Changed Name to: Caterva Runa
D.U.K.E./Atavism Records, 2011
Genre: Black Metal
Hasserben:
1. Intro
2. Errance
3. La Marche de l'Hérétique
4. Torpeur Mortuaire
5. The Vampire Tyrant (Satanic Warmaster cover)
Searing Skull:
6. Le Soleil Meurt Chaque Nuit
7. Dead Upon the Cold Earth
8. Those Who Still Hope
9. Agony of the Universe
Side Searing Skull: ...coming eventually...
Side Hasserben:
This is the last recording Hasserben would make under this project name. There have been some drastic line-up re-arrangements for this recording. Nocturn gave up the vocal spot to take over on the drums. While he's a better drummer than Wörg, there are still some rough spots here and there. Still, with him behind the kit the music does feel a lot tighter. To take over vocals they got Spleen and she adds a very interesting touch to their music. She reminds me a lot of Dim from Tymah, which is great, because Dim is one of the better vocalists out there.
Now the real question, could the guitarists bring the riffing? I think on this release they did, it might sit a little between the two demos, but for the most part they succeeded a lot more. It has that excellent raw and melodic French style of Black Metal that I've come to love over the years. They do a good job of keeping their Black Metal on the raw side, but still quite audible so we can hear everything that is going on. This is quite a step up from the two earlier tape releases.
It's almost too bad this is the final release from Hasserben, I feel like they were onto something pretty good with this split. Oh well, they may not leave the most compelling legacy behind them, but there was some good stuff here and there along the way. We'll see how things go with the newly named project Caterva Runa.
Angels are Whores of Satan, 2009
Genre: Black Metal
1. A World to Conquer
2. Germs of Hatred
3. Chant d'automne
4. Godless Truth
5. Twilight Falls in Transylvania
6. Torpeur mortuaire
7. Linceul de ronce
After a couple years Hasserben went back into the studio to record their follow-up to their first demo. This is a pro-printed cassette with a dubbed tape. It's limited to 500 hand numbered copies and I own #194.
I was hoping for some more of the great riffing found on "Chant d'Automone", but there isn't as much on this release. By comparison I think the first demo is a little better. While "A World to Conquer" wasn't terrible, I just don't think they hit on that more compelling riffing from the first demo, except when they re-recorded the song "Chant d'automne" and the closing track "Linceul de ronce". Instead this fell more into the category of just another generic Black Metal release. That's not always a bad thing if you write good songs, but there's this layer of generic in Black Metal where it can feel more boring and that's kind of where "A World to Conquer" wound up for me. This was also the last recording with their drummer Wörg, which is probably for the best, the drumming is fairly sloppy at times. I don't know if that's what held back my enjoyment of the riffs, but they don't really cut through like they used to and I find the drumming a distracting aspect of these recordings.
While this wasn't the best follow-up and fell more into the category of painfully generic Black Metal, songs like "Linceul de ronce" give me some hope for the project. Now that a new drummer will be coming in, maybe that will help breath life into the project. Hopefully something better will happen on the next release.
Infernal Kommando Records, 2006
Genre: Black Metal
1. Chant d'automne
2. Im Morgenrauen einer neuen Ordnung
3. Twilight Falls in Transylvania
4. The Dark Omen
5. Toward the Mountains of Sorrow
6. Dead, Buried, Dissolved
7. Germs of Hatred (Live)
8. Godless Truth (Live)
The way I heard about this project is through Caterva Runa. When I saw that this is where the band got its start I was pretty interested in hearing this, so I tracked down their demo tapes and bought them as soon as I could locate them. The fact that they were also in league with bands like Svartkrig and Ciel Nocturne only solidified my interest in the project. So here we are... the first demo. I technically don't have an original copy, instead this is a re-release with two bonus live tracks recorded in 2007. It doesn't say when this particular version was released, so I listed the original release date of the demo. This repress comes with a pro-printed cover and dubbed tape.
As far as first demos go, this came out pretty well. Sure, it's super raw, but they have some pretty decent riffing going on. Sometimes the drums get a little sloppy, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Either way, I can tell this band is off to a good start and I'm definitely interested in hearing where they will go from here. "Chants d'Automne" is pretty par for the course tried and true French styled Black Metal. You have that blend of the cold Scandinavian style with the raw and tortured chords and riffing that is often found in the French sound from anyone that draws off the ideas of projects like the LLN. The live recordings are less than desirable. In fact, their quality is so poor, it's almost strange to include them as a bonus at all...
So, if raw Black Metal is your thing, I think this project would be worth checking out. For me, I look forward to things being a little less raw as the project continues, but as far as demos go, they're off to a fine start as far as I'm concerned.
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