Reviews for Black Metal, Death Metal and some Ambient! The concept behind this site is to do full discography reviews. I will do my best to track down an entire discography to celebrate a band's evolution. I'm pretty strict on sticking to those genres, so please don't request I review something else. I also buy the vast majority of all the things I review and I don't really take promos from labels or demos from bands. If you're worth hearing, I will probably find you.
Well... it certainly has been a very long time since Nordlicht put out any material. The only thing they put out after the debut is a single track on a compilation in 2003. This release comes on a 12" vinyl and is limited to 500 copies, which is typical for Kunstall Produktionen.
If you were expecting a rousing follow-up to "Nebelmeer" fans might be a little disappointed. This song by Nordlicht is falling a bit more into the Paysage d'Hiver style. Instead of walking through snow, it sounds like we are just walking through a forest in fall... or being chased in a forest. Either way. "Füür Rouch Ruäss" isn't as icy and cold as the Paysage d'Hiver side, it does have a bit more melody as I would expect. It also has a bit more direct riffing, which gives it a groovier feel overall. Nordlicht also feels a lot heavier and crushing, which kind of goes against the Ambient aspects of the music, but it also manages to work quite a bit too. It's quite the contrast to the thinned out Paysage d'Hiver side.
In the end I think I'll always find Paysage d'Hiver more compelling, but Nordlicht is pretty good at what they do. It's quite different, but it just doesn't pull me in the same way. If you were extremely enamored with "Nebelmeer", I don't know how you would view this new song. It's very different, but that is to be expected since this musician doesn't seem to have done anything in many years. I wonder if Nordlicht will have a new album in the works after this. I'd certainly be interested in hearing it and seeing how this sound develops for them.
Nordlicht - Nebelmeer
Kunstall Produktionen, 2002
Genre: Black Metal
1. Interlude I
2. Winterweg
3. Interlude II
4. Nebehall
5. Interlude III
6. Herbstrot
7. Interlude IV
8. Nebelherr
9. Interlude V
This is the only Kunstall Produktionen release that I missed out on so I'm stuck with listening on youtube, and I'm certain its far too late now to get a copy. The prices for this CD-R are no doubt exorbitant, given the fact it was limited to 250 copies. Nordlicht is a project from Nimosh the other person behind the record label in partnership with Wintherr from the well know Paysage d'Hiver.
"Nebelmeer" bears some similarities to Paysage d'Hiver, especially in the production quality area. Nordlicht is quite a bit different musically in the sense that the songs have quite a bit more melody in them. They don't have that chilling icy quality as his label mate. However, they do still bear that sort of droning ambient quality to the overall performance. The other major difference is that this album is actually rather short, clocking in at only about 28 minutes. However, when you look at the album, there is only really four Black Metal songs on this album, because the album is broken up with interludes between every track. Despite the albums brevity, it does not stop it from being a compelling and beautiful listen. It definitely strikes a different chord than the epic and chilling Paysage d'Hiver, but the projects are still quite similar in many ways. So if you are a fan one of one, it's likely you'll be a fan of the other.
This debut album is not something you'll see around outside of the internet these days. So, all we can do is enjoy it for what it is. It might be a little rough around the edges, but it does a really good job of setting the right mood for this kind of Black Metal.
Stworz - Wołosożary
Werewolf Promotion, 2017
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
1. Białe stanice, czerwone niebiosa
2. Rozpłomień
3. Wołosożary
4. Księżyc-Czarodziej
5. Znów zakwitną sady
6. Niech żyje śmierc
7. Przez żmijową niwę
8. Jesteśmy Słońcem
9. Moja Swarzyca
10. Będę tęsknotą w Twych samotnych oczach
11. Na szarych łodziach Grudnia
12. Jest bez pole stecka
After "Zagony bogów", I was certainly looking forward to its follow up. For this, Stworz ended up taking a few years from working on metal related music and put out acoustic and folk styled releases, which I'm not very interested in, so they're not going to appear in the review set. If you like that stuff, I'm sure they did an excellent job, but I doubt I would give the material a very fair review, because I often find it boring after a while. Luckily after a couple years Stworz was back to release another excellent Pagan Black Metal album.
"Wołosożary" is a little different from "Zagony bogów", because it's not nearly as vicious or powerful. I think "Wołosożary" is a lot more melancholic than their prior material. It's kind of strange, to me, since they seem to be following a very similar path to Nokturnal Mortum, because "Verity" is a lot more mellowed out compared to "Voice of Steel". However, these projects are certainly operating independently and Stworz has quite a different overall sound despite the influence of the bigger named project. Stworz did a better job on this album blending the folk instruments more seamlessly in the production. In some prior albums instruments like the flute would just dominate the mix, but here it sits a lot better. The blend of distorted guitars and acoustic guitars works very well and only serves to emphasize that more melancholic atmosphere this time. They adjusted the drum production a little as well, it's only okay as far as I'm concerned. The kick drums lost some of their punch, so it doesn't have that kick feel like I'm listening to Doc from Vader, which I kind of liked for some reason, but I can see why Stworz would want to back off on that.
In the end this doesn't hit as hard as "Zagony bogów", but it definitely has some great music on it. It took me a couple listens to really get interested in the album. It was the closer, second listen, where I got to experience the full breadth of this album. It's a really beautiful piece of music, but for me, I think "Zagony bogów" is a little better. Either way, if you've already been following Stworz then the new album doesn't disappoint, it just takes our journey in a slightly different direction.
Stworz - Zagony bogów
Werewolf Promotion, 2015
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
1. Zagony bogów
2. Pług czasu
3. Maro, Maro
4. Przędza losu
5. Perun jest mnogi
6. Droga mleczna
7. Jaskółki
8. Czerwone jajeczko
9. Nic ponad bogów myśl i czyn
10. Pieśń żerców
11. Pożegnanie słońca
12. Szerokie pole
We didn't have long to wait from the follow-up to "Cóż po żyznych ziemiach..." and I won't complain about that at all. "Zagony bogów" continues Stworz' interesting blend of Pagan/Folk elements into their unique style of Black Metal. As usual they bring us a booklet filled with art that inspires the imagery of the music.
I actually enjoyed "Zagony bogów" more than the previous album. I feel like this is where Stworz really managed to blend everything that influences them into a single cohesive album. I think on the prior album they were still a bit more explorative with everything, but on this release they've really harnessed what they were trying to do and blended all the pieces together. One of the problems I find when blending things like traditional pieces and Black Metal together, is that sometimes things can wind up feeling overly upbeat. However, the prior album wound up falling into that trap a little bit, however "Zagony bogów" manages to blend the styles together very well. It manages to keep an overarching intensity and darkness, while at the same time blending in the epic feel of the traditional elements. When they switch over to the folk parts that are calming and the traditional female vocals, they feel far more well thought out than before. Sometimes on "Cóż po żyznych ziemiach..." the elements felt sort of forced together, but now they've sorted out those issues.
If you're a fan of things like modern Nokturnal Mortum, then I would imagine that "Zagony bogów" will be an enjoyable listen. Definitely one of the best albums released for the year in my book. Absolutely a must buy if your into this style of music.
Stworz - Cóż po żyznych ziemiach...
Werewolf Promotion, 2014
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
1. Wyraj
2. Nim wróci Wiosna...
3. Matka Ziemia, Ojciec Słońce
4. Tęsknota
5. Mój kraj
6. Koło życia
7. Zażynki
8. By dla Słońca pieśni śpiewać...
9. Gdy Słońce przemierza bezkresne niebiosa...
10. Wieczne Słońce
11. Cóż po żyznych ziemiach...
12. Z tamtej strony jeziora
Stworz has actually been pretty quiet for a couple years, but this album is where they caught my attention. Because I heard "Cóż po żyznych ziemiach..." it made me want to back into their discography and find out what the early material sounded like, while it's not as good as this, it was still pretty good. However, I feel like the whole approach to writing and record changed dramatically on this album and Stworz took a very mature step with this release.
Even though Stworz stands on the shoulders of other artists like Nokturnal Mortum, Falkenbach and later Honor (probably because they're Polish and use similar progressions) I feel like Stworz has carved out a unique enough sound to set them apart from other bands. When we hit this album I feel like Stworz is striking out on their own to combine the sounds of their native land with Black Metal in a far more cohesive way than ever before. The end results is a composition that has those epic and triumphant qualities, but still has a bit of a darker undercurrent to their music. Even though they'll include native folk elements in their music, it never really strikes a level of silliness that you'd hear with something like Finntroll... except one song... the end of "Mój kraj". It's the one and only time they deviate from their approach and it really kills the feel of the album in this one section. It's a real shame, because it's one of my favorite songs on the album, until they start with the up beat stuff. Either way, I prefer Stworz' overall approach to the Pagan Black Metal genre more. Hopefully future releases will be a more cohesive listening experience though.
On this release they also feature a female singer that adds a lot more to that ancient folk feel. Singing in a more traditional voice of the region it adds an interesting feel to the music. Vocally W. doesn't try to achieve the more traditional Black Metal vocals as we heard in prior releases, but something in between that and more of a shout. The end results is a vocal performance that melds far better in his music than his previous vocal attempts. This approach is one of the things that was sorely missing from the Stworz arrangements and I'm really glad he switched to this style of vocal. It's not clean, it's not entirely harsh, but sits somewhere in between, since if this was dominated by clean vocals, I probably wouldn't like it.
The production quality of their recordings has been improved quite a bit. I still think the band is using either an e-kit or programming the drums. I think it's more likely an e-kit though, because of the way the performance sounds. It sounds more human than outright machine. The kick drum samples kind of have that Vader kick drum sound and for whatever reason it seems to work here. They have this powerful presence in the mix, which really helps drive the music. The guitar feel far more organic before and even if they're DI'ing everything instead of mic'ing up amps they did a pretty good job with making everything sound as real as they could. Yet amidst all of this there still feels like an underlying quality of rawness that I personally believe should be pervasive in all Black Metal production, because otherwise its too polished and doesn't fit the genre.
If you're really going to spend some time getting into this album, make sure you set aside a good amount of time, because it's over an hour long. So, it's quite the journey, but Stworz' songs are so enjoyable that I find it easy to stay entertained throughout the recording. I really look forward to Stworz exploring this approach in future releases. Definitely a must hear album!
Stworz - Blask wiecznego ognia
Werewolf Promotion, 2012
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
1. Zmierzch nad Sławią
2. Słońce niezwyciężone
3. Blask nad wiecznymi lasami
4. Celebracja cykli słońca
5. Tragedie krwią w śniegu pisane
6. Jesienne liście spadają w deszczu
7. Oblicze Chorsowe
8. Wiatr, co słowiańską pieśń niesie
9. Duma Lechitów
10. 1034
11. Rodzima wiara
If you missed out on the first two tape releases by Stworz like I did, this is your chance to listen to that old material. On the way to this compilation, I also missed out on some more splits and EP's... ah well, I've just resigned myself to reviewing what I have available from this project. Stworz also delves into releasing acoustic/folk styled releases amidst their metal albums and I'm not as interested in those.
Since this material pre-dates "Po czasu kres" this music is along similar lines, but almost more primitive in some ways. With "Blask nad wiecznymi lasami" first being released in 2008, you can still get an idea of the basic foundation Stworz was going for. That epic flavor put into the Pagan Black Metal style is ever present in Stworz's riffing style. However, I found the overall music to plod along a little more slowly compared to later releases. Some moments are great, but you can still tell that this is a pretty early effort for the project. As this project grows things get a little more elaborate and more well formed. The material featured from the split with Wolforder is little different. The production quality is a little better, the drums sound a bit more real. But writing wise it's not too different.
I've always enjoyed delving into a bands history and early years. While some projects may find some of their early material pretty cringe-worthy, Stworz, luckily, doesn't have that problem. However, it's certainly not great or a legend in the making. It's just not bad. It's a good start, that built into something really spectacular in my opinion. In the end, this isn't music to listen frequently, but it's fun to delve into a bands history and if you liked the more Black Metal days of Stworz's history this will be a must have in that case.
Stworz - Synowie słońca
Frenteuropa Records, 2010
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
1. Przekuwając myśl w czyn
2. Do młodzi sławiańskiej!
3. Synowie słońca
4. Nektar inspiracji
5. Jaryło
6. Łzy Europy
7. Kołowrót
8. My, Lechici
9. Ku horyzontów krańcom
In just the short span of a year the Stworz sound has developed rather dramatically. The songwriting alone just feels so much more mature for some reason. It's as if they struck upon an idea and approach to how their music should sound and it really just melded together very well.
On this album we'll still get a backdrop of Black Metal into their overall sound, with blast beats and harsh vocals. Coupled with the fact that it feels like there's a lot more influence from Nokturnal Mortum's folkier side being thrown into the mix. The overall feel and tone of the guitars actually reminds me of Honor's "W płomieniach wschodzącej siły", which was an album that focused on more pagan themes than anything else. There is a lot more folk instrumentation throughout this album, amidst its epic and passionate metal performance. I think "Мировоззрение" from Nokturnal Mortum bears the strongest resemblence in terms of song writing structure. However, Stworz puts their own twist on the themes and structure, not to mention folk elements unique to their region. So, Stworz is hardly a clone of the projects that started the whole Pagan Black Metal approach, but I feel that Stworz is striking out on a path all their own and will have a more unique voice in the genre with the way this album turned out to be.
While the first Stworz full-length was only okay, this is a major step in the right direction and they have definitely got my attention with this release. I really had no complaints about the album and I found it a very enjoyable album. It may not be one of the most compelling ever released, but it was still very good and definitely moving their songwriting in an excellent direction. I'm interested in what they'll come up with next, that's for sure.
Stworz - Po czasu kres
Frenteuropa Records, 2009
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
1. W ciszy jesiennych dni
2. Po czasu kres
3. Dzieje snem okryte
4. Porannych mrozów pieśń
5. Kosovo je Srbija
6. Tragedie pisane krwią w śniegu
7. Duma Sławii
8. Równonoc
If you're more familiar with the Stworz of 2014 or after, then delving into their back catalog may hold some fairly different things for you. I didn't really run into this band until they were fairly well established and I found their approach very captivating and I was hoping for more of that, so I delved deeper into their music catalog.
People that came to Stworz a little later will be surprised to hear the opening title track being a massive and fast blast fest. However, delving into the second track "Dzieje snem okryte" we begin to hear quite a bit of the sound Stworz would focus on more. One of the bigger differences is the use of a sort of distorted Black Metal voice for a lot of this album, as opposed to that sort of strong shout W. uses in later releases. He's not nearly as good with the Black Metal vocally speaking. He's not bad, but only okay. The guitar tone is also way too fuzzy, but in later releases this gets cleaned up quite a lot, so it's far more desirable to listen to. Still we get those wonderful epic passages that I wanted more of from Stworz and those are rife throughout the album. So, in terms of composition, this is actually a very well done album, and it's merely limited by its production quality, because a cleaner production would favor this style a lot more. The music isn't raw or unbridled enough. The other major issues is the very obvious electronic drum kit. I don't know if he majorly upgraded this kit later or just got an acoustic drum set, but the drum production improves dramatically at some point. For some reason I always think an electronic drum kit on a Pagan Black Metal album is a bit of an oxymoron... ah well, I do realize not everyone has the means or space for acoustic drums. Still, I would hire someone before delving into the e-kit for this.
Delving into Stworz's past I was expecting to hear far worse, but I think they've crafted a very good album here and it is merely marred by a sub-par production value. Overall the album has great songwriting and a compelling triumphant atmosphere, but it doesn't shine through nearly as much as future releases. So, Stworz is off to a strong start, but has some areas to seriously improve upon in the future.
Thy Winter Kingdom/Permixtio Split
Black Tears of Death, 2012
Genre: Black Metal Thy Winter Kingdom - Gnosis:
1. Mourning Star
2. The Serpent's Spell
3. P.O.S.
4. The Dance of the Ancient Queen Permixtio - Resurrezione:
5. Resurrezione I
6. Limbo
7. Resurrezione II
I usually try to do full band discographies, but I've never heard of Permixtio. The reason I bought this split was for Thy Winter Kingdom, but after a sever and shockingly poor performance from the project that brought me here, I decided to see how Permixtio would fare.
Compared to Thy Winter Kingdom's side, they are certainly much better. Now, this doesn't exactly make them a good project, but it's much better. I don't know what their prior albums sound like, but there are some solid moments in these songs for sure. There is a decent amount of keyboard use throughout the songs, but not enough to really make this an outright symphonic project. They sort of bear the subtlety of Emperor in the mix. Like the Thy Winter Kingdom side though, the guitar tone is entirely too fuzzy and just doesn't sound particularly good in the mix, despite the fact that there are strong riffs. For some reason, one of the first things that came to mind was that Permixtio felt like a French version of Evilfeast, but not nearly as good. I know this project is from Italy, but sound wise, there's this sort of awkwardness at times that reminds me of French compositions such as Mütiilation, but it's just not done nearly as well here.
In the end Permixtio was much better, but it didn't really capture my attention enough to listen to other releases by this project. It also touches into the realms of the Depressive Black Metal style at times, and that's not a genre I'm particularly into (except for very specific bands)... but the fuzzy guitar tone makes more sense in that context. The project has, apparently, been put to rest after this split as well. Maybe it will be resurrected one day, but as of this writing it's finished. Either way, if this description intrigues you, you may find more merit in checking out this band than I did.
Thy Winter Kingdom/Permixtio Split
Black Tears of Death, 2012
Genre: Black Metal
Thy Winter Kingdom - Gnosis:
1. Mourning Star
2. The Serpent's Spell
3. P.O.S.
4. The Dance of the Ancient Queen Permixtio - Resurrezione:
5. Resurrezione I
6. Limbo
7. Resurrezione II
It's been quite a while since I'd seen something from Thy Winter Kingdom and I was really excited to hear what new material the project had churned out after all these years. "InnerSpectrum" was a fairly strong album, so I was confident things would be steadily improving as their writing only got better and better.
Well, I wish I had better news to report, but the Thy Winter Kingdom of old is no more. Unless this is a creative blip on their march towards well written songs, this split is sorely lacking. Production wise, this album just sounds awful. It sounds like they were trying to make things "heavier", but instead it just sounds fuzzier with too much bass in the mix. As if they were using really awful amp simulators to get this guitar tone... Then there is mention of drum programming, which would only make the rest of this sound very poor.
The songwriting has also taken quite a dive in quality as well. There are moments that outright sound cheesy, and I'm not quite sure what they were thinking. I imagine they were under the impression it would sound scary, but it really doesn't. And then "P.O.S." shows up and one can only ask..."what on Earth were they thinking when they made this..." It's awful. Just outright awful.
This is a huge let down... I don't even know what more to say on this split. I was excited to hear some new razor sharp Black Metal, but they barely presented us with something competent. Aside from atrocious production, the songs are plagued with poor writing and outright goofy ideas. I really hope this band can get its act together if they decide to release more material... after this, though, I'll be buying with caution from now on.
Thy Winter Kingdom - Opus II: InnerSpectrum
Black Tears of Death, 2004
Genre: Black Metal
1. Preludium
2. Lucid Misantrophy
3. Old Throne Divine
4. Bleeding Scars (of Suppression)
5. Nocturnal Monologue
6. Path through the Forests of Bliss
7. Black Void
After a few years we finally see this duos first full-length surface. This was the first release that introduced me to the project. I quite enjoyed the album and was a little surprised when I went back and listened to the debut. Basically, everything I found problematic in the first EP has been rectified here.
They've definitely made some steps in upping the production quality and that's one of the first things we notice. The guitar is a little thicker, but it still has that signature thin tone, so it's razor sharp in the mix. The drums are mixed a little better, with the kick more up front, but the tom's fall into the background way too much. They also lengthened up their average song quite a bit, some tracks are even over six minutes on this release. This is a perfect framework for their music and I don't feel like their songs are suddenly ending. Instead they bring us on this wonderful vicious and cold journey, which imbues us with this atmosphere, but it never leaves us too soon.
Musically this album, for me, sits somewhere between Darkthrone and Satyricon. Most of the Darkthrone is heard in the first song "Lucid Misantrophy" and the rest feels more drawn off of Satyricon and Gorgoroth. However, Thy Winter Kingdom has a slightly more modernized approach to the writing, but it is certainly rooted in the feel of those projects. Just listen to how "Castle of Ice" plays out. The only tracks on here that are kind of useless are their interlude/ambient tracks. Sometimes, those can really add to an album, but on this they kind of break up the intensity poorly.
In the end though, the overall package is actually quite good. I thought "Opus II: InnerSpectrum" was an excellent Black Metal album. They're definitely on the more raw spectrum, but that only adds to the overall sonic quality. So, if you're a fan of the type of Black Metal Italy has been producing, this album is certainly worth checking out.
Thy Winter Kingdom - Opus I: Discipline of the Elements
Black Tears of Death, 2001
Genre: Black Metal
1. Preludium...
2. Fire
3. Water
4. Air
5. Earth (Mother)
6. Postludium...
I thought tonight I would sit down and review a much lesser known Black Metal band. I've had their material in my collection for a while now, so it's been a while since I've listened to it. Their debut album was notoriously difficult to track down and I've only recently gotten my hands on it in 2017, so it's kind of inspired me to delve into this project once more!
The debut EP from this project is only under twenty minutes in length, but nonetheless it is actually some pretty solid raw Black Metal. They bring us through a concept album on harnessing the elements, but there are no lyrics printed so we're left in the dark about their concept. While they're certainly not re-inventing the wheel here, the EP has a very good atmosphere and hearkens a lot to the Scandinavian sound of Black Metal. However, there's this extreme thinness in the guitar tone that I feel is more common to the Italian bands, such as Tenebrae in Perpetuum, and I think this adds a fiercer layer into the overall feel of their songs. In a lot of cases I would hate extremely thinned out guitar tone, but bands like Thy Winter Kingdom make it work within the framework of their sound and it doesn't detract from our listening experience.
If I had to level a complaint at this debut, it's that the songs are really too short. They manage to establish some very compelling atmosphere, but then it's over before we know it. The song "Water" feels like it just cuts out and ends. They try to include some Ambience and atmosphere into their songs and I find this just makes the songs end that much more abruptly. I think they do a really wonderful job of establishing this killer atmosphere and I feel their songwriting would be more satisfying if they merely extended things and extra minute or two in order to let us bask in their sound for just a little more time until we feel satisfied.
I think this is a fairly strong beginning for this project. I'm not sure it has a vast amount of reply value, simply because I quite enjoy raw Black Metal and I would really like it to leave me satisfied and they just don't build on their themes well enough to fulfill me. I do like their riffs and ideas, but I just want them more solidly arranged. However, this is just the beginning, so we'll see if future recordings leave us in a more positive note.
Masachist - The Sect (death REALigion)
Witching Hour Productions, 2017
Genre: Death Metal
1. Selected for Execution
2. Distant Horizon
3. The Sect
4. Glorious Death
5. Vengeance Sworn
6. Hang Them
7. Leave the World Burning
8. The Root of Life
9. Our Light
This new album from Masachist came out of nowhere for me. I hadn't heard anything from the project in a while and all of a sudden a brand new album hit this year! I absolutely loved "Scorned", so I ordered this as soon as I was able to get my hands on it. Being released on Witching Hour means it will have pretty good packaging and a booklet that is more than two pages. While this is true, it's one of the more simplistic layout designs I've seen from the label.
If you liked the groovier nature of "Scorned" along with the crushing Death Metal feel, then their new album will likely interest you. One of the things I liked about "Scorned" was its ability to blend the grooves and fast Death Metal together, I feel like "The Sect" is a bit more focused on the groove aspects of their arrangements. There are still certainly fast blasting moments in the album, but they are few and far between this time. Instead "The Sect" focuses on a more heavy atmosphere to get its point across. I do enjoy a lot of those dark atmospheric moments on this album, but I wish it was balanced out a bit more. I also think that, writing wise, "Scorned" was a little better. The atmosphere felt darker and more tangible. It's not that "The Sect" lets you down, and it does hit really good high points, it's just not as good as the prior album for me. Not being as good as a really good album, still means you're a good album. I certainly like it more than their debut, for example.
Masachist continue their march down the path I wish Decapitated had gone down, blending that Yattering and Decapitated style is always satisfying. "The Sect" is still a really good album and I like this style a lot more than a lot of other Death Metal being produced. It's also always nice to hear Sauron on vocals again. I really wish he did more, but hopefully Masachist will produce more music in the future. I realize all the members in this band must have extremely busy schedules with other projects, but hopefully more music will come.
Masachist - Scorned
Selfmadegod Records, 2012
Genre: Death Metal
1. Drilling the Nerves
2. The Process of Elimination
3. Straight and Narrow Path
4. Manifesto (100% D.M.K.M.)
5. Higher Authority
6. Opposing Normality
7. Liberation
8. Liberation Part II
9. Inner Void
Wow... this was unexpected. After listening to "Death March Fury" I find "Scorned" to be a surprising progression in the bands sound. While "Death March Fury" really did feel like a continuation of "The Negation"... "Scorned" is something really different and it's quite refreshing.
Maybe I simply don't consume that much Death Metal anymore, so similarities between projects might not be as apparent, but compared to what I've got in my collection "Scorned" stands out as a really different animal. Rather than an intense blast fest, such as "Death March Fury", "Scorned" is far more focused on driving rhythms and they're constructed in such a way to actually feel haunting at times rather than just building on grooves. Just listen to the slow blast sections of "Straight and Narrow Path" and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about. Are there punishing Death Metal riffs on this album? Certainly, but they're blended in with this really interesting material that gets the album to think beyond our usual grooves and punishing blasts. But I feel like that is a typical expectation for those involved with projects like Yattering and Decapitated. However, I think this group pushes the Death Metal envelope a little more in trying to add in more subtle elements in their compositions, which makes this album rather stand above a host of others out there.
Personally, "Scorned" is one of my favorite Death Metal albums. It pulls a lot of influences I enjoy and recasts them in a very well thought out fashion. They also took the time to write more normal length songs, so it doesn't feel as much like a blitzkrieg of blasting. This gives the songs room to breathe and allows the songs to have a much deeper and intense atmosphere. It creates for a much more dense feel to the music and it's unlike anything else I really hear in Death Metal today. I hear bands strike upon the elements in riffs here and there, but hardly an entire album of it and certainly not this cohesive!
Masachist - Death March Fury
Witching Hour Productions, 2009
Genre: Death Metal
1. Unveil the Grave
2. Inborn Obedience
3. Womb
4. Open the Wounds
5. Noxious
6. Malicious Cleansing
7. Appearance of the Worm
8. Crush Them!!!
9. Death Shall March
10. Open the Wounds (Promo 2007)
11. Malicious Cleaning (Promo 2007)
Somehow, I didn't hear about this project until the release of their second album. As a fan of early Decapitated and Yattering, I'm kind of dismayed I missed this until now. Here we are though... Masachist, featuring a veritable who's who of the Polish Death Metal scene. Masachist is, essentially a super group, and "Death March Fury" lives up to exactly that.
"Death March Fury" reminds of the next logical progressions of Decapitated's "The Negation", so if you are a fan of that album and are disappointed in the shift in Decapitated's sound, then Masachist is where you want to be looking. It's an advancement in many ways, because it features the stellar guitar arrangements of Thrufel and if anyone remembers Yattering, then you're in for a real treat! Throw in the punishing drum arrangements of Daray and you've got a real special album on your hands. We also have Heinrich covering the bass lines and many will recognize him from the band Vesania. The other guitarist, Aro, I'm mostly familiar with in terms of as an engineer and he's done some great work in that regard and obviously works wonderfully within the realms of Masachist.
If you managed to get a hold of the limited edition digi-pack like me, then you'll have two extra songs available. These are the two promo songs recorded in 2007 before Pig joined on vocals. The vocal work is being handled by Thrufel on these songs and he does a pretty good job. The production doesn't feel as heavy and punishing as the final album versions. While Thrufel does good vocal work, I do prefer Pig's vocals and its always nice to see him return to Death Metal. I was sad to see him leave Decapitated and I kind of stopped following that project when he left.
So, if you like punishing modern Polish Death Metal, Masachist is a must buy. It's both rhythmic and punishing at the same time, which is something I enjoy quite a bit from the Polish scene. For me, a lot of other Death Metal bands merely do one or the other, but not both so seamlessly. I also feel like there's this underlying layer of darkness in their sound that sets them apart from other regions of the world. Even though some riffing has obvious influences, such as you always hear Morbid Angel styled riffing in these projects, but they combine it with other elements in such a way that just feels different to me.
In the end, the only complaint I could really level at this release is that the songs are too short. In some ways I feel like the project is still just figuring itself out and the musicians will need to work together to figure out their own more unique song structure. For now, I'm content with a good album, that features nothing all that new to the Death Metal scene, but with competent musicians behind the project they can make this feel worthwhile.
