Year of release: 2019
Label: Edged Circle Productions
Rating: 8,3 / 10
In recent weeks, the profile press has been praising the new album of the Dutch group ASAGRAUM in every way, and it’s very easy to take it as a trick. In these troubled times, when 90% of the staff of metal media consists of material for the gas chamber, any band with female participation immediately becomes an object for admiration, an example of some outstanding courage and struggle for equality, a role model for thousands of failed musicianESSES whose talent was not allowed to uncover because of very very bad people with penises. No one really cares what these bands play. People, happily chumping, eat shit like MYRKUR, having the audacity to call itself Black Metal, and asks for more. If you don't agree, you are fascist and mysoginist.
But all this orgy of freaks and clowns suddenly has nothing to do with ASAGRAUM. This band, consisting entirely of women (during the concerts, their number doubles), in fact much more courageous than other supposedly male bands. ASAGRAUM do not try to break through at the expense of their femininity, they do not soften the corners in their music and lyrics - they, after all, play Black Metal with zero percent of bullshit. Occultism, genuine darkness and hellish flames of Satan define the “Dawn of Infinite Fire” entirely. Traditional themes, submitted as it should be.
What is even better is the form of self-expression chosen by the band, and how it works with this form. ASAGRAUM chose the road that is both simplest and hardest. Black Metal, which sounds simply as Black Metal, without any prefixes and slashes, is music that is quite easy to compose and perform. But only a few manage to make it memorable, completely abandoning synths and other acoustics. The closest analogues of ASAGRAUM music in my mind might be unexpected - it's PESTILENTIA and ŁATANU. The Dutch band also takes a big risk by building songs based solely on riffs, without spoiling the listener with intricate arrangements. As you understand, here there are three options for the development of events: 1) to compose a dull crap and try to hope on the fact that it has a “black metal sound" and a satanic message; 2) use these evil Swedish-style tremolo and frantic speeds (we heard it million times, but for some reason it often works); 3) the most difficult thing - to come up with really catchy riffs, which the listener will then buzz under his nose, shaking his head approvingly. “Dawn of Infinite Fire”, to our joy, embodies the third option, albeit with reservations. The riffs are just killer, they filled with genuine power and devilish energy. They are especially good in the first two thirds of the album. Each song is slightly different from the rest in mood, so the album does not merge into a single piece. Accordingly to a long-proven recipe, brutality sometimes gives way to melody, creating the necessary contrast. Here I will mention the third closest analogue - SARGEIST. The mourning melody of ASAGRAUM is very similar to that of the Finns, who, in turn, were influenced by GORGOROTH. This type of melody is extremely pleasant to my ear, so these Dutch women have my additional respect for that. There are no questions for the vocal part either; female Black Metal vocals have never sounded so right. The disadvantage of the album is its final part, more one-dimensional and non-ingenious compared with the beginning. The bandseemed exhausted, so the ending is kinda blurry.
Summary. “Dawn of Infinite Fire” is a great example of what Black Metal should be like today: modern, but well thought out and performed with respect to the eternal traditions. And the most beautiful thing here is that the “female origin” of the album plays no role whatsoever. ASAGRAUM, by its own example, convincingly proves to both liberal degenerates and stupid chauvinists that you can simply play proper Black Metal without show off. Indeed, in the end it does not matter if there is a hole or a pod between your legs. What matters is whether your dark art is good enough for Satan.
English (UK) 
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