Finally, the correct fucking topic.
Posted these a small time ago. I have two reviews up. One is Black Tribe's Inferno, and the other is Sunn0)))'s Black One, respectively. Too much black?
http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=20770
Quote:
Bizarre, and yet, interesting. John Gill presents us with his Inferno, and not Dante’s. Raw and almost haphazard at times, Black Tribe’s Inferno gives us Black Metal with an Industrial plague, with a captivating, disturbing, yet bothersome work. I think there is something very honest about the outcome of Inferno, and I feel optimistic about the experiments with instrumentation, aside from all of its criticisms.
Boldly cacophonous, Inferno’s Industrial strains have a strange fit into the Black Metal form presented here. Songwriting is intentionally vibrant and forceful, and usually either candy or poison for the ears. The programmed drums are almost intentionally catching; the sound varies as infectious, energetic, and even annoying at times. It has a very strong “stomping” feel that I enjoy. There are even times when I don’t think the drums fit well. These moments are brief, and aren’t engaged in dynamic moments in the song where momentum has built up. It’s not a point to be exaggerated upon or overlooked, however. Guitar work is varied as well. It has that drone, and that sometimes dull cut when too loud, but overall works in most of the material to give it more an approval in effort. The way that the guitars (either real or programmed) fit the theme of the songs also works prominently without dulling thin in most cases. Gill’s vocals have the sharp, static-like sound that fit well into the paradigm of much Electronic and Industrial-flavored Black Metal. Within the understanding of the usage of instruments, the probable limitation of resources makes it commendable and contrastingly erroneous at times; the error is utilized (somehow serendipitously) to create harmoniousness, and the harmony can fall into error.
There should also be a point made about other instrumentation as well. The use of keys evens out the “surface” of the album, but I don’t think it was exactly used for what I’m inferring. The keys give an added touch of melody that widens the audial spectrums tastefully. There are also an added number of samples that assist in spicing up the compositions as well. Gunshots, explosions, yells, and flowing water can be heard. This makes the songs’ stream run even more richly than expected.
The actual composition of Inferno is the key in what is novel listening. A use and buildup of instrumentation increases texture, which increases listening depth. Songs can be either slow, blazing fast with feedback, or simply riding the wave of ambience into a new theme introduced in a piece of a song. “Funeral Obsession” could be said to have a “suicidal” feel, but I’d rather feel mesmerized by the riffs reminiscent of Ildjarn. It’s minimal, contagious, and notable for use of pleasant tempo change, accelerated with compelling emotion. “Eine Selbstmordnotiz in E-Moll” is a great example of Gill’s use of textural ingredients. A low speed, morose riff terminates into an ambient bridge into a minimal tune. I extremely liked the piano in the end of the song, although I don’t think it fit well into the tempo; the tune gets stuck in my head though. The intro, “Semtex & Cocaine” was merely a drone with programmed drums and guitar introduced in. Simply demented and grotesquely appealing. The covers are interesting as well. From the infernal screech of Gill’s cover of Mayhem’s “Pure Fucking Armageddon,” to their mystically absurd interpretation of Emperor’s “Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times,” I’ll be expecting covers just as bold in the future.
I’ve been told by Gill that the material was difficultly recorded from nine to ten months, and every beat was pasted into Windows Audio Recorder! That’s painstaking. Within a context of self-production, Inferno should be commended for both textural considerations, even with small oddities here and there. Listening here shouldn’t be given over simply to good and bad; oddly, the bad and good crossover into each other’s territory! “I wasn’t going to tell you this,” but Inferno does well in reaching heights infernal (as the name suggests) with such eerie experimental quality and disturbing features. So onward, I say, onward with the downward spiral! (Pun is not intended, but will accept credit for)
http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=87680 Quote:
Continually experimenting with the already non-duplicable efforts of Earth, Sunn0))) progress effortlessly through four full-length albums before rerouting themselves from the conditioning of White1 and White2, and presenting us with Black One. This presentation of Black Metal fused with Drone Doom is by no means the first documented attempt at such an unholy union, but rather, another development brought about by continually mutating their Drone Doom sound with taste, artistic acceleration, and even pushing the sub-genre’s growth as a whole. Covered once again in murky, thick cobwebs of atmosphere, this one is another treasure from the swamps….
This album covers many spectrums of Sunn0)))’s work, particularly their minimalist, noise-utilized, and atonal works. I’d say this album takes some snippets from The Grimmrobe Demos, White2, and Flight of the Behemoth. The particular soundscapes present, then, are of a wholesome variety. It’s the novel composition that makes this album flow especially well.
Considering the comparisons of past Sunn0))) albums, the tone and form are more murky and sinister in intent. The guitars are immensely thick (as expected), and there are a myriad number of other sounds, noises, and vibrations I have yet to identify. Formulaically, the rich sounds in combination with droning guitar and bass immediately marry into a construction of things eerie, macabre, ghoulish, and even at times mystical/spiritual. I think that here, a deeper importance of atmosphere is understood, where in previous efforts, there was not enough audial “space” allowed to prevail. The inherent subtleties with vocal work done by O’Malley in “CandleGoat” and the exceptional vocal work of Malefic in the disturbing, chilling “Bathory Erzébet” (he reportedly recorded in a casket within a hearse) are some examples of how that blackness flourishes on the album. Hell, even the lyrical content of “CandleGoat” is an excerpt from Mayhem’s “Freezing Moon.” The grimness here is so thick it could be cut into slices and served.
I take it that the whole album should not be overlooked in any way. Black One is not entirely a fusion of Drone Doom and Black Metal, but a further evolution, experimentation, and blackly-influenced work. “It Took the Night to Believe” is a resoundingly grim, haunting, and notable track. The main parts consist of a rhythmic drone, led by a tremolo riff that plays a funeral procession for the entire universe. Wrest’s chthonic tone gives an extra interesting layer to the track, but does not command any extraneous attention. The simplicity of this track, as well as the sludgy, prehistorical “Orthodox Caveman” is the primitive simplicity of Sunn0))) that is mesmerizing, as well as enjoyable. And as grandiose as many Sunn0))) songs are, the ones presented here are nothing less of paradigm shifts in the sands of Drone Doom. “Cursed Realms (of the Winterdemons),” a cover of Immortal’s song from the album “Battles in the North” is a track noteworthy of Drone experimentation. Amidst Malefic’s ghastly shrieks, the song has no significant structure for part of the song; the verses here are laid against a frozen landscape created by harsh, howling feedback, which gives way to a trumpet-blowing drone, a herald of an icy tomb. The song builds in its urgency, raising feedback, until the bow breaks in a blizzard of encrusted feedback, accompanied by atonal echoes. The resonance of the final notes sounds a grave and final resolution fitting to the track. I think the song fails in its need to actually “cover” the Immortal material, whereas this is more of an interpretation. Nonetheless, I think that it is admirable that it wasn’t some sludgy copy-and-paste, but rather, a literal interpretation of the material.
The usage of collaborating artists on Sunn0)))’s albums has very much worked in their favor. Upon initial listening, I would’ve thought that such a collaboration with previously guest starring artists, along with the work of Wrest (Leviathan) and Malefic (Xasthur) would have an overshadowing effect on the overall effort, due to their popularity with the Black Metal underground. However, the work does not exploit excessive use of their flair, successful in evading imperfections that both artists face.
Because Sunn0))) is so prolific within the Drone Doom scene, I can only say that this album is a landmark in Drone’s development not because of invention, but it is the mark of Sunn0)))’s juggernaut influence on drone and their work with other artists that will have future Drone enthusiasts claiming this one to be a classic. Let’s see in the next ten years….until then, you can both suffer and marvel in this album’s epic drones.