Angry Metal Guy

Blut Aus Nord // 777 – The Desanctification
Rating:  4.0/5.0 — Mind-bending peculiarity from the French disciples of the dark.
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Websites: www.blutausnord.com
Release Dates: EU: 2011.11.11 | US: 11.15.2011

Oh I love French black metal. They do it differently there. You won’t get the same kind of innovation or mystery from any other country in the world these days. Forget all the nonsense that comes with the Norwegian scene. This is purely about the music, the essence of black metal… what it should be. Of course just like any other scene in the world, not everyone is doing the same thing. Here we have the likes of Antaeus, Aosoth or Haemoth providing the raw and ferocious side, while bands like Epheles and Anorexia Nervosa deliver  grandiose soundscapes of symphonic majesty. Then of course there’s the avant-garde, enigmatic workings of bands like Deathspell Omega, Glorior Belli and Blut Aus Nord.  Continue reading

October Falls // A Collapse of Faith
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Dark, bleak and beautiful
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Websites: … huh, son of a bitch… I got nothin’! (That’s a first..)
Release Dates: EU: 24.05.2010

Depressed Finns are really no surprise in metal these days. It seems like Finns are a pretty morose bunch in general. A country famous for bands like Poisonblack, H.I.M., Sentenced, Insomnium, Black Sun Aeon and Swallow the Sun, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that some pretty bleak and depressing stuff comes out of Finland. And let me be clear, that’s not even naming huge groups of bands that I’m sure others could probably come up with. But October Falls isn’t your standard “depressed metal” band from Finland. There are no silly ESL lyrics about being buried in a plastic bag or any of that jazz. Instead, October Falls is a “depressive” black metal band with folk sensibilities.

A Collapse of Faith is one 40 minute track, which quite frankly doesn’t lend itself to an easy review. It’s difficult to sit down and describe the entire album, when its basically a series of different movements of one track. You try reviewing a symphony some time and see how well it goes. However, this one track is best illustrated by the cover of the album—a little to your left, yup there you go!—and the first minute or so: the sound of a campfire and birds in the woods gently laying under an acoustic guitar, which sets the atmosphere for the album without being cheesy or ridiculous. At about 2 minutes, the real theme for the album comes in on the guitar and for the most part you’re in “metal” territory after that. What stood out for me about this record was that the melody was gorgeous and strong, lending itself towards the melodies of Vintersorg or Borknagar (early), it had a melancholy to it that is not really present in those earlier folk and black metal records. But while I would probably still call this “black metal”, this is not Darkthrone black metal, but Petrychor black metal or maybe something more akin to Ulver‘s epic and classic album Bergtatt. Continue reading