Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna is the debut album by Swedish one man raw black metal act Hinsides, 1 and it’s full of the influences one might expect. There are heavy doses of first (“Genom döden återfödt,” “Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna”) and second wave black metal (“Skymningsfärd,” “På jordelifwets sorgetåg”), but the compositions feel a touch more contemporary and lone member M. A. plays everything within an inch of its life. This feral approach combined with the static-y, buzzing low-fi atmosphere gives Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna a cacophonic quality, as if the wheels could fly off this black metal bus to Hell just as it rounds a winding cliff-side curve. Running counter to this clattering, jittery energy are moments of surprising melodicism.
Hinsides’ strength lies in this ramshackle sound and the sneaky guitar hooks hiding behind it. This, along with a strong run of songs from the title track to closer “På jordelifwets sorgetåg” lifts Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna above raw black metal also-rans. “På jordelifwets sorgetåg” especially sprints to the finish line as if chased by a bear wearing rocket skates, M. A.’s maniacal croaks and screams barely tethered to the song’s structure. “Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna,” by contrast, has a strong Bathory Blood, Fire, Death era feel to it, with a steady loping intro that grows slowly more epic. In a smart change of pace move, Hinsides place a cover of Samhain’s “Macabre” right in the middle of the album. This sudden swerve into demented black-and-roll makes a great palate cleanser between two courses of blistering, buzzing low-fi assaults.
My main beef with Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna is its unremarkable start. Opener “Afsägelserit” is the longest track at six minutes, and it feels like it. The riffing and energy are solid, but standard, going on a couple minutes too long. It’s somewhat saved with a melodic twist late in the song that hints at heights achieved later, but just as interest is piqued, the generic “Genom döden återfödt” brings down the mood with a relatively uninspired first wave black metal ditty. Once things catch fire from the title track on, it’s easy to look back at the first couple tracks and pick out the hints that this will be a solid album, but on their own they fail to impress.
Fans of raw black metal will want to put a bookmark on Hinsides. M. A. is more musically rigorous than the run-of-the-mill corpsepainted basement dweller with shitty recording equipment and a library of drum samples, and at a trim 28 minutes, Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna flies by in a static saturated blur. There’s nothing innovative here, just raw black metal that remembers to be good as well as kvlt.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Regain Records
Website: Too kvlt!
Releases Worldwide: July 9th, 2021