Nifelheim - Satanatas (2014)

Nifelheim is a band that, seemingly, values playing live more than spending time in the studio. Thus, fans are tortured in-between releases, as they become more and more rare. The wait from Servants of Darkness until Envoy of Lucifer was hardly bearable, but ultimately rewarding. Since then, another seven years has passed and still no full-length. However, in December 2014, a special E.P. was released, available only at live shows. 

Titled Satanatas, this mini-album features three tracks of uncompromising and old school Black Metal, as it should be. No more forced to look to the likes of Mordant or Pest, the trademark sound of Nifelheim triumphantly seizes the consciousness of the listener with "From Hell's Vast Plains". There is a sense of familiarity in certain parts, reminiscent of "Infernal Flame of Destruction", though soon taking on an identity of its own. The songwriting skills of Tyrant and Hellbutcher cannot be praised enough, somehow managing to compose mini-epics all while maintaining an ugly and primitive feeling.

"I rise in flames

from Hell's vast plains

to burn...

til nothing will remain"

One noticeable difference between Satanatas and Envoy of Lucifer is that the production is not quite as clear, sounding more like the previous releases. This suits the pure 80's vibe of the compositions, particularly "Bestial Rites". This song really hearkens back to early Bathory, like a more sinister and possessed take of The Return... There is a subtle gloom to this track that darkens the atmosphere all the more. As always, utterly hellish solo work remains a key component of Nifelheim's songwriting and is very effective. 

These guys are truly remarkable in their ability to craft excellent songs, never sacrificing the purity of the music and still being able to make each track stand on its own and sound distinct and original. "Praise Lord Satan" is the longest of the three, clocking in at just four and a half minutes, and is instantly memorable after just one listen. It is amazing how Nifelheim is able to sound so old school and so unique, both at the same time, never falling into the trap of merely coming off as some kind of 'retro act'. 

The duration of Satanatas is less than twelve minutes, and yet this is some of the purest and most genuine Black Metal that has been released in several years. Though many false bands claim that the black flame burns within them, Nifelheim need claim nothing. There music proves that they are, and always have been, among the few that are actually toiling away in an effort to keep hell's fires burning. Seek out this essential recording however you must. 

Pest - Dauðafærð (2004)

More often than not, bands will record their best and most inspired material early on in their careers, only to degenerate over time and to become irrelevant. However, there are times when the musicians go the opposite direction and actually get their acts together with time. In the case of the Swedish band Pest, they had done nothing of note for some years, other than release a string of unimpressive and mediocre Darkthrone worship. Yet, in 2004, they surprised many with the brilliant Dauðafærð E.P. 

This release consists of a single track that stretches over twenty minutes. Based on their past, one would think that Necro and Equimanthorn were unsuited for such a task, but they managed to put together a monumental piece of Black Metal. "Lífit es dauðafærð" sounds as if the band had put their Darkthrone records aside for a while, instead preferring to listen to the classic works of Burzum. The slow build-up is reminiscent of "Det Som En Gang Var", and some of the slower riffs also sound very much influenced by this track. The vocals, though, are far from the tortured screams of Varg Vikernes. Necro's voice sounds utterly filled with hate and surely the old Norse lyrics help with this harsh feeling. Throughout the song, more primitive riffs alternate with bitter cold tremolo melodies that come together to create a dark and frozen atmosphere. Finally, the production of a Pest album really works well with the material, being clear enough to hear all that is going on but still allowing for a raw edge. Despite its length, "Lífit es dauðafærð" never becomes tedious or repetitive, as there are several tempo changes. This is the sort of music that would be really fitting to accompany one while wandering through a frozen wasteland, littered with corpses, on the way toward some endless dark forest where the chains of mortality shall soon be broken forever. Therein lies one of the strongest qualities of the song, that it is able to take the listener beyond their surroundings and on a journey into darkness. As it progresses, a sombre feeling begins to emerge as the cold blade caresses your flesh. The knife will have the last word, and the snow-covered earth shall drink your blood...

Dauðafærð is an epic, dark and majestic offering that is about as essential as any post-90's release can be. Rather than purely mimic their main influence, as they had done on earlier albums, Pest used it as a foundation on which to create some truly impressive Black Metal. The sole track here is dynamic, engaging and never bores, whatsoever. It is dripping with a cold and dark atmosphere and exudes the sort of passion that the band's previous output absolutely lacked. The strange thing is that, following such genius, the band went on to release another mediocre album that seemed to have no connection with this, at all. Regardless, this E.P. is highly recommended. 

1349 - Liberation (2003)

1349 appears to be one of the more popular bands to emerge from Norway in recent years. The reason for this is quite unknown. One listen to their debut effort, 2003's Liberation, is proof enough that the fires of old school Black Metal have truly been extinguished in Norway. No amount of well-known musicians or big labels can make up for lack of quality. 

One word can sum up everything that is wrong with this album: modern. Here one can find a mixture of influences that are forced together, awkwardly, with no real direction and a total lack of focus. So much of the material is played at hyper-speed for no other reason than to be fast. Despite the high tempo, there is absolutely no sense of aggression or urgency to these parts. Worse still, the drumming dominates the entire album. Frost's performance here is completely over-the-top and just a masturbatory display of technical skill with no thought to what would best benefit the compositions. To make matters more unbearable, his overactive percussion is far too high in the mix and distracts from the rest. 

The songwriting is not utterly terrible, though mostly generic. None of the guitar melodies are given any real time to play out or to breathe, shifting from one pointless riff to the next. There is absolutely no atmosphere to be found on this album. One can detect bits of old school influences, which would be a good thing if not for the fact that they float around as fragments of what once was, in a sea of modernity. The best song on here is a cover of Mayhem's "Buried by Time and Dust", and they completely butcher it and render it lifeless and bereft of the morbid feeling possessed by the original.

Liberation is a good example of modern 'extreme metal'. The original material clocks in around thirty-five minutes and it must not have taken much longer than that to write this simplistic nonsense. 1349 fail to create an atmosphere of darkness or to convey any evil feeling, whatsoever. This is just more watered-down, easy-to-digest kiddie trash, masquerading as Black Metal. It requires more than fast playing, spikes and corpse paint to be Black Metal, and these guys really missed the mark. Avoid this.

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - The Pest Called Humanity (1999)

Over the last several years, and particularly during my stay in Berlin, it has been difficult to avoid hearing about the German Black Metal band known as Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult. With such an over-the-top name, it would be wise to make sure that the band is able to deliver. Their first official release came in early 1999, in the form of an E.P. titled The Pest Called Humanity. 

Upon first listen, it is really difficult to understand why this band is so hyped, as the songwriting is rather mundane. The extremely poor production does it no favours. In particular, the hollow drum sound is distracting and irritating. The riffs lack any feeling of darkness and come across as generic and pointless. The vocals are another big problem; as misogynistic as it may sound, female vocals have no place in Metal, especially Black Metal. That goes for clean singing or these pitiful attempts at harsh vocals. No matter how many people try to tell me, "oh, this one is different, she's really good", I can always pick out weak female voices and they never suit this music properly. 

The Pest Called Humanity is below-average and nothing more than a mesh of random influences, poorly executed. With such a weak scene, compared to their northern brethren, it is not surprising that Germans would cling onto anything that might seem passable, but Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult simply fails to live up to all of the underground hype. If you want to hear real German Black Metal, seek out Moonblood or Katharsis. Avoid this novelty act.

Taake - Nattestid... (1999)

For well over a decade now, it has been nearly impossible to not be confronted by the overrated and over-hyped entity known as Taake. One of the latecomers to the Norwegian scene, this band's first full-length was not released until 1999. Nattestid... is a very tedious listen and one that offers very little reward. 

The first things that once notices when listening to this is the horrid production. Or, rather, it is seems that it had a clearer production and then some sort of trickery was involved, after the fact. In the end, what we have here is a tenth-generation dub of the original master tape, in an insincere attempt at sounding grim. The result is something that is just noisy and irritating, as certain frequencies are just grating to the ear. As is often problematic with modern releases, the drums and bass are too high in the mix and create a muddy feeling. 

Musically, this is just a complete mess. There is far too much going on, and yet not enough really happening. The various layers do not seem to fit together very well. The drumming is just too much, with so many useless fills and tempo changes. The clean guitars that are added on top of the rest just make things more difficult to grasp. Then there are the disgusting clean vocals that kill any attempt at atmosphere. This really sounds like the result of a few kids making a poor attempt at picking up from where Emperor left off with Anthems..., along with some influences from Satyricon and early Aeternus. Regardless of what influenced this atrocity, they failed to really understand what Black Metal was supposed to be about, because this isn't it. Despite the aesthetics and techniques, this is the total opposite of dark or evil. Perhaps this is supposed to be some sort of Viking Metal or "Forest Metal"? At any rate, Taake failed to create anything worthwhile. Imagine an album like The Return... or Under A Funeral Moon that was drowning in clean guitars, over-audible bass lines, classical influenced melodies and clean wailing. It is very likely that Hoest and his pals were part of the later generation that were exposed to modern flower metal before ever hearing any real Black Metal. 

Nattestid... is not a totally worthless album. The band are fairly competent at playing and Hoest's vocals are not bad at all. If you are into the 'pretty' and 'flowery' side of Metal, this will appeal to you. However, if you are seeking a solid offering of Norwegian Black Metal, you are in the wrong place. Turn away and flee.

Pest - Blasphemy is My Throne (2002)

Sweden's Pest is an interesting band. They began doing a weak imitation of Darkthrone, among others. Over the course of their career, there have been some highs and lows, ultimately leading them to embrace an even more old school sound to which they are better suited. However, their early years were quite mediocre and this is exemplified by the 2002 E.P. Blasphemy is My Throne. 

The songwriting here is incredibly weak. The compositions are too lengthy and they go absolutely nowhere. The title track has a couple of riffs that could have been useful, but ended up languishing amid several generic riffs that just go nowhere. These guys are just going through the motions, knowing which notes to play but not why they need to be played or how to put it all together. There is not an ounce of darkness to be found within these songs. "Along the Path of the Fallen" is another painfully generic track that meanders along for eight minutes and accomplishes nothing. 

Side B is similarly frustrating. "Towards Desolation" features some half-decent tremolo melodies that are very reminiscent of early Burzum, but the modern studio production sort of kills the vibe. The song is then buried in an unmarked grave when things transition to a poor man's Ravishing Grimness. "Circle of Damnation's Fire" displays some of the worst Celtic Frost imitation ever heard. 

Sometimes, a band should demonstrate a bit of patience and, rather than releasing material just for the sake of getting their name out there, they should hold off until they've written songs that are worth listening to. In the case of Blasphemy is My Throne, Pest seemed overeager to release something, despite the songwriting being utterly below-average and tedious to sit through. Some bands are slow starters and these guys really should have remained in the demo stage a lot longer, because this E.P. is completely worthless.  

Xasthur - Nocturnal Poisoning (2002)

Nocturnal Poisoning was released in late 2002, marking the first of many disappointing full-lengths to come from Xasthur. Alongside trash like Nargaroth, this may be one of the most overrated bands to ever soil the realm of Black Metal.

After being introduced to this solo bedroom project with the track "May Your Void Become as Deep as My Hate" (which was fairly decent and Burzum-esque), I did a little research and decided to give a listen to the first Xasthur album. Of particular interest was that this offering featured a cover of an old Mütiilation track. It seemed as if this band might have some potential. I was quite wrong.

Nocturnal Poisoning is an incredibly tedious listen. To my understanding, this is a fairly clear example of DSBM, but the only depressive thing about this is how utterly boring and mundane it all is. From the first track, it is apparent that Malefic is incapable of doing even the most basic Black Metal vocals, as his voice is so drowned in digital effects that all chance for any feeling to be conveyed by the vocals has been eliminated. That is not too much of a problem, as the songwriting is amateurish and bland. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to even call this songwriting. It would be more appropriate to call this a collection of uninteresting, generic, interchangeable and forgettable riffs that stretches on for over an hour. The overuse of clean guitars in the forefront also does a lot to remove any possible edge this music could have possessed.

Malefic demonstrates that Burzum and Strid were not the only bands he wished to emulate, as "A Gate through Bloodstained Mirrors" gives off somewhat of an old Graveland vibe, particularly with the drum programming. Occasionally, a guitar passage will feel slightly gloomy, but there is nothing to compare it to other than the terribly monotonous and boring riffs that make up the bulk of this wretched album. There are no ups and downs, no journey into the darkness. The riffs have no feeling, the vocals are just a pathetic mess of sound effects and the tracks are all the worse for the fact that they just drag on and on.

The best and most offensive song on here is "Black Imperial Blood". The soft and modern production neuters it, for the most part, with the horrible fake drumming overpowering the guitars. Anyone with any respect for Mütiilation would never have released this atrocity, as it is a complete raping of the original. That said, these are clearly the most interesting riffs on the whole album. In this case, not only was it a bad idea to include the cover track because of how poorly it came out, but it also shows just how weak the rest of the compositions are by comparison.

Later songs introduce more synth into the mix, as if this filth wasn't horrible enough already. "A Walk Beyond Utter Blackness" introduces a somewhat average guitar riff, then proceeds to do nothing to capitalize on it, spoiling it further with random clean guitars and excessively loud bass lines. Finally, nearly an hour into the torture session, the first decent (original) riff appears. The title track starts out with a rather lifeless and sombre melody, but soon loses steam and turns into a terrible Opeth outtake.

Truly, Nocturnal Poisoning is a complete mess. Cover art and song titles aside, there is nothing even remotely dark about this. This guy really just picked up on the absolute weakest elements of Black Metal and failed in his attempt to emulate them, creating a disgusting and worthless string of albums and split releases over the years. It's a shame that so much talentless scum manages to gain notoriety and support for the complete trash they call music, while other bands go unnoticed or forgotten. You are far better off listening to the older works from Burzum, Strid and Mütiilation. Xasthur was never anything more than a failed effort at making a cheap imitation of those that came before. Avoid this.