Setherial - A Hail to the Faceless Angels (1994)

For those that have never been all that impressed with the output of Setherial, it might be recommended that you set aside twenty minutes or so and give a listen to their first demo. A Hail to the Faceless Angels is probably the best thing that these guys ever released. While such praise may only be in relation to the descending level of quality from this point on, these tracks do possess some merit of their own. 

The sound is what one would expect from a demo of this time period. This quality of production really suits the music moreso than the somewhat cleaner sound of the following full-length, Nord. It is a little difficult to say for sure, as my tape is a bit worn, but it works for me. Stylistically, the songwriting is a little less complicated and could stem from the band having not yet fully acquainted themselves with Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse. That said, there are still regular tempo changes, with a seemingly equal amount of slower sections mixed in with the more fast-paced riffs. The music possesses more of the typical Swedish sense of melody, as demonstrated by tracks such as "The Reborn Darkness" and "As a Shadow", which are clearly influenced by Dissection. The latter does include a more Death Metal-oriented passage that does not fit in with the rest, however. The vocals really seem to shine on "The Ancient Sphere", during the slower parts, one can detect a sense of sincerity in the delivery. There are still bits of synth in use, but it is kept to a minimum and never really detracts from the rest of the instruments. There are times when the drumming is a little overactive, but the nature of the recording means that they are sufficiently buried in the background. 

A Hail to the Faceless Angels is an average offering of mid-90s Black Metal. It should certainly appeal to fans of Dissection (which the band members certainly were). Setherial were absolutely not alone in creating a musical project more to emulate those which they appreciated, in an attempt to simply make music in that vein. They were never really the best, but this demo is worth giving a shot. 

Sargoth - Mörkrets Anlete (1995)

Sargoth was a short-lived band that existed for a time in the mid-90s, releasing only one demo and one full-length before vanishing. Their first offering was the Mörkrets Anlete demo, recorded in 1995, which is rather typical-sounding melodic Black Metal from Sweden. 

Fortunately, though this demo showcases the typical sort of melodicism that one would expect from Swedish Black Metal, yet the rougher production helps to keep it from becoming too much to stomach. As well, the vocals are fairly ugly, which also assists in offsetting the potential "beauty" of the melodies. Ignoring the intro and outro, Mörkrets Anlete really consists of only four tracks. Songs like "Barn av Natt" and "Christian Blood" feature cold and sometimes gloomy tremolo riffs that would not be out of place on the debut albums from the likes of Sacramentum and Vinterland, that followed in 1996. 

Mörkrets Anlete is rather average for the time it was released. It cannot be considered a 'hidden gem' by any means, but it is definitely worth tracking down for those that are into this style of Black Metal. Though, don't bother with anything else from the band. By the time of the Lay Eden in Ashes full-length, a few years later, Sargoth had shifted their sound just enough to be considered a generic Dark Funeral clone. All in all, a rather forgettable band, but a couple decent songs here.

Moloch - Cutting Holy Throats (1995)

Cutting Holy Throats is the sole release from the band Moloch. This demo emerged from the northern darkness of Sweden in the autumn months of 1995. What can be found here is raw and evil-sounding Black Metal that pulls no punches. 

The songwriting is rather straightforward, and yet never boring. Unlike many of their Swedish brethren, Moloch avoids the path of the overly melodic, as well as the trail toward grinding nothingness. The dominant elements are the guitars and vocals, much as it should be. The drums are by no means buried, but rather kept to a normal level and the performance itself limited to only what is necessary for the songs. The guitars possess an ugly sound, though the riffs are still easily discernible, even during the faster parts. The compositions are rather dynamic, featuring enough variation to keep the listener's attention. "När Valkyrierna Rida" gives off a dark and morbid feeling, particularly during the slower section. This is definitely the standout of the demo. As for the title track, it is rather flat, though not bad. "Fucking the Demoness" hearkens back to old Bathory and Grotesque. "Satan" brings a darker feeling to the recording, connecting a bit more with the first song than with the material in-between. 

Moloch certainly did not reinvent Black Metal with Cutting Holy Throats, nor would I imagine that was ever their goal. Perhaps, it is neither unique nor special, but this demo is definitely worth tracking down for those that appreciate raw and ugly Black Metal from the mid-90's. 

Hypothermia - Veins (2006)

Released in September 2006, Veins is the first full-length album from Hypothermia. Hailing from Sweden, this band is another of the countless entities that claim to make 'Depressive Black Metal', a sub-genre that mostly consists of pointless trash and posturing. Like many things in this empty modern age, it seems to be more about image than substance. 

The first thing that one may notice is the extremely pitiful and preposterous vocal performance by Kim Carlsson. From the beginning of the first track, it appeared that he would be more restrained and at least hold some of his effeminate screams in, but he unleashes many pointless and farcical little squeals, later on. It is as if most fans of early Burzum that go on to make their own music were half-deaf and just heard shrill screaming from Count Grishnackh, whereas his voice actually possessed a raw and primal feeling, a true sincerity that is lacking in almost everyone that attempts this style. Even Landfermann's over-the-top vocals, on Bethlehem's Dictius Te Necare, had some sort of feeling. However, Hypothermia is content just existing as some sort of parody. Carlsson's voice sounds like a nine-year old girl that is afraid of a spider. 

Beyond roaring in laughter at the horrible vocals, there is not much to keep one's attention. The music is immensely boring and accomplishes nothing. The melodies are lifeless and convey no sort of feeling, whatsoever. The songs don't build toward anything, nor do they take the listener on a journey. It's all just background noise, and quite poor at that. After a slew of demos, somehow, these guys thought that this material was worthy of recording for their debut full-length, their first real impression upon the music world. Yet what they have offered is more audio rubbish that is just as tedious and uninteresting as before. The only value that this monotonous filth could have would be to put people to sleep, that is, if the vocalist would stop crying over the end of his three-week relationship from ninth grade. 

Hypothermia is a complete waste of time, more of a joke band than anything else. How this project has any followers is beyond me, as it is wholly without merit. People like this probably got attracted to the general aesthetic of Black Metal and thought it was a nice little club to join, since they felt misunderstood and lonely, deciding to imitate it for one reason or another. The title of track two says it all, this is definitely a "failure". There is absolutely NOTHING dark or depressing about this horrid little album. Avoid this and listen to early Burzum, Strid and Mütiilation, instead.

Gorgoroth - Instinctus Bestialis (2015)

Following the soap opera surrounding the rights to the Gorgoroth name, it seemed as if Infernus was motivated to reclaim the band's former glory and to prove his worth. Though Quantos... had its problems, it was the best thing they had released since Under the Sign of Hell. At that time, he talked about working on new material already, thus much was expected from these guys. Then a couple years passed and all they had to offer was a very poor re-recording of one of their classic albums (always a bad idea), displaying their refusal to abandon the modern and plastic sound of Asklund's studio. Four years later, it appears that they failed to learn from their mistakes. Perhaps, Quantos... was an anomaly, and Gorgoroth is condemned to remain a shadow of its former self. The June 2015 release of Instinctus Bestialis confirms this feeling and serves as a disappointing epitaph for a once-relevant band.

The first issue to address is the horribly modern and plastic production job, courtesy of Tomas Asklund. It is understandable to a degree. Competent drummers are difficult to come by, but to find one with his own studio is even better, in the eyes of Infernus. It was the same during Asklund's tenure with Dissection and also Infernal. Unfortunately, his technique is terrible and sounds like a drum machine, so there would not be much difference if they had skipped out on including him at all and simply used a drum program. It's not as if he even plays live with them, so his membership in the band is entirely worthless and adds nothing but a disgustingly sterile and souldead sound to the music, through his role as producer and as the trigger-happy drummer. His overactive performance does not ruin as much as one might expect since the songwriting, itself, is extremely flawed. That is the second main problem with Instinctus Bestialis. Infernus must have been quite confused while composing these songs, forgetting that Gorgoroth is supposed to be a Black Metal band. Too many of these riffs, as demonstrated already in the second song, sound like modern Death Metal. I doubt anyone waits in anticipation for a new Gorgoroth album so that they can hear pointless chugging and generic melodeath. The magic is gone. Infernus might be able to pull a few decent melodies from his mind, but even half of those are just rehashed from previous songs, such as "Ad Omnipotens Aeterne Diabolus" lifting ideas from "Satan-Prometheus", while the other half seem to be rejected Dissection riffs. Similarly, "Awakening" sounded better the first time I heard it, on the previous full-length, under the title "Aneuthanasia". Finally, the new vocalist is rather worthless and the epitome of average. It may be that the deeper vocals were desired since the direction of the music has changed so much. I'm not sure that even Pest could have saved this wretched pile of excrement. So while the vocals are boring and not at all what one would expect for this band, the end result is not effected so much, due to the poor and forgettable songwriting. 

This is what happens when people become professional musicians. Instinctus Bestialis possesses no true spirit, and deep down Infernus knows it. This is merely a commercial product that is meant to make some money for the band so that they can continue touring and living off of the music, instead of having to get real jobs. I'd considered Gorgoroth to be dead several years ago, but Quantos... gave hope that things were back on track, in the hands of Infernus. Instead, he's proven that he no longer has it, and that this band is irrelevant. Gorgoroth is not the band to keep the black flame alive, so forget them. Instead, look to Finland and the likes of Clandestine Blaze and Horna, or just stick with the classics. Either way, avoid this pile of garbage. 

Clandestine Blaze - New Golgotha Rising (2015)

Two years have passed since the last Clandestine Blaze album, and very little of worth has emerged from the realm of Black Metal in that time. So many mediocre, forgettable, plastic, fake and worthless recordings have polluted the scene, so it is extremely refreshing that Mikko has returned with another dose of pure and uncompromising Black Metal, in the form of New Golgotha Rising. 

Clandestine Blaze has always managed to maintain the traditions of Black Metal while also adding something to it, proving that one needs not countless bells and whistles to dress up the music if a true understanding of said music is possessed in the first place. While only clocking in at around thirty-eight minutes, New Golgotha Rising feels far more immense and meaningful than one might expect. The songwriting is rather stripped-down and primitive, but is not really minimalist in the same sense as Transilvanian Hunger or the old Branikald material. Though the songs are pretty straightforward, there are enough variations in the riffing and also subtle changes in the percussion that give a lively and often aggressive feeling to the songs. As usual, the compositions center around sombre and menacing tremolo melodies, with a good mix of old school riffing thrown in. One can hear definite influences from the early albums of Darkthrone and Burzum, which have long been key components to the foundation of this band. The latter begins to bleed through in the second song, "Fractured Skull", which possesses an ominous feeling that hearkens back to tracks like "Praising the Self" from Fist of the Northern Destroyer. 

One thing that Clandestine Blaze has always been capable of is creating a dark and unsettling atmosphere. It is not just that Mikko knows which notes to play, but he knows why they need to be played and by which methods to best get the most out of each one. The opening riffs of "Consumed By Flames" really demonstrate this, reminiscent of Darkthrone's "Where Cold Winds Blow". Bands such as Satanic Warmaster often displayed enough technical skill to closely imitate the old bands, but always failed to give the songs any true depth or to imbue the listener with a sense of dread. Clandestine Blaze is no shallow copy.

Often, throughout the career of this band, Mikko has tried his hand at incorporating Celtic Frost influences, with varying degrees of success. It has only been in recent years that he has managed to really work these bits into the rest, without it sounding disjointed. In the case of the title track, Fenriz would be very proud of the way Tom Warrior's riffing style has been utilized to create something dark and evil, rather than boring and plodding. In fact, this almost pays homage to Hellhammer's "Triumph of Death" with the tortured screams and genuinely plague-infected feeling of the riffs. 

The only real weak point of this record comes with "Culling the Species". The choice of a cleaner vocal approach is quite odd and produces a strange effect. The music is not bad, but the vocals are rather awkward and take some getting used to. I would recommend just skipping it, but some of the riffs are really worth hearing. 

The gloomy and macabre feeling deepens with the final two tracks, featuring a lot of mid-paced and funereal riffs. "Passage to New Creed" features somewhat of a false-finish, perhaps a nod to classic Bathory. "Final Hours of Sacrifice" is the lengthiest song on here and offers absolutely no hope, no refuge and not a trace of light breaks through this inescapable darkness. The slow intro is a harbinger of things to come, while the main tremolo riffs wear you down and cut though you with an frigid sense of melancholy that will haunt long after the record has ended. 

There's nothing plastic or disingenuous about this. The production is appropriately raw, but retaining enough clarity for everything to be heard. As for the songwriting, there is nothing to complain about. In an age where so many false bands wrongly whore out the aesthetics of Black Metal and receive undeserved praise, Clandestine Blaze simply toils away in relative obscurity and continues to churn out worthwhile pieces of music that remain true to the essence of Black Metal and do well to keep the black flame burning through these darkest of times. New Golgotha Rising is very much recommended.

Tsjuder - Possessed (1996)

Tsjuder is one of the later bands to emerge from the Norwegian Black Metal scene, having nothing to do with the earlier wave of better-known bands. Their 1996 demo, Possessed, demonstrates precisely why it took so long for them to manage to record a proper full-length or to gain any amount of notoriety at all. 

The best thing going for this demo is the necro, garage-quality, sound. This is one case of the raw production helping to mask the weaknesses of a band. As well, it is useful for burying various passages of double bass drumming, which would have sounded awful, otherwise. 

Behind all of the fuzz and static is a band that has no clear vision for what they want to create. The songwriting is painfully average, at best, as Tsjuder do nothing but imitate the bands that came before them. They add nothing unique to differentiate themselves from the rest of the hordes that jumped on the Black Metal bandwagon around this time. In itself, that would be no big deal, but the compositions are just so mediocre. Despite the raw sound, the riffs on this demo are never very dark or threatening or evil. There are hints of atmosphere, from time to time, as Draugluin tries his best to channel the likes of Varg Vikernes or Infernus, but the sub-par arrangements leave most of the tracks dead in the water. 

Possessed is the work of a tenth-rate Gorgoroth clone with bits of Emperor thrown in. Even Nag's vocals sound like a weak impersonation of Hat. Everything about this is average, and that is being generous. That said, this is probably the best thing that Tsjuder ever released. This is not a horrible demo, and can be enjoyed on some level, but it offers absolutely nothing that had not already been heard a thousand times, even by late 1996.