loading...Forests Of Thorns - 99%
If you are looking for a black metal band that strives on production and perfection, then this is not for you. Haxen is a raw black metal band from Rhode Island that formed in 1998. "Black Fire Suicide" is the bands second self-released demo. Barbarian, the bands main songwriter, creates a sound that is both nightmarish and painful. Every time I listen to this demo I find myself lost in my own self-made, mental purgatory. You know the one I'm talking about....that dark abyss we dread to enter, the one we have all created for ourselves, that cage of depression and fear that is almost impossible to notice that your trapped in. Of course, we don't create this void intentionally. It's a path we cannot avoid. Before you even realize you're in it, Haxen is there to make sure you can never find your way out.
The first track titled "Introduction" is a short ritualistic-sounding composition that reminds me a lot of the dark ambient project Moevot, one of the many side projects that was part of France's black legions. Feedback lingers under the ghostly voice(s) of either Barbarian or Sorcerer as both musicians are credited with vocals on this release. One focuses on the standard black metal- styled vocal scream we are all very familiar with. The other vocalist produces deep growls of a lost soul trapped in a vortex storm. The "Introduction" is then followed by the title track ,"Black Fire Suicide". A very mid-paced, tremolo-picked guitar riff starts off the song. The heavily distorted and dissonant guitar tone adds a unique balance to the first three minutes of the song which continues without drums. It gives off the same sort of charm of a warlord who has not once ever washed the blood off of his sword after he slits his enemy's throat. The next two tracks are both furious and fast assaults of primitive black metal brutality! "Dig Me No Grave" has some great guitar work that Barbarian should pride himself on. It's not technical in the least, but it's well-constructed. The next track, "Sleepwalking Through Forests of Thorns", consists of fast guitar riffs that have less definition than the previous song. Still, it has a fucking killer title and is the perfect build up track to lead into the highlight track (for me at least). Track five, "Smite My Enemies", is a slow, sorrowful black metal masterpiece. One guitar leads the song with a deep- sounding chord progression that stays the same throughout the majority of the song while the second guitar plays notes on the higher strings to create a perfect blend of evil. Only one type of vocal style can be heard of this track. The high-pitched growls cry out screams of torment. I picture an old man, skinny and weak, imprisoned and held down by the weight of the shackles that are locked to his feet. He knows he should have already died by starvation. Death is just unable to reach him.
I give this demo a 99 because of its length. Obviously, demos tend to be on the short side, but the music is so fucking good it leaves me with a dry mouth craving more!!!!
Black Fire Suicide
