Lykankult / Urnarium / Baalberith

Lykankult

Unbelievably brutal and punishing. Kalde has really pulled out all the stops on this one, using a series of primitive and truly old-school techniques to make this music as aggressive and unforgiving as it could possibly be. The instrumentation itself is like early Moloch demos: blasting drums, distorted, tremolo picked guitars and overdrive-coated vocals thrown into a stew of raw madness, which has then been shaped and carved into some brilliant songs. Kalde has then added keyboards, which give a somewhat polished sheen to the pure black hatred beneath. The keyboards provide the music with a sense of melody, which allow the songs to flow much more nicely. There’s a lot of sound clips used throughout, which again serve to emphasise the grim nature of the music (ie the thunder at the end of Children of Wotan; the speech at the beginning of The Realm of Desolation and Lust, which in itself is a nice ambient close to the otherwise-aggressive storyline). The lyrics are based on Paganism, something not often seen in music with this level of ferocity. Kalde has really raised his middle fingers to ‘the rules’ and gone his own way – it’s paid off, as these are some really unique, fantastic tracks.

9/10.


Urnarium

The first thing that happens when Urnarium’s music begins is that a little voice appears in my head and says “Hello, Jacob. We’re Urnarium, and we’re trying to be the death metal version of Xasthur”. The music is droning and monotonous throughout, and refuses to progress in any specific direction. The sound levels go up and down sporadically, like some invisible gnome is sat at my computer pissing around with the volume controls, which is annoying as fuck. The vocals constantly play hide and seek too: they’re already far too low in the mix, but decide to disappear completely when they feel like it. The second track is like a much slower attempt at being Deathspell Omega, but fails tremendously when the guitar struggles to keep in time with the drums. This track is really, really embarrassing; as well as timing issues, it suffers from bad production all round, and finally fades out having only showcased one riff. The third track is simply a repeat of the first, and the fourth is like the third with a slower tempo.

Shite. Really shite.

1/10


Baalberith

By far the best of Baalberith’s releases. The British black metal outfit decide to showcase two covers and two originals, and do so with great success. The Mayhem cover keeps the bass tone from the original song and adds much softer, pleasant sounding guitars to it. The drums are brilliantly recorded and showcase raw talent throughout; indeed, Jack Hart has always impressed me with his skill. Razakel’s vocals are on top form throughout, well-annunciated and balanced perfectly in the mix with the guitars. The Rotting Christ cover places the bass higher in the mix than the guitars (similar to the tone on For the Glory of Blasphemic Supremacy). This works outstandingly, allowing the higher notes on the bass to gain audibility and adding the appropriate punky vibe that the song should have. The vocals are, again, placed brilliantly in the mix, panned to each ear and adding uniqueness to the song. The guitar work on this song is also notably impressive, with fast harmonized passages staying in time with each other throughout.

The God that Never Was is a particularly upbeat and fast track that relies on the use of rapid-fire tremolo riffs and thick accompanying bass. The song progresses nicely, ever-aided by Razakel’s particularly brilliant vocal tones and techniques. There is then a breakdown in a major key where the guitars and bass harmonize, before falling to a thrashy pickup riff with accompanying guitar solo [a blazing trail of notes that truly opens the ears] before ending with a clip of studio banter between the band members. Under the Sign of Satan - though a good track - does not live up to the standard set by the previous one. Opening with furious blasts and tremolo riffing, the song progresses to a slow tempo major-based series of guitar passages. It’s a good song, no doubt, but not quite as brilliant as the rest of the tracks Baalberith have put forward.

Good. Really good.

9/10.



My lasting question is this: why didn't these two brilliant black metal acts kick Urnarium off the bill before this was released?