Circle of the Tyrants #1

It's coming close to the release! Will includes interviews with Sacrifice, Morbid Saint (ex-members), Ereb Altor, Death Breath, Kill, Electricution, Drephjard, Beltane, Archaea and of course lots of reviews. More info coming later.

Nargaroth - Jahreszeiten (2009)

This is Nargaroth's 6th full-length, following Semper Fidelis which was released in 2007. My former experiences with this band only includes Black Metal Ist Krieg, which I thought was a quite decent album, but not much more than so. This album is based on the seasons of the year and the songs reflects the seasons mood. Logically they are named (translated from german) Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

The first track is just a three-minute german spoken-word intro and then it kicks off with Spring (Frühling) which is a real surprise for people who are used to Nargaroth's angry, grim style since this is a song that actually is very happy and in some places it sounds almost like a football chant.
The next song, Summer (Sommer) starts with a melody that sounds quite classically-inspired and then goes into sounding more like traditional black metal, although this song isn't happy as the former, it's not really all that evil either, it nearly has a nostalgic feel in some ways.
Autumn (Herbst) goes in a more melancholic style and features some acoustic guitar which fits the mood of the season. The last season and the last song, Winter, returns to the more traditional Nargaroth-sound and starts with a more evil-sounding riff and a blastbeat in the background.

This is a experiment that could go very well if it was done in the right way but unfortunately it didn't. The biggest problem with this album is that it's insanely boring! You can't listen to a song more than five minutes without getting bored and that's a really big problem since all the songs are over ten minutes, with Autumn (Herbst) clocking in at 21:58. Like many other black metal-releases it's also very repetitive, which is a really bad combination. The repetitiveness is probably Burzum's fault since many have copied Vargs' formula over the years, though Burzum was the only band that ever did it good. This just sounds forced. Yes, the album has some really good melodies here and there but it just doesn't click with me. Also the vocals are extremely annoying and Kanwulf seems to stay on the same note the whole time.

40/100

Gehennah - King of the Sidewalk (1996)

This is the second album from Gehennah, and with titles such as Saturdaynight Blasphemer, Hellstorm and Bitch With A Bulletbelt you should know what to expect. It's bear-fuelled real traditional metal in the veins of Venom but slightly more thrashy in my opinion. No surprises really if you have heard their first album, this one has a little cleaner guitar-sound, but that's about it. Also, they took in an Elvis-cover ((You're the) Devil In Disguise) which actually fits incredibly into the album. At first, I though it was an original song and didn't notice anything special with it, they completely made it there own.

The vocals on this album sounds much like black metal-vocals so this is probably the reason why people label this stuff as thrash/black though I think it's just thrashy rock n' roll. It has a raw production which fits the album just good but sounds a bit flat compared to their first album.

Nothing more to say about this album really, but it sure is recommended!
Despite all the praise, I can't really find anything particulary bad on this album, it's an heavy metal-album, no more, no less. One of those kind of albums you put on when you drink.

60/100

Dark Angel - Darkness Descends (1986)

I'm considering this as the band's "one hit wonder", sure, the other albums had it's moments but this one is...well, at a completely different level. The first albums they released was We Have Arrived, which was a lot softer than Darkness Descends and weren't really a full-length either. They followed this album up with two albums were they went in a more technical direction. Like I said, I like their other albums, but this one is the best for sure.

The production on this one is very raw, not black metal-raw, but raw in a good way. The singer shifts between singing very dark and more falsetto-like. All fine with guitar and bass. Also the drums are very fast and it's Gene Hoglan handling them so you shouldn't be too disappointed. The album starts off with the title-track. While it has some awesome riffs I have always considered it more lyrically appealing. For example, the chorus is really, really classic stuff.

The Burning of Sodom could be my personal favourite on the album even if it would be hard to choose one. The song is probably the fastest on this record (and one of the fastest in the world) and the Don Doty's scream on the beginning of the song is not that easy to beat.Not much to say about Hunger of the Undead, but if you liked to previous songs you'll like this. A really good thrasher.

What comes next is Merciless Death which is my favorite along The Burning of Sodom. The song starts off with a creepy bass intro and then all hell breaks loose. The most vocally flipped-out song on the album. Death Is Certain (Life Is Not) is another classic but what follows is the weakest spot on the album, Black Prophecies, which is the longest song on the album and also the slowest. It’s an ok song but doesn’t live up the Dark Angel-standards, nothing which really grabs me in it. The song was a sign of what would come later in their more technical albums. But Perish in Flames ends the album in the good old way, fast and brutal!

To sum this up this stands as one of the best (if not the best) thrash albums of all time, it DEFINES thrash metal actually, so if you like bands like Slayer (Reign In Blood-era) and Morbid Saint and haven’t heard this one yet by some reason, be sure to pick it up!

95/100

Some of the reviews here are also visible on Metal-archives, more info in my profile.

Bathory - Discography

Since they are one of my favourite bands of all time, I've decided to review every album from the self-titled to the Nordland-albums. It's for all the newcomers to this band and for everyone else who are interested in my opinion. I love every era of the band (maybe not the more thrashy one if I even should count that one in...) and especially the viking-era with albums such as Hammerheart and Blood on Ice. So here we go!

Bathory

This is their first release, and here we have thrashy early black metal in the veins of Venom, but more rawer and evil in it's approach.
This album was one of the very few that shaped black metal and made it a genre on it's own, it's also my favourite among the first Bathory-albums. The album is fast and straight to the point with lyrics about satanism and stuff. It's hard to choose standout-tracks from this album since all the tracks are on the same (high) level and there's not much to set them apart, but I will try.

Standout-tracks: Sacrifice, In Conspiracy With Satan, War, Raise the Dead

10/10

The Return...
The first intro-track sets the tone, Bathory are back and they are even more evil and menacing than before! The production is muddier and the album has a darker tone than before, but otherwise things are pretty much the same, though I prefer the first album.

Standout-tracks: The Return of the Darkness and Evil, Born for Burning

8/10

Under the Sign of the Black Mark

Things are slowly starting to happening here as Quorthon & co releases their 3th album. The songs are longer and some songs like Enter the Eternal Fire has some more epic stuff going on in it. But people still had no clue about what would come later on.

Stand-out tracks: Enter the Eternal Fire, Chariots of Fire, Equimanthorn

9/10

Blood Fire Death

This album is like a mix of black metal and the viking metal that would come here-after. It has some very fast, almost thrash-songs like The Golden Walls of Heaven and For All Those Who Died but also some very much epic songs like A Fine Day to Die and the title-track. While still retaining the harsh vocals from the band's earlier records this album stand on it's own feet.

Standout-tracks: A Fine Day to Die, The Golden Walls of Heaven, Dies Irae

10/10

Hammerheart

Here it is, labelled as the first viking metal-album ever from some people which means Quorthon single-handely created two genres if we should count Bathory as the first black metal-band. In this album we've got acoustic guitars, viking-choirs, all that stuff! Also the band's probably most famous songs, One Rode to Asa Bay, is on here. The album is full of classic songs, the only ones that I think are not really worthy to be on this album is Father to Son and Baptised In Fire and Ice.

Standout-tracks: One Rode to Asa Bay, Shores In Flames, Song to Hall Up High, Valhalla

10/10

Twilight of the Gods

With songs such as the 14-minute long title-track, Bathory's early minimalist black metal-days seems pretty much over. This album continue in the vein of Hammerheart, but a little less harsher and even more epic. Though I think that it doesn't really has the guts to beat Hammerheart. Still, a classic and a mindblowing album.
Standout-tracks: Twilight of the Gods, Under the Runes, To Enter Your Mountain

9/10

Requiem

Twilight of the Gods was meant to be the last Bathory-album but they returned only three years after with this one. This album is another complete turnover in the Bathory-catalouge, what we have here is actually thrash. It's ok if you listen to it as a thrash-album but doesn't live up to the high level Quorthon has set for himself at all.

Standout-tracks: Requiem, Crosstitution

6/10

Octagon

This is the ONLY Bathory-album which is actually bad. Still retro-thrash but it seems like Quorthon just throwed this album out on the market. The only song I enjoy from this one is Born to Die. Luckily enough Quorthon would not ever come near this low level again.

Standout-tracks: Born to Die

3/10

Blood on Ice

Here we have Bathory back in top-form! (even if the tracks were done between Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods). Most people seems to see this album as one amongst the others but I think it's a worthy challenger to Hammerheart, the album is as epic as it gets! It's also the first and only concept-album from Bathory but I'm not gonna write about the story here, discover about it yourself!

Standout-tracks: The Lake, Gods of Thunder of Wind and of Rain, Man of Iron, The Stallion

10/10

Destroyer of Worlds

This is to be seen as the real continuation to Octagon since, like I said, Blood on Ice contained old tracks. Sounds like a mix between Requiem and Twilight of the Gods. Not 100 % good but much, much better than Octagon.

Standout-tracks: Ode, Sudden Death, Lake of Fire

7/10

Nordland I & II

Quorthon's last albums before he died, was supposed to be four Nordland-albums but he only managed to finish two. A full return to the viking metal Bathory played before Requiem. The production is a bit clearer this time and it also seems that Quorthon has putted in some more traditional metal-riffs in it but pretty much the same style as Hammerheart, Twilight of the Gods etc.

Standout-tracks: Nordland, Foreverdark Woods, Vinland, The Messenger

9/10

Classic Metal Vids #1: Merciless - Pure Hate

Awesome song with cool video, great riffs and some of the catchiest lyrics ever written. That says it all.

Pure swedish death metal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAtEQ4gDDcc

>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><

I want to climb the mountain of dreams

But I'm just lying here on the ground

I can't move, and I can't see, and I can't hear a fucking sound

Come to me you said

There's something beyond reality

A journey into darkness

To fight against humanity

Mirror, what do you see

Glory, fortune or insanity?

Death, means just rebirth

To the fiery kingdom under the earth

I was never like them

I could never obey their insane lord

Please let me enter

Mark me with thy holy sword

Pure hate

Going into nowhere
You're asking me to follow

I really don't know

Where I'll be tomorrow

>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><

Beltane - Interview

Tell me a little bit about your history.

Beltane began as a project that I decided to start in mid 1993, however I consider the official start in October ’94, when I recorded a song called ‘Into the Night’, playing all the instruments myself. From there, it developed into a three-piece band with Dyrkyn on drums and Thyiendalen on bass. Apart from a few glitches that lineup lasted from 1994 til 1999.
The next period from 2000-2003 was fairly dormant until I reactivated the project with Kvathairein on bass and using drumtracks instead of a drummer. On the (southern) Summer Solstice of 2004 we made a recording that became the first release of our Seasonal Release programme.
2006 saw Dyrkyn return to the band and also Noslohcin joined on guitar, so for that year we were a four-piece band. In late ’06 I met Baphgirl, and things started to change.
Early 2007 I left Nelson to relocate to the Manawatu area in the North Island, and Baphgirl, who had become my partner, took up the role of bassist and we returned to using drumtracks for live shows. Things have been much more successful since locating the band in the North Island – in ’07 and ’08 we played many more shows than Beltane has done in it’s entire history before then.
For the last half ov ’08 until now, we have been pretty much focusing on the recording side of Beltane, and recently also on the online presence which has been paying good dividends. We have also started working extensively with contributing artists; one ov these being Kvathairein, who has been making some great contributions.
As ov May this year we’ve started hitting the live scene again, which is really cool. For a more detailed history, have a look at the timeline on our Myspace page.

What did the material sound like when you first started out as a one-man band?

Well it had a really crusty black metal sound as it was recorded on fairly crude analogue equipment. There were only two songs done this way the one mentioned above, ‘Into The Night’ & another a wee bit later ‘Southern Pagans’.

Which bands got you inspired from the start?

The bands that made me want to begin with a BM project were: Beherit, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Burzum & to throw a cat amongst the pidgeons, Cradle of Filth. When I first heard this music, it was the ultimate for me, the kind ov thing I had been looking for in metal but never found until this point. This was all in the early & early/mid 90’s.

The fact that you are from New Zeeland is quite unique, also you’re an old band, formed in ’94, how was the metal scene back then in New Zeeland? Not many bands to talk about huh?

Yes, we’re without a doubt the oldest BM band from New Zealand that’s still running. Perhaps not quite the first, but probably a close second. There are those that might dispute this but they don’t have releases as ancient as ours to prove it!
The metal scene in the mid 90s was dying off at a fast rate, probably much the same as anywhere due to the arrival ov grunge & in New Zealand, dance music as well. Before that though it was quite good, there was a strong DM scene in Christchurch (an unfortunately named town) & plenty ov other DM bands all over. I was in a band myself called Daemon, which was the most well known band in the country, it had been on national TV & all that.
The first main BM scene ov New Zealand started in Nelson, in 1994. It was the strongest scene for a few years mainly because ov the very awesome & easily accessible cemetery there. Another thing that definitely helped that was the abundance ov L.S.D. around there at the time, which ov course was a spinoff from the dance music scene.

New Zeeland seems quite isolated, have you had any possibilities to play gigs outside of your home country?

We’ve had a tentative offer to play a show in Australia next year, we’ll see how that goes. We want to tour in Europe. That would require some strong interest in the band from someone over there that could help us in that way. It’s something we’re currently working on.

You have done many collaborations on your latest albums. Which collaborations and which kind of these can we expect from you in the future?

Yes, we’ve gotten into doing collaborations simply because we can! Heh. It’s a great way to make some awesome contacts & it is one way to help keep things interesting as we do far more studio work on than most bands.
Coming up on the CD we’re currently working on, Mark Dubanowski from Scotland is playing drums on all ov the tracks. He did really well as he only had the songs ten days before we needed them to record our parts on the (southern) Autumn Equinox this year. Also on this CD our old bassist Kvath plays rhythm guitar which he recorded simultaneously in Wellington while we were recording our parts in the Manawatu Gorge Cemetery, over 200km away, on the Equinox Eve. We’ve also got a cellist, Reverend C from Germany, appearing on one or two tracks.
For the future, we already have lined up another guitarist from New Zealand, a female guitarist from Mexico, several drummers and a girl from the UK who does industrial music to contribute on later CDs.

You have recorded only 3 full-lenghts during your long career, but many more EPs, why EPs?

This is a really good question because it allows us to get to the guts ov what Beltane’s releases are all about.
Prior to the (southern) Summer Solstice ov December 2004, Beltane had only put out two releases: “Rehearsal April 5th 1995” & “MCMXCIX” mini CD. On this Summer Solstice, things changed. That night we recorded live what was to become the first release ov our Seasonal Release Programme. We have recorded on every Equinox and Solstice since then.
For the first two years each recording came out as an EP length CD because that’s what they were. It’s only realistic to record 3-4 songs each time when you do it four times a year. To cut a long story short, at the start ov Year III we decided we wanted to do a full-length album, so we did this by simply combining two seasons’ recordings. The next release ov Year III was also a full-length album. So now although we always make four recordings every year, the number ov releases can vary between two and four, depending on the combination ov albums and EPs.

Your latest full-lenght was kind of interesting, some songs were industrial (Call the Ships to Port etc.), some were blackish (Winter Forest...) and also a bit of folky songs like Eilean Mor. How do you think this album was received?

The people that have bought this album and most ‘industry type’ people who have received it for free have returned very positive comments which reflects our own opinion that it’s a fine piece ov work. This isn’t an arrogant opinion, rather a realistic one because we are quite critical on ourselves and try and judge the releases as objectively as possible. But we feel that this release exceeded the previous standards and it will probably take quite a bit ov work to move from this standard up to the next.
The variance ov styles is simply a reflection ov us and what we do. We feel that they in no way break the bounds ov our prescribed genres on this CD – Gothic Industrial Black Metal – though there is one or even two songs on our latest release “Summer ov Skoth” that do perhaps.
Eilean Mor is a song we do like a lot. It had an interesting construction. Its main guitar line was recorded inside a lighthouse in Nelson and the drums were created to fit that. The additional guitars and bass were recorded on the (southern) Winter Solstice ov 2008. The lyrics were written by Baphgirl, based on a fictional tale ov Eilean Mor, which is obviously set in a lighthouse, but this itself is based on a true event which happened to some lightkeepers at the Flannan Isles in Scotland. It really brings to bear the dark elements involved with lighthouses.

You have reused your old song North Sun for the new album, how do you felt that this song fitted on this album?

We feel it fits on the album as well as any song, really. There’s several reasons why we choose to rerecord songs. The one in this case was because we felt we could really make a better version ov it as we’ve been playing it live for quite a few years now, and the original version was pretty rough. It is also a song indeed about a Winter Solstice, although it’s about a Wolf Moon Solstice, and the Solstice it was recorded on was ov the Oak Moon variety. The well seasoned vocals & Baphgirl’s keyboards make it quite different from the old version on “WSOV”

When are your next album coming out? Have you got any ideas for it yet?

Our next EP will be out in June, which will be our 15th Seasonal Release. It’s actually a very special one because it’s the 10th year anniversary ov the “MCMXCIX” mini CD. So it is indeed all rerecords ov the songs on that original release.
After this, the next release will be another full-length album. The ideas are pretty open at present, but we’re strongly considering half the album will be black metal and half will be industrial, but possibly with the songs quite strictly defined to one genre or the other. But ov course, we’ll see how it all turns out. It could end up completely different!

Do you have any philosophy behind your music?

The philosophy behind Beltane is to create a powerful and unique artform which harnesses the power ov the Sat-Tan and the Seasonal Energies.
It is also to promote all the aspects ov True Satanism and produce something which we can look back on in years to come with pride and fond remembrance. There is also a small ‘museum’ aspect to Beltane in that the atmosphere ov the heyday (the cemetery days) ov the Nelsonian Black Metal scene during the mid-90’s lives on in some ov the songs and sounds.