69th part of short reviews.
ABOMINATED – Decomposed
Year of release: 2021
Label: Prior Satanae Production
Rating: 6 / 10
The first demo of an up-and-coming Polish band. OK Death Metal in the spirit of late ACHERON and Swedish scene. Very heavy sound and furious vocals. For a demo, the result is pretty good. But there is nothing especially catchy, so I will not draw to any conclusions. On such a foundation, you can build something monumental... or nothing at all.
FUATH – II
Year of release: 2021
Label: Season of Mist
Rating: 5,3 / 10
FUATH is a project by Andy Marshall from SAOR where he blatantly lies to the audience that he performs Black Metal inspired by the old Scandinavians: DARKTHRONE, MAYHEM or WINDIR. Well, maybe he doesn't lie that he is inspired by them, but from these bands, FUATH's music took absolutely nothing, and of course it has nothing to do with Black Metal. On the first album, Andy made a little boring but hypnotic nod to VEMOD. The new one is some kind of labored mess, as if Marshall was forced to write it. It is customary to start albums with inspiring things, but “II” opens with an egregiously mediocre and meaningless track for 9 and a half minutes. The other four songs have one or two catchy melodies, but was it worth releasing a whole album for that? Even unscrupulous press release writers have not been able to write yet another eulogy about "crushing riffs" or, God forgive me, "one of the underground's most well-kept secrets". "Better songs, better sound, sharper vocals" - that's all they got. In other words, Andy recorded slipshod shit, and Season of Mist released it because people will buy it anyway. Fuck no.
HULDER – Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry
Year of release: 2021
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Rating: 7,5 / 10
In evil underground circles it is customary to scold HULDER right from the doorway. I understand that this is a girl, and she's from US, but shouldn't we be different from the consumerist shit-eaters whose mental activity is only reflexes and "feelings"? Listening to new HULDER album, I studied her interviews and the pages on social media. I didn't found any myrkur-like bullshit. I understand that having an Instagram page is very suspicious for a band that pretends to be Black Metal but we can attribute this to the performer's youth. Different mentality, all that stuff. I found out the following: firstly, Hulder is from Belgium, not from the States, which is a double plus, since metal in Belgium is somehow very good. Secondly, in her work, she uses traditional and dark themes, doing it quite skillfully. It's not Black Metal yet, but it's not some kind of parody either. Finally, HULDER's music is not some kind of post-whatever garbage but rather severe stuff with strong DARKTHRONE and SATYRICON vibes, interspersed melodic, acoustics and synths. Werewolf Records bands play something similar. There is excellent dynamics between the songs, the vocals are great. Everything is fine. What else do you need? Perhaps more sensible work on sound, without this disgusting normalization. A strong album that is interesting to listen to. A rare example of female-made metal where the musician's sex means nothing. No "I'M A WOMAN SO YOU HAVE TO PRAISE ME RIGHT NOW" bullshit.
SINS OF THE DAMNED – Striking the Bell of Death
Year of release: 2019
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Rating: 6 / 10
Chilean Speed / Thrash Metal. It starts off with a musical theme stolen from SILENT HILL, evoking a completely different mood from the rest of the album. Chileans play very melodiously and fervently, but everything is spoiled by the incorrigibly clumsy vocals and the muffled, hollow sound of drums. Because of this, the overall impression is greatly blurred, and somehow I don't even want to listen to the album to the end. Chile can do better, much better.
THY KINGDOM ABLAZE – Waiting for Blackness
Year of release: 2018
Label: Subterranean Aftersounds
Rating: 6 / 10
Collected works of the project from Michurinsk, known to us thanks to the split with PESTILENTIA and RITE OF DARKNESS. The choice of tracks is rather peculiar - the disc includes the first demo, two re-recorded songs (out of five) from the second and two songs from the unreleased full-length album. In general, content prevails over form here. All music is canonical and possessed black metal with a nightmarish drum machine and traditional hateful message. Therefore, it is somehow inappropriate to criticize the collection for its sound flaws, as well as to recommend it to anyone, except those who understand the essence of Black Metal.
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