OSDM wave. There is an intentionality behind the riffs, a neat transference of energy between elaborate and open mid-paced sections into the faster segments of restrictive, densely packed blasting. Ideas and themes survive the constant exchange of tempos and beat emphasis, lending these tracks a degree of coherence often lacking in contemporary death metal. A fine balance is also struck between repetition and variation. Knowing when to introduce new material to achieve the desired effect is one thing, but knowing when to hold back and rely on the repetition of a single idea to build tension is another thing entirely. Both crafts are exemplified on this brief taster of material. Something that even the cover of Cannibal Corpse’s ‘Gutted’ closing off the EP cannot detract from.
Radbraker: When the Mist Falls…
Out 30th October on Osmose Productions
A fog of reverb drenched guitars, presumably deployed to disguise how basic the riffs are, simple, linear rhythms moving from doom pacing to blast-beats, distant black metal vocal stylings, and a fudge of synth textures and cavernously static inertia. All present and correct and par for the course. It’s remarkable how much material can go into a single album only to come off sounding exactly like the rump of blackened doom for the last decade or more. Artists need to get used to the fact that, as far as texture are concerned, their listeners are more cosmopolitan than ever. The timbral range of metal is now broader than at any point in its history, the range of effects one can layer over distortion, the advances in synthetic tones that can be overlaid, all have numbed the audience to just what can be accomplished in the recording process. To really stand out, one has to put these advances in service of songwriting. Not necessarily unique or original songwriting, just an expression of something over and above these gauche displays of technological over reliance.
Leave a Reply