For Celestial Glory

While Schattenkult is first and foremost a traditional black metal label I would classify the Dutch project Fra Waurhts mainly as what these days is called “cavernous death metal”, with some black and war metal thrown in on top. Maybe wrong expectations are what led to their so far only album “For Celestial Glory” getting so lukewarm reception. While surely not top of the genre like e.g. Drawn and Quartered or Father Befouled, this album is quite an enjoyable affair for what it is.

This is pure annihilation and savagery for fans of grim and slimy death metal. Their aural offerings to the cavernous realms of death and black are presented to please those who have an affection for obscured death metal style. The distortion level is high, underlining the dissonant nature of the guitar harmonies.

The guitar work is switching between stoic and brooding parts and faster and more aggressive sections. There is a certain melodic factor in the music, but not so much at the surface but subtly woven into the overall sound. There are some slower pieces where the bleak guitar sound helps creating an eerie and depressing atmosphere. All in all this album comes across quite monotone, even for that sub-genre, but once you got used to the ritualistic groove and pummeling blasts you might come to appreciate what is on offer here.

Due to the sheer darkness that these songs pour into the world the music has a slightly blackened approach on occasion. Make no mistake; I would not classify this as blackened death metal as such, it’s just so bleak and ugly that it just happens to share some of the aesthetics with the blackened style. Listening to this album will give the consumer a grim and cold feeling and leave him in despair once it has finished.
The studio production on “For Celestial Glory” is raw and murky, yet perfectly fitting and this devastating effort is given the proper set-up for each instrument to uniquely deliver each of its contributions. The vocals are deep and grizzly, rounding off a neat little gem for friends of the genre.