Reviews

Merciless

Merciless - "The Awakening" DSP (Deathlike Silence Productions)

MERCILESS was the first band to be released on what is now a label just as well known as the man who formed it in 1989, DSP/Euronymous. Anyway, this release I had actually found brand new for only like $12 and since it is a great band, and now out of print, I couldn't resist snagging it for myself (there was only one copy). This release is fucking amazing Death/Black Metal... I don't want to call it just plain Death Metal because I feel it is primitive Black Metal really, but with the sounds of Death Metal. This release has 8 tracks of pure brutality and endless aggression... a total onslaught! I thought it was weird to see in the album cover that they dedicated this album to the memory of Cliff Burton, and if you look closely at the pictures in the collage you can see a few Mayhem pics as well. So anyway, if you can find this release I strongly suggest you pick it, not for collection purposes but for the music, as I said this is really a great album and should be owned by every Metal fan!

Burzum

Burzum - "Filosofem" (Misanthropy Records)

BURZUM... I know this is an older release, which I wanted to review a long time ago and just never got around to doing it. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to give one more review on any BURZUM material. This being his last release that contains anything with guitar and only 3 songs of this 6 track album are with guitar anyway. The first song "Dunkelheit" is a track that is probably one of the best BURZUM tracks I have ever heard, it is so deep in guitar sound and a weird kind of keyboard of some sort. The track lasts for 7:03 and the next track is "Jesus Død" which is the fastest track on the album and more obscured guitar sound... more black metal-like I guess is a better way of saying it and faster paced drumming. The lyrics for this track are in Norwegian though and I don't have translation for it so I don't know what he speaks of... in any case though a very aggressive track! The 3rd song is what I consider to be not only the best track on this release but probably the best BURZUM track I've ever listened to! I don't know why, cause I love all BURZUM material really and all tracks are different from him as we all know, but I suppose it is the feeling that the track creates to make me say this... it's titled "Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament" and was recorded in the January 1993 era. This track is more of a journey through thoughts of what life would be like... in his words, but it dawns the same upon you when you listen to the track and read the lyrics. The rest of the 3 remaining tracks are just sounds really and I never got into any of that stuff so I won't comment on them. There is a new BURZUM release to come out very soon, it's not yet known if it will contain guitar or not, I know Varg has spoke very briefly on it and it is being kept somewhat of a secret till it is released in like a month. Certainly I will pick up the release and review it ASAP, hopefully we will be adorned with one more masterpiece from BURZUM that is in the vein of his older material from Det Som Engang Var era (which I happen to like the most)!

Abigor

Abigor- "origo regium 1993-1994" (Napalm Records)

ABIGOR "Origo Regium 1993-1994" Demo CD is a must have for any True ABIGOR fan!! This CD contains demo material from the years of 1993 - 1994 from 3 ABIGOR demo's: (track 7 from "Ash Nazgh....", tracks 1,2,4,8 from "lux debicta est", track 5 from "Moonrise") and 1 ABIGOR promo (tracks 3,6 "Promo-tape 2/94"). This CD contains 8 tracks and a total running time of 38:37. In the sleeve for this release it says "This CD is limited, and does not represent the quality for what ABIGOR stand on their albums, but it is the proud origin of our history." ...This says it perfectly, I think. ABIGOR is a band that has come a long way since these demo recordings, but, nonetheless, these demo recordings I think capture the purest essence of what ABIGOR is all about, the purity of how Black Metal should be! In my opinion ABIGOR are among one of the only Black Metal bands to exist today that still deliver that pure essence of Black Metal on every one of their recordings. These demo tracks presented here are without a doubt vital to obtain for all die hard ABIGOR fans, the CD was made just for this reason due to the high demand for ABIGOR demo material. Now I believe this release is totally sold out (it was sold out of NAPALM in the first 3-4 weeks of it's release!), if you can find this CD anywhere and you are a loyal fan of ABIGOR you WILL NOT pass up the chance to obtain it for yourself! ABIGOR will release a new album on May 17th entitled "Channeling The Quintessence Of Satan", await yet another masterpiece from this incredible Austrian Black Metal band very soon! I end this review with one last statement...HAIL ABIGOR!!!!!

Emperor

Discography:
"Wrath of the Tyrant" Demo
WRATH OF THE TYRANT- 12"
Self titled
WITCHES SABBATH- 7" EP Vinyl [bootleg]
AS THE SHADOWS RISE - 7" EP Vinyl
In the Nightside Eclipse
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM- 7" EP Vinyl [Bootleg]
Reverence
Anthems to the Welkin At Dusk
Thorns VS Emperor
Wrath of the Tyrant- Reissue

Emperor "IX Equilibrium" (Candlelight)

The newest offering from the Norway's Emperor...Death Metal? It's not Black Metal in totality and it's not Death Metal either, so I'll use the term Black/Death Metal...even though this probably isn't the best term to use, but it is better then calling it Black Metal. Anyway... not a bad release, still very heavy and still Emperor, still containing that great amount of atmosphere they have always delivered in the past with keyboards etc... The music is much more technical on this release which gives it that part Death Metal feeling, with guitar riffs that can very well be acossiated wih technical Death Metal. The music is also prety fast and at times very chaotic. The vocals of Ihsahn though have changed some...nothing like they were on In The Nightside Eclipse and a little different then their previous album Anthems To The Welkins At Dusk...they are certainly more geared to a more Death Metal sound and feeling. What makes this album is that the music is more supreme then what Death Metal delivers, still keeping the music with a Black Metal feel to it. I don't like this whole release however, and I feel some songs have some pretty stupid lyrics and the song "The Source of Icon E" is quite stupid and the opening vocals are kind of gay (no pun intended)...not to my liking at all. So I only give this album a half/half review, while half of the CD delivers nothing but excellence the other half is dull, unoriginal, and uncreative...quite frankly boring. This is an album I regret running out and buying so quickly, it's not an album that is a must have in my collection and I could have waited a while before picking it up. It's a good album to listen to from time to time but nothing special or earth shattering in my opinion...if that's taken as a bad review then so be it, but this release just didn't do all that much for me. Music wise I say Emperor have indeed become much better musicians, but...in way I hate to say it because Emperor have always been one of my fave bands...but this is rightful critisism...and I must say that while the music is better to a point Emperor have drifted away it seems from that certain atmosphere they have always delivered in the past-and in my opinion this is what really ruined this release for me.

Odhinn

Discography:
"The North Brigade"
"From A Splendourus Battle" (Napalm Records)

Odhinn "From A Splendourus Battle"

This is the first MCD from ODHINN off Napalm Records. It contains 4 warlike Black Metal tracks! They are 1. "Haunting Winds Over My Grave," which starts with a bomb like sound with some electronic noise for 12 seconds and then at the crash of a cymbol the music becomes Black Metal, very fast and excellent sound quality on this song and the whole release right from the start to the very end of the cd! 2. "From A Splendourus Battle" which is more extreme then the first song with a great rhythm and excellent flow to the sound, everthing falls perfectly in place from the drum to the guitar, from the bass to the vocals...even the keyboards in this track are done extremely well...but still very violent and warlike Black Metal! 3. "Pleasure Of Blasphemy" Fucking incredibly fast track with a very grim sound! This track is very grim sounding, it has a small break in the song half way through where the music stops and a acoustic guitar takes over for a few seconds, it then returns to the speed and one more short break exactly the same and then continues with extreme speed till the end. 4. "Before Eternal Eyes" This has to be the best track for raw, grim, fast, and very brutal music on this release, it sounds as though it was taken from a demo as the production on this song is good, although it is also very demo material sounding as well...There are 3 members that take part on this release and the whole CD lasts for 19:48. This is a very good album, short, but certainly worth your money!

Odhinn

Discography:
"The North Brigade"
"From A Splendourus Battle"
(Napalm Records)

Odhinn "The North Brigade"

This is maybe one of the best releases this year so far! Seriously, no kidding this is an excellent release! Odhinn returns and this time with only one member-John Östlund, who, might I say, has made a brillant release...."The North Brigade"! This album is so good I was compelled to contact John for a interview (which will appear in the 4th issue of Realms this summer)... Anyways, regarding the recording... The CD starts off with a track entitled "Beeseach The Fire" and that is exactly how the track starts with a really cool voice that says "Beeseach The Fire" and then some really cool sounding keyboard which then fades in with acoustic guitar and then some drumming...this whole CD has incredible sound effects and amazing sound production! Very atmospheric and this intro part on the first song is very well done and lasts for 2:02 and then all of a sudden the Black Metal sound kicks in, very fast and still excellent sounding! I don't really want to sit here and write everything about this album, that would be a reveiw that last for 2 pages long! All I am going to say is this... this is a must have for all Black Metal fans out there, I can't explain fully how good this CD is. It has a lot of talent and a lot of very cool sound effects mixed with very extreme, warlike Black Metal at it's very best! Experimental and brillantly capturing! Also, this album speaks a lot about Odin (the god), the whole album is based around it, some song titles are "Elder Gods Of The North" (a fucking totally killer track!), "Speeach Of Odin," "Northern Throne," then titles like "Bridge Of Bifrost," "At The Well Of Wisdom," "War Eternal," and "Makters Sprak"...very medieval feel to this CD, especially in the intro's to the songs, and even all through the tracks you can sense a feeling of lust for the ancient times, but don't get me wrong, this CD is also adorned with very fast speed Black Metal and pure brutality! Again... This cd belongs in your cd player! This is a very nice digi-pak CD as well. There is no cut or anything though for the booklet (it just sits on top of the CD), but that's not a big deal... it still has great art and layout to it. I think this release has certainly topped the MCD, which I also liked quite a bit! If I gave albums a rating up to 10, this album would certainly get a 9 1/2 maybe 10/10 (and that's the first time I've ever given a release a 10/10 rate!).

Kampfar

Discography:
"Self titled"
"Mellom Skogkledde Aaser"
(Malicious Records)

Kampfar "Mellom Skogkledde Aaser"

This is the second release from Kampfar (first full length though). Kampfar consists of one member, Dolk, who departed from the band "Mock" to pursue this solo project "Kampfar." This is an excellent release in my opinion, though I have confronted some who don't seem to care for the art that Kampfar creates, in my opinion this CD and the first MCD "Season of Mist" are extremely good releases and certainly ones worth owning! This disk starts with an intro that lasts 6 seconds and it only consists of screams, what's cool though is the next track "Baldogg," where the screams are incorperated into the track as well. The second track is probably one of the best (and longest of the tracks) off this release. The music of Kampfar is both extreme modern Black Metal and very atmospheric and melodic, great use of keyboards and effects and extremely well layed out song structures. This CD also has a medieval feel, but not in the way of say the band Odhinn would. The vocals are incredible on this release as well, Dolk certainly has a good voice and uses it well to express all of the emotions he's trying to display, even with the lyrics all in Norwegian you can tell the way he fluctuates his voice to the emotions he's trying to portray in the music, something I think some bands do lack on! The 3rd track "Balgalderkvad" starts with the sound of the ocean and then kicks in some chello-like instrument and then some flute... very cool in any case, Dolk certainly uses a lot of different musical instruments and sound effects/soundscapes in the music, which makes it all that much more interesting and worth picking up. The guitar on the CD is pretty well played as well and so are the drums. The bass tone is usually set at a perfect level where it doesn't over power the rest of the music like many bands seem to do. Anyway... this CD has 7 tracks, some long, some a little shorter, but as I said this is a CD worth spending the money for. Total running time is 38:40 and the price isn't that insane (www.blackmetal.com has very good price for it....and many other releases, those folks also crush all other distros with shipping time!) I like this release A LOT, it's certainly one of my faves out of my collection and I find myself always pulling it out. I would give this release probably 7/10.

Darkthrone

Discography:
Soulside Journey
A Blaze In The Northern Sky
Under A Funeral Moon
Transilvanian Hunger
Panzerfaust
Total Death
Goatlord (Recorded in '91 and '94 - released on Moonfog in 1996)
Darkthrone Holy Darkthrone - Eight Norwegian bands paying tribute (`98 Moonfog)

Bootlegs:
The Roots Of Evilness
A Night Of Unholy Black Metal
The True Legends In Black Darkthrone/Mayhem Split

Darkthrone- "A Night of Unholy Black Metal"[Bootleg]

This Darkthrone is a bootleg CD and features tracks from two Darkthrone gigs (I believe they only ever played two gigs or so anyways)... from Oslo on the 6th of April '96 and Finland on the 4th of May '91 and as an extra the CD includes 5 rehersal tracks from '92 for a total of 14 tracks. The first 5 tracks are from the Oslo show and the sound sucks but it's still pretty cool to have if your a Darkthrone fan. From the 6th track to the 9th track are from the Finland show and the sound here sucks as well but better then the first 5 from the Oslo show. The rehersal tracks actually have the worst sound...it's rare to find a bootleg CD where the rehersal tracks (if any included) are worse then the live tracks. Anyways...I don't know if you can still find this release or not, it really isn't worth picking up either unless you are a pretty big fan of Darkthrone (which I am). This CD I have borrowed from a good friend who found it at "Slipped Disk Records" in New York City (exact location I don't know). The tracks that are featured are as follows: Oslo 6th of April '96 - 1. Intro 2. Under A Funeral Moon 3. Blackwinged 4. Transylvanian Hunger 5. In The Shadow of the Horns - Finland 4th of May '91 - 6. Paragon Belial 7. Ablaze in the Northern Sky 8. Life (Unreleased song) 9. no name (Unreleased song) - Rehersal '92 - 10. Under a Funeral Moon 11. Unholy Black Metal 12. Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust 13. Crossing the Triangle of Flames 14. Natassia in Eternal Sleep ...total running time is 67:40.

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