Dawn of Infinite Fire

The biggest surprise in black metal right now is the all-women Dutch band Asagraum, and after an impressive debut where the band displayed their potential they’re back with “Dawn of Infinite Fire” and have proven to be a powerhouse in modern black metal.

The band’s style of black metal can be summed up to a combination of “TRVE KVLT” black metal with modern elements like a polished production and a focus on complex instrumentation. And on this new album the band displays that but with much more aggression and reverence to their Norwegian influences, intensity is the name of the game, like all good black metal the speed and aggression are what makes this album, the band never loosens on the intensity for a second, and even when the songs go into dark melodic passages where the aggression shifts into melodious dirges it never stops being fast and punishing.

All of this is accomplished through the excellent musical chops of founder and main composer Obscura and drummer Amber de Buijzer, they display much more chemistry together than Obscura did with former drummer Trish Kolsvart, this is aided by the fact that both women worked on this album together as opposed to doing their parts separately and the difference shows. The music has a stronger sense of unity and precision, each and every song perfectly complements the other and keep in mind that this album’s predecessor was not a bad album at all, but at the same time, this new album is a marked improvement in almost every way and a step towards the right direction for Asagraum’s future.

There’s very little to complain about this album beyond the obvious that if you’re not into black metal then this album is not for you as it is admittedly very indicative of the genre and even with the band’s much cleaner production it’s still not an album for the uninitiated but that is more a disclaimer than an actual flaw, Asagraum have fleshed out and perfected the sound of “Potestas Magicum Diaboli” and crafted an excellent album that every fan of black metal should hear, as this is one of the most promising bands right now.

Best tracks: Guahaihoque, Abomination’s Altar, Dawn of Infinite Fire, Beyond the Black Vortex

Written for www.metalbite.com

Asagraum play some fine black metal witchery from Netherlands. Without wanting to tread on toes socially, I’ll just say they are a black metal band “without males” and their corpse paint is great. They have a fantastic sound as well as performance based on all the awesome photographs on IG. Asagraum have just come out with a seriously beefy release, Dawn of Infinite Fire, the first black metal album that has excited me in a while. It sounds inspired.

Some people prefer to drink beer from certain places, or eat cuisines from certain geographies, it’s not different with metal, you just know Norway is going to deliver. It’s so rich in their history, if there’s competition, it’s in Norway/Netherlands/Sweden/Poland and it’s surely building some stoic musicians. I dig the aesthetic of this black metal release, the tinniness on the drums and the mixing give it an overall esoteric occult vibe which overproduction tends to kill in a lot of popular releases. This has high-production, but not over-production.

Some of the riffery is from the school of speed metal and I was surprised, the beginning of the album didn’t really feel that way to me. It’s great though, they’re clearly good at playing metal of various genres. The speed styling transitioned really well into something more theatrical on the track “Abomination’s Altar” without having to sacrifice any of the pace, definitely a stand out track – it continues on to bounce around with a catchy amount of melodeath licking you’d expect from Edge Of Sanity.

There are some nuanced vocal techniques within their arsenal, including some mic effects that could be tacky but are used reasonably and far between – really being more of a way to emphasis moments which Asagraum do well. It’s the same with the bass which is very interesting, sometimes skittering beneath the track like a frantic bug, the music occasionally stopping like a kitchen light being turned on, revealing it momentarily before it flees back under the drums and licks. The tremolo picking on the guitar sounds tragic and often very pointed with unexpected short and quick jabs. It’s never dull moment and it all sounds great. They even dare to bring in some symphonic keys towards the end and still don’t overdo it.

Definitely give this one a go if you’re looking for something fresh in the current black metal community.

9/10

Originally from www.noobheavy.com