Ghremdrakk

Ghremdrakk - Je m'Exalte
Grievantee, 2007
Genre: Black Metal

1. Toxicomanie
2. Tempelgruis
3. Astree Vortex
4. De Ascent
5. Chaos Home
6. Unheimisch
7. Chemikinesis
8. Servitor, Servitor
9. Voidtrek







After "Sterrenpracht" I was pretty excited when "Je m'Exalte" got announced, because I was very curious how this band would grow out of the solid foundation they laid on their debut album. Signing with Grievantee, I had some decent hopes for the release. All of these hopes were dashed against the rocks once first Black Metal song hit.

Now, I fully know, that Shatraug loves raw production and sometimes it can really work well. The obvious Horna inspiration among other bands, I'm sure is what drew Shatrauge to release this band... but the raw production is pushed way too far on this release. "Sterrenpracht" was, honestly, a far more perfect production quality for Ghremdrakk's sound. It's an absolute shame that "Je m'Exalte" is having these problems, because all of this music is actually quite well composed. If they had used similar production values, then this would be over an hour of some extremely wonderful Black Metal. Sadly, everything feels overly distorted, with the cymbal crashes drowning out far too much of the guitars. Meanwhile Gaur's vocals screech over the mix. If this was mixed and balanced more audibly, I would be impressed, because he really gives Torog's performance on "By the Blessing of Satan" a run for its money, which is truly impressive. Sometimes the writing on "Je m'Exalte" is an improvement over "Sterrenpracht," but at other times some out of place riffing can show up as in "Chemikinesis" which has a catchier riff that just doesn't fit.

Even though I got a bit used to the production as I listened through the album, it is still quite a step down from "Sterrenpracht". It really mars how enjoyable this album could have been. Slogging through over an hour of production like this is pretty difficult. A decent portion of their songs are near the nine minute mark in length and perhaps this was a bit too long for some songs. If you're interested in checking out Ghremdrakk I would start with their debut, and if you absolutely love the project check out this album. Perhaps really adoring the style will help overcome the production downgrade.

Ghremdrakk - Sterrenpracht
GoatoWarex, 2005
Genre: Black Metal

1. De Sfeer van Daath
2. Doodsbidders
3. Geselvaart
4. Doorheen de Nevel der Sterren
5. Nachtelijke Fanfare
6. Wegen Oazer God
7. Naar de Kring
8. Craeyeveld








Ghremdrakk is a Belgian band playing a fairly raw style of Black Metal. I haven't listened to Ghremdrakk in many years and I got this around when it was first released. It had actually gotten to the point where I'd completely forgotten what this had sounded like. Usually that doesn't bode well for bands in my collection. Revisiting "Sterrenpracht", was actually an enjoyable thing for me this evening.

While I would never say "Sterrenprecht" is an amazing listen or a must hear, I did quite enjoy the album. Ghremdrakk aren't doing anything new to Black Metal, but they do a pretty nice job at writing and composing a cohesive album. I'm not sure anything is particularly memorable to me, but I'm looking at "Sterrenpracht" as a whole and the atmosphere they manage to conjure is a really excellent one. While a lot of the songs can fall to the background, since none of the riffs really cut through and command attention, the droning quality to their music makes for an excellent and rather calming affect amidst all the harshness in their raw style. I would say this band is sitting somewhere between the realms of Moonblood and Horna, but without any of the aforementioned bands' catchy riffing style. Ghremdrakk keeps their sound very basic and minimal, and strangely it really works for them. In that spectrum I managed to find quite a bit of enjoyment. The music isn't particularly fast either, instead favoring a more mid-paced style and feel to lull the listener into their world.

So, if you really like that raw and cold sounding Black Metal, I do recommend checking out Ghremdrakk. I found their album to be quite enjoyable. While I may not find the music to capture my memory deeply, I seem to enjoy what they're doing whenever it's on, so they must be doing something right! Sometimes they're throw in these extra textures like acoustic or clean guitar sections and they really stand out wonderfully.

Absolutus

Absolutus - Ostendit Quam Nihil Sumus
Goatowarex, 2005
Genre: Black Metal

1. The Scale of Nothingness
2. The Ascending Plague
3. Dislocation of Time
4. Until the Conclusion of Ages












I think this was initially a random purchase on my behalf... probably motivated that it was released by Goatowarex who has released some very good Black Metal over the years. That being said, you should not expect a revolutionary work here, instead you should expect an exercise in the beauty of minimalism. I remember putting it on the first time I heard it and thinking it was pretty decent, but I've never really sat down and given this the proper listen it truly deserved... until now. The booklet is just okay. It's only a folded piece of paper, with, I think, only some of the lyrics inside.

Absolutus do something rather interesting with the minimalist Black Metal they perform. It's heavily rooted in "Under the Funeral Moon" era Darkthrone, albeit probably a bit more well thought out at times. From here they construct only four songs, but the whole album clocks in at over forty minutes in length. Now, before you say you can't take the same riffing for ten minutes, Absolutus have written some extremely good material here and for whatever reason it's perfect. The overall presentation, down to the vocals even reminds me a bit of Trimonium, who is known for their very epic riffing style. Absolutus basically reproduce that feeling here in their songs, but bring a sort of Atmospheric immersion to their art. Of which, the only complaint I have is the lack of variation in the vocals and the vocal tone isn't that compelling with the music, but these are my complaints about Trimonium as well. If their riffing wasn't so incredible, it would probably not be a very interesting project in the end. I think the vocal tone is intentional, going for more of an Abbath approach to the voice. For some reason when I first heard this I thought it reminded me of Moonblood... but upon further reflection, I feel ridiculous for thinking that in some ways.

In the end if you're looking for an interesting take on very traditional Black Metal, you may be pleasantly surprised with how good this album is. While it may not be something to listen to over and over, but if you revisit this release sparingly it is likely you will find it enjoyable every time. It is well executed minimalist art and in that realm it stands very strong.

LVTHN

LVThN - Adversarialism
Self-Released, 2014
Genre: Black Metal

1. The Poisonous Serpent
2. Opposed by the Nameless














Here we have a real treat. A new Black Metal band out of Belgium has formed and they are performing some truly great material. This was originally released as a digital version back in November, 2013, but a physical version eventually surfaced on cassette. For those who may not realize, the bands name stands for Leviathan, but it is written in the original Hebrew form with no vowels. The use of Hebrew is fairly common in the language of the occult, but a lot of Hebrew legends are drawn out of more ancient Semitic myths. The comes as a pro-printed booklet and a pro-printed tape limited to 100 hand-numbered copies, of which I own #15.

When I first ran into this project, I was immediately taken by the album cover. If your familiar with the art you'd find in books from the middle ages you'd also find this eye catching to a degree. The rest of the imagery throughout is very reminiscent of the old grimoires printed over the centuries. They really did the printing of this tape justice, the whole thing is white, even the cassette, which makes for a great physical piece to hold and look through. I do wish the booklet had more to it, such as lyrics to read, but this really is just a demo. Perhaps they will do a lot more for a full-length.

The demo opens with "The Poisonous Serpent" which starts with a really haunting guitar line. From the first few seconds you can tell this band has really nailed an excellent Black Metal atmosphere. A little over a minute into the track the hit upon a riff that is just so spectacular it makes me want to listen to the song over and over. LVThN really do generate a sort of ritualistic monotone atmosphere for this release. They are not a vicious Black Metal band that blasts their way through track after track, instead their sound enthralls the listener to get lost in their dense atmosphere. "Opposed by the Nameless" creates a more dissonant tension for the listener, but it is nonetheless of the same atmosphere. LVThN, to me, seems to draw their atmosphere from the more occult Swedish band, such as Ondskapt, Mortuus, etc. However, LVThN is indeed fairly different from those projects, but their atmosphere strikes me as similar. They also seem to draw elements out of the might Polish scene with some reminiscent aspects to Mgla. This really is a spectacular blend.

This is a superb demo. I really hope a full-length is imminent in the near future. I, and many others, will be watching this project. LVThN certainly play a mature and higher minded form of Black Metal. Each song is structured around a spectacular core riff that entices the listener to play the songs more than once. The only real downfall of this demo is that there are only two songs, there truly need to be more. The thing that I'm most worried about is that LVThN has set the bar quite high and my expectations on the full-length will be very critical. If they can meet this level of quality for nine tracks or so, I will be extremely impressed. This is a must hear new project.