EMPEROR - IN THE NIGHTSIDE ECLIPSE
Emperor, one of the first *true* BM bands, In The Nightside Eclipse,
one of the first *true* BM albums. Anyone into the scene will already have
this album, so you won't find anything new in this review except praise
for this masterpiece. Yes, this album is excellent, especially considering
the time period when it came out. It is definitely one of my all time favorite
albums, and I listen to it very often. The Norwegian BM scene (and many
more scenes) erupted following the release of this album. All of the tracks
are absolute stand-outs, and the album works incredibly as a whole. The
songs just melt into each other, and give the album an incredible continuous
effect, in fact, the continuity effect on this album is the most impressive
one I've ever heard. The entire album has a dark cold atmosphere, yet each
song has it's own distinctive signature. All of the songs are masterpieces,
with most of them being longer than 5 minutes. All of the songs are here
are stand-outs, and are well known throughout the scene, these would include
"I Am The Black Wizards", "Inno A Satana", "Into The Infinity Of Thoughts",
"Cosmic Keys To My Creations & Times",... Great cover picture, done
by Necrolord. Lyrics are included in the booklet, and of course "In memory
of Euronymous" message is there as well. There is another version of the
album, with a few extra tracks, which I really wanna get, but no matter,
I'm satisfied with this album as it is. Lyrics are pretty interesting,
even though nothing particularly amazing, nor outrageously funny. The one
thing about Emperor's music as I mentioned in other album reviews, is the
production. It is just amazing, the vocals are pushed back, but the guitars
are teamed up with the majestic classical pieces of music, with synths
and keyboards, which get very loud at times. On Anthems... they over-emphasized
this effect, that's why I prefer In The Nightside Eclipse. The well-distributed
mix between black metal and the classical backdrop makes up a great atmosphere.
If you want to get into BM, this could easily be the starting point - because
this album is a masterpiece, and is recognized by everyone.
EMPEROR - ANTHEMS TO THE WELKIN AT DUSK
Emperor - the legend. "In The Nightside Eclipse" was a groundbreaking
album in the black metal scene at the time, and still today is considered
one of the best and most essential albums in the genre. So here we have
the follow-up to the album: "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk". First of all,
this album is very different than ITNE, a tremendous change has been made
in the sound, this album sounds much more "chaotic". One thing that is
very special about Emperor is Ihsahn's vocals in the mix. Every Emperor
fan knows exactly what I'm talking about. The vocals are "held back" in
the background to yield way to the ever so important music. But the music
is self is also very special. The music is a mix of "holocaust" and "perfection"
- so to speak. With the onslaught of the typical black metal guitars/drums
we also have violins and keyboards (that are quite loud, unlike other bands
where you'd expect such things to be supressed against the sound of guitars).
Emperor uses this to their advantage, the clash between the two musical
forces creates a very unique atmosphere (which might take a while to get
used to). This atmosphere is just unbelievable, and tons of other black
metal bands have started using the same thing, but none can reach Emperor.
Anyways, the album starts of with a short, slow intro, that leads way for
the rest of the album - which is pure holocaust (no pun intended). There's
no breathing room on this album, the songs just blast their way through,
but it is unlike what you'd expect from Immortal, where the guitars and
drums are going 200 km/h, this is a bit different. There is so much music
on this album, from all the different sides, so much noise, so much chaos
at once, it's unbelievable! A great use of the wall-of-sound method. It
takes a while to appreciate this album fully (probably should not be used
as an album to introduce one to black metal). Anyways, there's a couple
of versions available of this album. The one I have got has three extra
tracks, two from Reverence EP ("In Longing Spirit" and "Opus A Satana")
and a live version of "The Loss & Curse Of Reverence". Some versions
also contain an enhanced section on the cd, where you can watch the "Loss
& Curse Of Reverence" video (I saw it on TV once, but did not tape
it - stupid!). I think this is a great album, it's just unbelievable, however
after lots of listens this album might seem nothing special at all, sometimes
even making one to *force* himself to sit through the entire thing. But
go buy the album for yourself, you'll probably never be sorry you did (I
never was and never will be!)
EMPEROR - IX EQUILIBRIUM
So, everyone is calling this a dissapointment, and they are correct.
The fact is, as an album - it is not so bad, it has some great moments,
but as an Emperor release, it is a huge disappointment. Production is crystal
clear, vocals are very loud in the mix, and there's barely any keyboard
elements noticable. That's not what Emperor is all about. Anyways, the
album gets boring after a couple of tracks, I find myself waiting for it
to be over. Ihsahn tries do to something *new* with his vocals on one of
the tracks ("The Source Of Icon E" I believe). He screams out the lines,
in a Rob Halford style, which does not suit Ihsahn, or Emperor's music
at all. It's just out of place... Vocals are bascially still the same (except
for the what I mentioned), same as on Anthems. The guitars are pretty loud
and there's some great riffs on this album - album is more Death Metal
than Black Metal. The drums are VERY good, great double bass drumming throughout
the entire disc. As I said, there's catchy/interesting riffs, but it's
just not right - doesn't suit Emperor. The album cover - another disappointment.
Great comment made by someone on the net "I don't wanna see their ugly
mugs on the cover." It basically sums up what I think about the cover too.
A big disappointment. "Emperial Live Ceremony" video has been released
too, and I might get it, even though some people said it is nothing special.
A live album is supposed to come out too. Oh yeah, ripping of 'Tallica's
"For Whom The Bell Tolls" intro on "Warriors Of Modern Death", not a good
thing in my opinion.
EMPEROR - EMPERIAL LIVE CEREMONY
Following in the footsteps of the recently discovered path of "commercialization"
Emperor release... a live album (a live video has also been released).
Good excuse for Ihsahn to stop worrying about Emperor for a while, and
concentrate on other side projects such as Thou Shalt Suffer and Pecattum,
which are obviously much too important than (once) one of the most respected
Black Metal acts. This album was recorded live at LA2 London, 14th of April
1999. The lack of interest in this release is displayed all over the place.
First off, the booklet/cover/pictures are all done very poorly, simply
one of those "let's finish this fast so I can go home" half-assed jobs.
The CD does however come in a simple, thin"cardboard box" (a slip-case),
which is not seen too often. Also, most of live albums should have a sense
of continuity throughout the whole thing. No such luck here. Almost on
every second song, the sound fades out, and another part of the show is
just thrown in. So it does not convey a real feeling of a live album. There's
also overdubs on the album, so therefore lots of the songs sound just like
their album versions (especially the IX Equilibrium songs). Too much IX
Equilibrium material, not enough Anthems... and Nightside... tracks. Well,
enough bitching, there's still some interesting aspects here, such as "Night
Of The Graveless Souls" (that was a surprise), also the video for "I Am
The Black Wizards" which can be seen on a computer (well, for the most
part of the video, all you can see is Ihsahn's bald head). Also, two different
Emperor screen-savers can be installed on a computer, and they're somewhat
interesting. One contains info on the band like releases/bio/etc. The other
one contains part of the remixed version of "Sworn" (remixed by Ulver,
the full track appears as a bonus song on the digi-pack version of IX Equilibrium).
If you're new to Emperor, buy some other album, but if you're a big fan,
and just need all of their releases, go right ahead and buy this.
ENSLAVED - VIKINGLIGR VELDI'S
The debut album of the infamous Viking Metallers, Enslaved. Emerging
from Norway in the early stages of the Black Metal assault, along with
Emperor, they are one of the most known and most respected bands in the
scene. The album is about 50 minutes, and there are only 5 songs on it,
one of them being an instrumental. Right away you can guess that the songs
are very long and repetitive. For the most part this is true, songs are
long and they do tend to drag on at certain moments, however, I'm sure
it was done purposely to create an epic mood of great proportions.
One great thing about this album is that there is not much singing, and
the lyrics are very short. For the most part, it's just as if you are listening
to an instrumental album. If you despise the Black Metal vocals and do
like the music, you should buy this album, because the music is really
great. Most of the time the music is slow (unlike their second album, Frost)
and synths are used quite a lot, which does help the overall atmosphere.
The lyrics are in Islandic, with the exception of one song, which is in
ancient Norwegian, and is based on an old Norwegian legend. The booklet
contains the lyrics in their original language, and English translations
as well. Mostly Viking related topics (Midgard, Bifrost, etc) are addressed
in the lyrics (typical Enslaved lyrical content). Along with the lyrics,
the booklet contains photos of the band members, "thanks to" sections,
and a "Join us in our quest to raise the flames of Midgard...." etc. message.
Album was recorded in 1993 and "is to its full extent dedicated to Øystein
Aarseth" (if you don't know who that is, what the hell are you doing here
reading the review?). Originally released on Deathlike Silence Productions
label, along with Voices Of Wonder, I think the album was again re-issued
on Osmose Productions (wasn't the band signed to Osmose at the time?).
I do know that there are at least two versions of the album, one does not
contain the album name on the cover of the cd or on the side, so it seems
that the album is just Enslaved's self titled release, the other version
does contain the title Vikingligr Veldi's though. Anyways, highly recommended
for fans of Black Metal in general and especially for Viking Metal fans,
because this one was one of the first *Viking* releases.
ENSLAVED - FROST
Along with Emperor, Enslaved is one of the first real Black Metal
bands to emerge from Norway. Oh, wait, Enslaved play Viking Metal. There
isn't much difference actually, especially on this album. The first album
(Vikingligr Veldi's) and the third one (Eld) do have long, slower songs,
that do have a certain *Viking* feel to them. This album, with the exception
of few tracks ("Frost", "Yggdrasil") and "Isoders Dronning" (to some extent),
is simply Norwegian Black Metal. So why did they bother with all the Viking
outfits/lyrics and such? Anyways, fast, raw black metal for the most
of the part on this album, and done really well, especially the drums (Trym
is such a great drummer, even now in Emperor, his drumwork keeps Emperor
somewhat intersting). Vocals are typical screams, with some spoken word,
a hilarious psychotic-maniac-laughter-outro (on "Loke"), some keep-screaming-until-you-run-out-of-air
vocal arrangements ("Jotunblod", "Wotan"). Guitars on this album have a
very "metallic" edge to them, which is hard to explain, but once heard,
it's recognized immediately. The metallic buzz of the guitars speeds throughout
the whole album. Lots of good songs on the album, but definite stand-outs
would have to be "Loke" and "Fenris" (both excellent songs, very fast,
complex, and interesting, especially the drumming towards the end of "Fenris").
One song that really stands out is "Yggdrasil", which is a slower, acoustic
song, lyrich chanted out (one of the *Viking* moments on the album), featuring
some intersting instruments (such as fretless bass [done by Eirik "Pytten"
Hundvin] and a mouthharp [care of Grutle Kjellson, the vocalist/bassist]).
This is probably the weakest song on the entire album. Interesting cover
picture on the cd booklet, and the cd case itself has both the band logo
and the album title written on it, on the plastic case itself (first time
I see this). It works very well though, especially with the fact the album
title is Frost and the material which was used on the cd case does look
shiny/white-ish, just like frost. Booklet contains lyrics in both Norwegian
and English, which is really good, because I really like lyrics that deal
with Norse mythology and such. Some cheezy pictures of the band members,
trying to look scary with their Viking outfits and weapons of war. In conclusion,
a great album, one of the first Norwegian releases (album was released
in 1994), and with a band such as Enslaved, who have had a great impact
on the scene, never a disappointment.
FINNTROLL - JAKTENS TID
What a great release! These guys play a refreshing, innovative and
very interesting mix of metal filled with lots of folk influences. These
crazy Finns mix traditional metal with some unusual instruments including
banjo (and accordion, from what I can hear in "Slaget Vid Blodsälv").
There's a couple of great instrumental numbers on here, including "Krig",
"Tomhet Och Tystnad Härska" and "Bakom Varje Fura" (this one really
stands out, it's obviously got classical influences, just listen to it,
it's an excellent track, although very short). Some songs have such great
atmosphere and unbelievably catchy riffs! These would include "Slaget Vid
Blodsälv", "Jaktens Tid" (where Katla does some yodelling type of
singing), "VargTimmen" (a cover song [?], well in any case, love the fast
riffing in this one), "Skogens Hämnd" (where the riffs absolutely
kill and synths in the first couple of minutes remind of Children Of Bodom).
There is a couple of other moments where Children Of Bodom come to mind,
for example on "Krigsmjöd" and especially on "Den Hornkrönte
Konungen". Check out the crazy Latin mumblings at the beginning of "Kyrkovisan"
(a fast but very short track). The whole album is excellent, even the *hidden*
track, which is actually a very interesting listen. My only complaint would
be that this album is way too short! 13 tracks but only 45 minutes. Interesting
to say that out of the 13 tracks each one of them has pretty distinct and
memorable moments, no filler material. I definitely have to get their debut
"Midnattens Widunder". An interesting thing about Finntroll is that they're
a relatively new band, formed in '97, by the members of Thy Serpent and
Barathrum, and even though they are fairly new, they are well known and
respected in the whole BM scene. Anyways, all of the lyrics are included,
so if you're from Finland you might wanna check them out. There's also
a funny picture of the bandmembers sitting around a table. In conclusion:
If you're bored of the whole "We're Tr00 And We Rip Off Bathory, Darkthrone
and Mayhem" wave, you definitely have to buy this!
GRAVELAND - CARPATHIAN WOLVES
I've always preferred early Graveland albums over their later, Bathory-worship
era ones. Carpathian Wolves is the first Graveland album for me, and remains
one of my all time favorite cds. Many would argue this to be Graveland's
best, but for me it will always be Thousand Swords. Starting off with a
synth intro, in typical fashion, the album showcases what its all about
on the second track: "Barbarism Returns". Rob's hateful rasps and screams,
the thin guitar sound, the synth in the background and the ever so lovable
Capricornus' drumming. The album varies quite a lot from one track to another.
First off I should mention that there is a screw-up with the track listings.
Track 5 (labelled "Witches' Holocaust") is actually "Unpunished Herd",
track 6 (labelled "At The Pagan Samhain Night") is "Witches' Holocaust",
and track 7 (labelled "Unpunished Herd") is "At The Pagan Samhain Night".
I know this sounds confusing (read it again if you didn't get it), but
it's true (for example, the third member, Karcharoth, is said to sing on
"At The Pagan Samhain Night", and yes he does, track 7 does feature a different
vocalist, also listen to the vocals on track 6, Rob clearly (well not very
clearly) says "Witches' Holocaust", and this is the only song that has
a prologue, done by Capricornus' as mentioned in the liner notes). Anyways,
moving along, the tracks do differ from each other quite a bit. Songs like
"Barbarism Returns", "Impaler Of Wallachia" are solid, fast BM tracks,
and track 6 (in order to avoid confusion) is a much slower song with a
dark atmosphere created with the synths and the vocals which are even more
drowned out than usual. "In The Northern Carpathians" isn't even a real
song, just a bunch of wolves howling and other weird noises, which lasts
for only minute and something. The album also ends with an outro very similar
to the intro. Worth mentioning is that in 1999, Graveland released Impaler's
Wolves MCD which features reworked versions of the tracks "Impaler Of Wallachia"
and "In The Northern Carpathians", this MCD is a nice listen especially
because the production is much better and both songs are around 12 minutes
in length each, so if you're a die-hard Graveland fan, buy the MCD. Back
to Carpathian Wolves (what a great album title) the booklet contains the
pictures of the 3 members (the only Graveland release which features a
3rd member), and even though full lyrics are not included, a few lines
from every track are there (at least I think so). I'm wondering how really
rare is this album, is there a different version than the Eternal Devils
one? Anyways, Graveland's debut remains one of the strongest and most importand
BM albums of all time.
GRAVELAND - THOUSAND SWORDS
Easily one of my favorite BM bands, and also one of the best releases
I've ever heard. On this album Graveland shows us what Black Metal is all
about. Even though I heard Carpathian Wolves before it, Thousand Swords
was so impressive it became my favorite Graveland release and also one
of the most played discs in my collection. Seems that the demand for this
album is pretty big, since it's been re-issued (twice!). The copy I've
got is the latest re-issue, the No Colours digi-pak version. The cover
art may be different than the original but that's not what's important.
As always with Graveland, the album contains Intro/Outro (Graveland's intros
and outros are easily the best in BM). The rest of the songs are fairly
long compositions (with the exception of "Black Metal War!"). The most
impressive thing about this release is that Darken was able to find a certain
sound, which is varied enough in every one of the songs, yet still recognizable
and intertwined with the other songs (this is similar to what Emperor did
on In The Nightside Eclipse). While some of the songs are farily long,
they retain complex compositions, and showcase every aspect of the sound
of the entire album. One of these aspects would be Capricornus' drumming
and the use of the hi-hat. Almost every few seconds the hi-hat is hit,
and this keeps the sound of the album in line, meaning no matter which
song you are listening to, you will instantly recognize it. Some people
complain about the drumming, but I think it fits perfectly for Graveland's
music. The guitar compositions are farily simple yet interesting enough
to grasp attention (example would be the catchy guitars on "Born For War"),
however, the drum work seems to be overshadowning the guitars. In fact,
the guitars often follow the drums, which works out perfectly in songs
like "Thousand Swords" and "The Dark Battlefield"etc,. Also "The Time Of
Revenge" has unbelievable drumming (especially in the beginning), also
a great distorted bass sound. Darken's croaks are all over the place, another
reason this album works well as a whole, Darken barely ever changes his
singing style on this album so it is instantly recognizable. Lyrics deal
with the usual: hatred, war, winter, Pagans, and NS/WP (although not very
direct). The importance of this album can't be stressed enough, along with
Carpathian Wolves, this is Darken's best work in Graveland. Even if you
oppose Darken's views, this release is absolutely necessary in everyone's
collection!!!
GRAVELAND - FOLLOWING THE VOICE OF BLOOD
This is the point where Graveland took turn for the worse. Sure,
the first half of this album is excellent stuff, but the other half seems
like a pile up of filler, especially with the two extremely long songs
(both longer than 10 minutes). Many people consider this Graveland's best
release, but I personally think it's way too long, and would rather listen
to Thousand Swords or Carpathian Wolves instead of this. Graveland progressed
a lot over time, and it's very noticable on this album. The songs are much
longer than usual, however the song structures remained fairly similar
to the early works (except that there is more repetition on here). Another
complaint would be the production. While I enjoy crappy production (Ildjarn,
Dark Throne, Countess,...) this is a bit worse. The guitars are pushed
up front, and are very distorted, and once you hear it, you'll know what
I'm talking about. The drums are also very loud and seem very out of place,
even though I enjoy Carpicornus' drumming, the production makes them sound
very odd and not easy to enjoy. The synth work is still amazing though,
especially on the Intro (the Outro is basically the same thing) and "Fed
By The Beasts" has a nice synth background, while "Forge Of Souls" is a
simple, ambient-like piece. "And The Horn Was Sounding Far Away" also has
a pretty long synth intro, which is very unlike Graveland, but it
showcases Darken's slow descent into Bathory-worship era. Just like with
every Graveland release, a certain sound is picked and is evident all over
the album. This time the case would be the heavily distorted guitar sound,
which is evident all over the place, and may get a bit annoying/repetitive
over time. Darken's vocals are worse than usual, and he croaks quite a
lot. The booklet contains all the lyrics, which deal with the usual Graveland
topics. Well, in conclusion, this is not bad, but nowhere as good as CW
or TS.
HELLHAMMER - APOCALYPTIC RAIDS
This came out in 1984? Now I see what band Burzum has ripped off
on Burzum/Aske. The first thing I thought while listening to the tape was
Burzum's debut. Production is as bad, guitars are in the same vein, very
simplistic and repetitive, and sound very similar. Same goes for the drumming.
Vocal style is another thing Varg has ripped off from Tom G. Warrior. Tom
varies the vocals a bit though. He does sing kinda like Tom Araya from
Slayer, but at times he screams in agony and terror, just like Varg of
Burzum does. Well, on with the review. I got the tape used at some store
for $2 bucks. There's only 4 songs on here. "Horus - Agressor" is a stand-out,
has some damn catchy riffing. Simplistic riffing used troughout the album,
but with occasional time changes, it's one of those albums which
you can't remember right after you've heard it. Reminds a lot of Slayer,
"Hell Awaits" era. I was thinking of including a review of Slayer's album
too, but you can find those all over the net. However, it's not easy to
find Hellhammer reviews. Anyways, Hellhammer is one of Tom's first bands,
after this tape, and other tries, he decided to give up on Hellhammer,
and founded Celtic Frost. This album (along with most other CF/Venom/Bathory
albums) has had a very tremendous impact on the Norwegian black metal scene.
Well, that's basically it. Can't say much more for this short tape, except
that if you get a chance to get it somewhere cheap, and are interested
in the origins of modern Black Metal, that you should probably pick it
up. This release (along with some extra tracks) is now available on cd
format, so pick it up. PS. An EXCELLENT article about Hellhammer, the whole
history, info, and the story behind the band, can be found at the NecroZine
site at:
http://www.necrozine.com/Hellh.html
HYPOCRISY - HYPOCRISY
First off, don't get confused by the album title - this is not Hypocrisy's
debut album (that would have to be 1992's "Penetralia"). This one
was released in 1999. Hypocrisy, fronted by Peter (I-wanna-produce-all-Black-Metal-albums)
Tägtgren is typical Swedish black/death/trash metal mix. Songs vary
quite a lot on this album, some are fast and really catch, with great guitar
work, while others are slow and put the listener in somewhat of a sombre
mood. I personally prefer the faster tracks, such as "Reversed Reflections"
(great solo, even though basically ripped from Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years"),
"Selfinflicted Overload" and "Fusion Programmed Minds". However, the slower
songs like "Until The End" and "Paled Empty Sphere" are good as well. Peter
did most work on this album, taking care of the vocals, guitar, synths
and the production and mixing. The production is good, but has too much
distortion, in my opinion. Vocals are pretty good, ranging from some ocassional
black metal type of screams to one Rob Halford impersonation but mostly
on "normal, somewhat clean singing" mode. The vocals are used with taste,
so they are an upside to the release (the vocals remind me of Prong's singer).
When looked from a different perspective, this album has Iron Maiden, Slayer,
Metallica, etc. written all over it, and reminds a lot of the other newer
bands like In Flames, Iced Earth, etc. So do not expect anything groundbreaking,
and that did disappoint me a bit. Lots of hype surrounding Peter, especially
because of all the albums he's produced. He's a great producer, but not
an outstanding song/music writer (his brother, Thomas Tägtgren is
also a producer). While on the topic of song-writing, the lyrics are not
included, but judging from the song titles, I think Peter should stop watching
The X Files so much, because some of the titles sound really crappy (eg.
"Disconnected Magnetic Corridors", "Paranormal Mysteria"), but on the other
hand, I might be wrong, there could be a huge government consipracy controling
the music industry... Eh, on with the review, 11 songs, fifty-something
minutes, this album is a good listen for fans of great melodic music but
nothing beyond that.
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