Tracks :
1. Melodies In Grey Scale
2. Nihilism Is All That Remains
3. Dim Halo of Dead Hope
4. Air of the River Plate
5. Between Shades of Gray
6. Darkness (Listen to My Bones)
7. Whispers
8. Desolate Cold of the Flesh
9. Piece to Ràn
10. Solitude
In 2004, Axis of Advance released their 5th studio album titled Obey. For anyone who isn’t already aware, Canada has one of the best underground scenes going. You don’t hear of that many Canadian black metal bands because everyone is still orgasming/drooling over Scandinavian black metal. There is no doubt that Europe has some of the greatest black metal to come out into the world but there are other places which have just as good if not better black metal and Canada just happens to be one of those places. Like I’ve just mentioned, Canada has one of the best underground scenes and the only black metal band comes to mind when you think “Canada” and “black metal” is Gris. Yeah, and that’s about it. Well, if you aren’t into the whole depressive suicidal black metal sort of thing (or DSBM, whatever you prefer), do not despair because Axis of Advance are here to save the day.
The internet, you gotta love it. It’s the biggest database of information in the world, in one place at your fingertips and if you know how to use it well enough you can use it to find new bands from any genre. Anyways, if you googled something like “most brutal black metal bands” what do you think you would get? You would most likely get a whole bunch of forums where people worshiping that likes of Marduk, Infernal War and Endstille (just to name a few). Not only this, but they would be defending that they are the most brutal thing that they have ever heard in their life. What if I told you, that there was something more insane, more brutal or more…extreme than Marduk, Infernal War or Endstille. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Axis of Advance is that something.
Axis of Advance belongs to a black metal subgenre called war metal and war metal is known for its speed and rawness of the music. Although the black on Obey isn’t that raw in comparison with other black metal bands, because of its sheer speed and brutality I think it deserves to be labelled as war metal.
I don’t know about anyone else, but the first thing that hit me on Obey was the sheer technicality of the drumming. On a scale of 1 to 10 I’d have to say that the level of technicality of the drumming is a definite 10. I’ve never heard anything quite as fast or complex ever before from any other subgenre of metal (yes, including technical death metal). What I also like about the drumming is that each beat played is short and snappy. It really emphasises the speed of the drumming, but it also gives it a slight sense of rawness to the music as well. But I know what you’re thinking “zomg, Axis to Advance just sounds like noise without any sense of musical structure”. I can certainly tell you that there is definitely a method to Axis to Advance’s madness, it’s just that the method used is also madness. (madness? You think this is madness?).
I don’t know what else it is about the music but Obey sounds very different from many other black metal albums. It’s changes in vocal style, the speed of the music and how it’s not associated with overly complex guitar wankery and just the feeling of the music. The atmosphere that is created isn’t dark as such, but still raw. It’s quite an odd feeling really.
But, the best thing about Axis of Advance is that they are also one of those bands who aren’t ALWAYS fast. There are times where the music is absolutely dead slow and it really changes the scene for the music and gives the music a good gateway to change. Not only this, but I feel that the music would sound awfully redundant without these slower parts. Typically in Obey, these slower sections of the songs don’t last long (a few seconds at the most) but they are very noticeable. Although they might have disrupted the music just a little bit… c’mon, it’s a war metal band who cares about structure?
One other thing that I found quite interesting in Obey (apart from the super awesome drumming which I’ll probably never get over) is the inclusion of thrash metal style guitar solos. Although most black metal pretty music derived from thrash metal, it’s rare to find black metal bands who have many if not, any guitar solos in their music but Axis of Advance have chosen to stuff Obey with them. They have an extremely fast shedding style of guitar solos but they only last for a few seconds at the most. Although I find that the solos get a tad boring after a while, its pretty much the only thing that can keep up with the speed and pace of the music.
Overall, Obey has got to be one of the most extreme black metal bands out there that make sense. They are right up there with the rawest of the raw and the most of brutal of the brutal such as Black Witchery, Revenge and Conquer (just to name a few). Obey was their last album before they split up in 2008 which means that this is the last thing from them that can still be remembered. Although this is one heck of a black metal release, its definitely not the best thing ever made. I don’t know, but I just cannot help the feeling of genercy or redundancy throughout the whole album. It just feels like I’ve heard it all before, but not in this order or as powerful. This really lets the whole album down because I was literally bored of it after the first 3 listens. This is obviously recommended to those who live on the extreme side of metal (doesn’t matter if it’s black or death metal) or to those who like fast metal in general. I also recommend the track Veiled cast of judgement because I think it will give you a good taste for what Axis of Advance has to offer and what they are about. Although they haven’t brought anything new to the table or revolutionized the genre, it will make an excellent addition to anyone’s black metal/extreme metal collection. I give Axis of Advance’s Obey a 13/20.
In the September of 2011, the Finish black metal band Graveborne presented the world with their latest album Pure Negativity. “Finish black metal” and “new album” are two phrases that black metal fans all over the world want to hear. Finish black metal definitely has the reputation for having a scene that has more “character” than the other scenes. I mean there are a crap load of infamous black metal bands that have come out of that area such as; Sargeist, Satanic Warmaster and Behexen (just to name a few). Now Graveborne has the massive task of trying to stand out from their Finish counterparts.
The blast beats and the sheer power of the music is introduced to the listener from the very beginning. I seems like Graveborne have tried their hardest to grab the attention of the listener from the very beginning. I must say, they have done that because there is something about the way that the music is introduced that made me seduced (see what I did there?).
The album opens up with some catchy guitar riffs which really sets the scene for the whole album. This alone makes people infer that these guys aren’t going for the grim feeling to the music, they are going for something more audacious and more adventurous than many other Finish black metal bands dare to go. Now this can be interpreted in two ways. Someone can come in with an open mind and hope for the best, or be disappointed because “that’s not how it‘s normally done!”. If you are going for option 2, you probably won’t enjoy this album because they aren’t going raw here. On the other hand, if you are more like the option 1 type of person, I think that this will be for you.
As I mentioned before, Graveborne doesn’t seem like the type of band that wants to go raw. Now Finish black metal is notorious for having some of the rawest of the raw in its scene, it almost seems like its part of Finish black culture. But if I had to describe Graveborne in a single phrase, I would say that they are like a folk version of Tsjuder. Although people might complain and say “But it’s nothing like Tsjuder!” yeah but if you were a Tsjuder fan, I anticipate that you would like Graveborne. They aren’t raw at all. Finally, black metal is coming out of the stone ages and into the modern ages. I’m not sure if this is what many black metal bands think but it just seems like many bands (especially underground bands) take pride in having bad recording to show off how kvlt and tr00 they are (did I use them correctly?). It feels good knowing that there are still bands like Graveborne out there who take pride in their recordings and choose not to record their music in a tin can.
I mentioned earlier that Graveborn have catchy guitar riffs. Well, now that I think of some more, Graveborne have really gone outside of the “black metal social norm” for their guitar work and music. The way I see it, is that there are two moods in this album. There is a high paced, black metal with slight folkish elements (which is almost standard issue for black metal artists nowadays) and the slower more chuggy style of music. I think that the combination is quite rare to find in black metal (or maybe I’m not listening to enough black metal). Either way, I think that it’s still an excellent combination and contrast to the music because it still flows like a good black metal song should.
The structure and atmosphere in this album is pretty decent as well. Usually black metal bands (especially older ones or ones who try to reproduce older bands) focus on one or the other, never both. And once again, Graveborne have done something slightly different from the rest. Their song structure is well done because there is no point during the songs that there is any feeling of blank spots. The best thing is that they also maintain their atmosphere and momentum throughout the music which is something is to stop the music from being too boring I’m guessing.
The only downside to this album is that they done really change any of their intents throughout the album. I mean, it seems like all the tracks on this album have a common objective which is to be fast, brutal and throw in some atmosphere. Although there are a few times when they have decided to change their structure and mood for a few seconds, this feeling of redundancy cannot be shook off for some reason.
Overall, this is quite a solid debut album from one of the most promising black metals bands I’ve heard in a while. It had more character and seems more ambitious than many other black metal bands out there today who are too scared to come out of the stone ages. Its bands like Graveborne who move black metal into the future while keeping the traditions their ancestors alive. It is quite evident that these guys are still influenced by the “elders” of black metal. This is type of black metal band that I would expect many people to fall in love with because I think that it would appeal to a wide audience (a wide black metal audience that is). I highly recommend this album to anyone out there who is even remotely into black metal bands such as Taake because this is right up your alley. I recommend the track Aokigahara for those who enjoy really fast black metal or for those looking for a little adventure, Dark Matter seems like a good place to start. Overall, this is quite an enjoyable album that is definitely going to have more plays in the future. I give Graveborne’s Pure Negativity a 16/20.
Marduk is a one of the oldest black metal bands to come out of Sweden. Anyone who has been through their discography knows that Marduk is one of the most brutal black metal bands ever to hit the scene. They were known for their killer blast beats and speed and pace of their music as well as the World War II themes in their music and there wasn’t a band that could come close to these guys. This was during the era where Legion took care of the vocals, but when he left, everything just turned a little weird. The music had to change to suit Marduk’s new vocalist, and this was probably the first time when Marduk started to go downhill and the worst thing is that things didn’t get any better. Out of Marduk’s entire discography, their last album Wormwood had to be the weirdest of them all, the vocals and musical structure was abrasive but kept together nicely. But now, they have just turned so weird.
If people though that Wormwood was a little weirder than everything else they have put out onto the scene you haven’t heard this ep yet. Literally everything about Marduk has just gotten so weird and things changed quite a lot since Wormwood. As much as fans hate for me to say it but it was for the worse, not for the better. But I guess line up changes are unavoidable so I commend them for trying to hold things together but the fact is that it doesn’t make their music any better. I think the weirdest part of their new sound is definitely the vocals, I don’t understand why anyone (and I mean anyone) would try and sing like this. Just imagine a 90 year old black metal vocalist trying to rap his lyrics, the number of people who would say “oh, I caaaan’t image that”, well you don’t have to, because it’s right here in this album. I think that the vocals have literally killed their sound beyond repair. It has made everything else in their music not worth listening to because it is that bad. I feel sort of sorry for the rest of the band members though because all of their hard work is being blocked by terrible vocals.
For some reason, the music is terribly loose now because before, their albums were technical masterpieces. It seems that they have tried to go way too fast and too hard than they can handle. As a result of this, it seems like the whole infrastructure of their music has just collapsed in on itself, just leaving this pile of rubble. I honestly think that there were absolutely no beats that were in time on this whole 3 track ep, from the drumming to the guitar work…nothing, not even in the dead slow parts.
But, like every veteran band out there, they still have kept some of their key traits. The first one to mention is obviously the blast beats. Thank god the blast beats are still here because if they weren’t you know something is terribly wrong with these guys. The drumming is still going at 100kmph but even they have problems that kind of wreck the music. The first problem or change for the worse they have is the tone of the drums. The drumming back in Panzer Division Marduk were killer because of the speed and tone. Now the speed is still there but the tone isn’t, it just seems like it doesn’t have the same impact as before. The second thing is that the drumming isn’t consistent. Now I’m not exactly sure if this was an attempt to try and get some variety going throughout their music or what, but I think it just wrecks the whole purpose and feeling of the blast beats which defeats the purpose of them in the first place. Well at least its fast, isn’t it?
Its releases like this that makes people not want to listen to bands any longer. Yeah I think Marduk has had a tremendous run creating some of the most brutal black metal money could buy and some memories of some of the best black metal I’ve ever heard. Now I’m not making any predictions that are set in stone but I just can’t see them gaining a larger fan base if they keep making music like this. Their music is loose and untidy and all the components of their music have just gone belly up, this is not something I want to hear. Although they are heading downhill fast, they still have the World War II themes and their music is still fairly brutal, so there is a vision of old Marduk which is contained in this 3 track ep. I recommend the track Warschau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon because it will show you what I mean about their music changing. Although this isn’t the worst thing in the world, it’s definitely not the best thing in the world either. I give Marduk’s Iron Dawn an 11/20.
Svarttjern is a black metal from the home of the True Norwegian Black Metal… Norway (obviously). Norway, as many people know, has one of the best, if not THE best black metal scene ever. Bands like Immortal, Ulver, Burzum, Mayhem, Taake and many more bands roam this scene. But the question is if Svarttjern can hold their head high amongst their Norwegian counter parts. Svarttjern does have one advantage and that is they are of a different style to everyone else in Norway, but they match quiet well up with the more “brutal” side of things. So the only way to summarise this bands sound, would be to say that they are a perfect mix of Norway’s dark and satanic atmosphere and Sweden’s more brutal and modern sound. This already seems like one hell of an album and its not surprising that Svarttjern’s popularity since their first album Misanthropic Path of Madness.
Just to give an idea of what Svarttjern’s sound is like, I’ll just quickly go into a little more detail about the dark/brutal stuff in their music. As many people know, Norway is renowned for having the darkest, most satanic black metal bands. They seem to be a lot more serious than their European and American counterparts. And who can forget the super satanic bands that have come out the country in the first place such as Mayhem, Burzum and Gorgoroth (Burzum might not be a satanic but he was still evil). This is basically the background for Towards The Ultimate, it has that very dark, evil, sinister feeling behind the music without it being too cheesy. While on the topic of “cheesy” black metal, let’s move on to their more modern side, the Swedish side. Now there will probably be a lot of hate mail in my inbox after I publish this but it seems like the Swedish style of black metal seems like a good way of describing the speed and pace of the music. Marduk, we all know they are super fast, well I guess you could say that the characteristics of Svarttjern’s sound in Towards The Ultimate can compared to Marduk’s sound between 1999 and 2003. It was probably the first thing that came to mind when I first heard this album. The best thing that I like about Svarttjern is that they meet the dark, satanic, evil side of Norwegian black metal and the more brutal, modernized Swedish black metal characteristic half way. The result of these two magnificent forms of black metal is Svarttjern.
Now judging by what I’ve just read, its safe to assume that these guys play with more speed and brutality than brains. Never assume anything because that inference is totally wrong (assuming you inferred what I had just said). Another thing that is excellent about the black metal in Towards the Ultimate is that it’s far more melodic than many other black metal bands out there. They have far more structure in their music than Marduk ever had and that is what makes them stand head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. They really have put a lot of thought when writing this album because I don’t think I have heard of a band that has executed melodic black metal this well. And the best thing about it, is that there are no symphonic elements involved. Its just pure, dark, evil black metal the way it was suppose to be.
Although this Towards the Ultimate is full of high paced black metal, like Marduk (later releases) they have also included some slower passages in their music. This means that they don’t have to rely on any symphonic or effects to enhance their music. Because first of all they don’t need it and secondly, this way they can display how much of a band they are. The most common mistake made my melodic black metal bands is that they like to hide behind some random sounds they have thrown into the music to “make it sound better” (whether it’s an orchestra or a chime in the background). Also it might enhance their sound in some cases, it doesn’t really tell the listener how good of a black metal band they are, more like how good the orchestra in the background can play. These “slow” parts that I’ve mentioned aren’t dead slow either, there are just enough to keep the music alive and the momentum going. Also, it stops the music from getting repetitive but I don’t think Svarttjern’s sound will get boring anyway but that’s just there as a failsafe I guess.
Blast beats, who loves them? Well the blast beats in this album are absolutely top notch are and sure to satisfy any blast beat junkie’s hunger for blast beats. The drummer here is as fast as Marduk’s drummer so already these guys are worth listening to. But just like the rest of Svarttjern’s music, the drumming also has some kind of musical structure contained within. It’s not all just mindless bashing of the drums, which is something that no one could get tired of. But at the same time, there is as sense that there is so much energy packed into the drumming and I think the only word to describe such a phenomena is awesome. I think the sheer awesomeness of the drumming itself is enough to give Towards the Ultimate a go.
Once I got deeper into this album, a final element was introduced into my ears and it was something that made this one of the best black metal albums I have ever heard. The guitars, they sounded awfully folky and paganish, and there was one band that came straight into my mind as soon as these parts hit me, Taake. Not many bands anywhere in the world can recreate the style of atmosphere that Taake creates, but I’m not saying that Svarttjern is a cheap rip off of Taake but the edition of a Taakeish sound in their music just makes an already awesome black metal album better.
Overall, Towards the ultimate has to be one of the best black metal albums I have ever heard. I have never heard any other band combine the darkness of satanic Norwegian black metal with the brutality of Swedish black metal. Not to mention how well they have executed and delivered this music to the listener. Words cannot fully describe how great this album was because there was absolutely nothing that was flawed. The production and the execution of the music was great, but I think that the only thing that this album hasn’t done is revolutionized the genre, but its getting close. I recommend Towards the Ultimate to any black metal fan out there, it’s worth it. Check out the track Breathing Soil because it is a nice little summary of what to expect in the rest of the album, which is also awesome. I anticipate big things to come from Svarttjern in the next few years after this has been released because if it gets to the right people, Svarttjern could be the biggest, badest black metal band ever. I give Svarttjern’s Towards the Ultimate a 19/20.
War Upon Worship is The Furor’s third studio album which was released under the Australian label Prime Cuts Music.The Furor are trying to make it big in Australia, metalcore/deathcore territory, but there is a catch, these guys black metal. Although black metal isn’t big in Australia, there is no doubt in my mind that there have been some excellent black metal that has come out of Australia. Some notable bands are Abominator, Bestial Warlust and, of course, Destroyer 666. Apart from that, the Australian scene isn’t as extensive or popular as the American or Transylvanian scenes. But don’t let this fool you, there are many, many black metal bands in Australia. They just haven’t been found yet. So the question is, could The Furor be added to this list of legends?
The Furor and be described as being blackened death metal in the sense that they play as aggressive as many death metal bands. But the thing is that they have almost none of the other characteristics which create death metal. They don’t have the same song structure, vocal techniques or distortion in their guitars. These guys lean towards the likes of Marduk as far as their music is concerned. They have similar song structure and musically techniques. So it’s a safe thing to infer that these guys have been influenced by Marduk in one way or another. Like Marduk (old Marduk that is) these guys are nonstop brutality all the way. There is absolutely no stopping the aggressiveness of this album and the fascinating thing about it all is that they carry this momentum throughout the entire album, not just one or two songs. This is quite rare, and when bands do this, and do it right, I applaud them.
Another thing that should be pointed out about this album is the atmosphere utilized in their music. For some reason, bands such as Endstille, Infernal War and even Marduk use the exact same style of atmosphere. Now I don’t know if this is just down to coincidence or if there is a little alliance forming here. The thing is that The Furor doesn’t include this into their brutal sound, which is something out of the ordinary. Now I’m not trying to imply that the atmosphere that Endstille or Infernal War or Marduk is bad, not at all, I’m just saying it’s good to having something different. I mean, there are already many bands that do this, why follow suit? Rather going for a swaying atmosphere that many brutal black metal bands tend to aim for, their music is supported by a more “complex” atmosphere. The swaying atmosphere is just what the name implies. The atmosphere sounds like is it swaying from high to low pitch, which is brought about by the guitars. Now this sounds quite simple (it sounds simple, but playing it might just be a different story), The Furor have chosen to use the same guitar distortion/tone except there is no swaying and the riffs are more complex. Even though I believe that they both sound pretty good to the ear, I just think that this style is something different.
For all who know anything about extreme metal, know that blast beats play a huge part in making their music extreme. It’s almost essential for an extreme metal band, and more so, typically with black metal and death metal. Well what do you know, a band labelled as blackened death metal! Of course it’s going to have blast beats. And I must say, they are some of the best I have ever heard. Many bands (usually black metal) typically emphasise their blast beats by changing the pitch of the skins on the drums. Now depending on what sound they are trying to aim for, depends on what style they use. But many bands tend to use a higher pitch, but the only problem is that it tends to overpower the rest of the music. Now this is a little dire because it might seem like they are hiding something behind a wall of blast beats. The thing I like about The Furor’s sound is that their drums aren’t overpowering at all. They don’t seem to have that really high pitched drumming. This creates a sort of humming in the background, which creates another element in their atmosphere, which lets the rest of their music take centre stage. I don’t think that the blast beats could have been more spot on!
Another interesting about this band is their guitar work, this might just be a coincidence but for some reason, black metal isn’t big on guitar solos but there are a few exceptions to this (eg Infernal War and many black thrash bands out there). The solos here are amazing, they can either slow and ambient to extremely fast and aggressive. The best thing that I like about them is the way they have implemented their solos into their sound, they have the fast ones during the fast parts in their songs and the slower ones during the slower parts in their songs (which don’t last for very long). Their solos aren’t the same as metalcore or some thrash metal solos. The ones here are not melodic at all, there is so music shredding going on here, complete utter mindless shredding. Also, they don’t last for 10 minutes like many other solos, they are short and sweet and they usually appear three or four times throughout a single song.
But they do have some drawbacks. I think the lack of song structure is where they fall down quite a bit. This whole album just seems like mindless shredding of the guitars and banging of the drums. Although this is still great black metal, it would be good if they had put a little more thought on how they organised their music. Their song structure is extremely messy and lacks any evidence of tightness within their music. But then again, this could be the first technical black metal band. Because their song structure, I think resembles technical death metal more than your typical black metal band.
But there is one, major fault that this album has, and something every band in the world tries to avoid but some fail. And that is, yes ladies and gentlemen REPETITIVITY. There is so much repetitiveness going through the veins of this album. I reckon that you could just make this whole album into a single track and no-one would notice. Yes, they have kept their momentum going throughout their entire album which is a good thing, but at what cost? There are no; vocal changes, changes in their atmosphere or changes in music techniques. I think that the only thing that might not seem as linear is the tempo, there are a few tempo changes throughout their music which keeps it from being as plain as cereal.
Overall, this isn’t bad album. These guys have created a few moments in this album that are worth savouring. These guys are as brutal and as ruthless and any black metal band from anywhere in the world so it’s not fair or right to discount the fact that they are from Australia. Because as I mentioned before, Australia has produced some excellent black metal, and metal in general. These guys are worth giving a shot if you are a fan of extremely brutal black metal. Or if you just like extreme metal (the most extreme of the extreme) because this will easily satisfy. I’d also like to recommend this to fans of Marduk and Infernal War because whoever likes those, are bound to like this. This might just give you a little break from the generic brutal black metal sound that is ever so needed. I recommend the track Hammers Of Masters for first time listeners because this is the track that summarises everything about this album (the good, the bad and the ugly). In conclusion, this is not a perfect album, but they do have a couple glitches that affect them quite a bit. I give The Furor’s third album War Upon Worship a 14/20.
Tracks:
1. Vita Satus
2. Dissention
3. The Oppressor's Fortune
4. A Shadow Consumes the Desert Sun
5. Pantheion
6. Retribution
7. Stars of God
8. Our Path Disdained
9. Exodus
10. Home
11. Our Path Disdained (Instrumental)
Tracks
1. The Beginning
2. Blacker Than Death
3. Demonic Flagellation
4. Blood Fucking Ritual
5. Loss and the End of Disgrace
6. Remnants of Rituals
7. Sorrow for all Weakness
8. Steen the Brutal
9. The End
