'Tis Witching Hour... as Spectres We Haunt This Kingdom

If A Forest of Stars are evocative of urban environments during the Victorian era, then Old Corpse Road are certainly more of a rural beast. Drawing on folklore and tales from the English countryside, they combine this with overtly folky black metal. This is not so much operating on the same turf as Cradle of Filth as it is playing the exact same style of gothic black metal and just doing it better. Their first album ‘Tis the Witching Hour…As Spectres we Haunt This Kingdom’ comes across as a fully accomplished example of what Old Corpse Road are going for. A combination of melodic black metal with no small degree of thrash influences informing the bulk of the guitar riffs, combined with soothing folk interludes of acoustic guitars bolstered by thin but atmospheric keyboards, enriched with creative melodies. Vocals are a many headed beast. Shifting from spoken word, to high pitched screeching, to clean singing, and guttural death metal growls.

More so than A Forest of Stars this is program music, with the lyrics clearly making up the backbone of the moods and themes of each track. They tell the story, and the music must provide a suitable accompaniment to each chapter. Whilst very common within metal – a genre currently nurturing its addiction to concept albums – it is particularly apparent here simply because the vocals make up such a prominent part of each track, guiding the listener on their journey, as the music paints out the landscapes and scenery which we will inhabit as the tale unfolds. This in turn tempers the more excessive traits usually found in this gothic infused black metal, where the listener is bombarded by a confusing and disjointed array of twinkly keyboards, knockoff Iron Maiden riffs, and poor operatic vocals. Not so on ‘Tis the Witching Hour…As Spectres we Haunt This Kingdom’, (aside from the name) there is an impressive degree of restraint that – in this context – can really go a long way to elevating this music above the rest of the pack. Old Corpse Road are not afraid of extended interludes of ambience or minimal melodies that work as a perfect contrast to the frantic yet rich melodies that make up the periods of full-on metal assault.

The thing I love about this album is how it redeems the legacy of unabashed theatrics within black metal with a distinctive British flavour. You can have all these twinkly (and sometimes silly) flourishes and absorbing story telling without it devolving into a shameless Disney film. Old Corpse Road have their own character that shines through on each track, one born of musicians clearly enjoying playing off each other, with each being given a chance to shine without becoming a detriment to the engrossing stories being told. They are emotionally broad, they work by introducing a series of contrasting segments, usually an interchange of metal and clean passages, before these are gradually worked towards a finale; the longer pieces usually reach this via an ambient or spoken word interlude. Through this method what can at first feel a little disjointed gradually solidifies around a unified theme, and the drama of the music reveals itself.

Old Corpse Road’s debut may be a little disjointed, but these things seem to be part of their approach to composition, born of segments strung together by a story as opposed to an overarching theme knitting the whole together. It comes highly recommended for those interested in black metal’s camp excesses, how to do it right, and of course for those with any stake in the UK’s patchy contribution to the black metal form.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

After first discovering this band on their 2010 split with the The Meads Of Asphodel and then subsequently obtaining their 2009 demo and being suitably impressed I have every reason to believe that this, their debut full-length album, would be well worth the anticipation. Indeed this proverbial leap of faith has been rewarded as Old Corpse Road have done themselves proud. "Tis Witching Hour......As Spectres We Haunt This Kingdom" is a mighty fine slab of British black metal taking the listener on one hell of a journey through the many folk legends that adorne the British Isles taking in subject matter such as murder, witches, boats, nighttime spectres, goblins and even ale. I say journey intentionally due to the fact that each song is beautifully crafted with many twists and turns leaping out at the listener; not to mention being chock full of plenty of ideas and simply bursting with creativity, without ever feeling too crammed or outstaying their welcome.

After a keyboard intro, that begins subtly before taking on a sinister tone then building into an epic crescendo, the first proper song "The Cauld Of Hylton" bursts forth with blasts (by all accounts this is the drummers favourite track, which doesn't come as a surprise when you hear it) and vocals that vary between high pitched black metal screams, low death growls and emotive spoken words. The variety of vocals used is due to the fact that 4 of the 5 band members are vocalists within Old Corpse Road and pretty much share the duties equally. The effect works superbly throughout the record as well as on their previous two releases. The song has some quite poignant moments as well as an epic rousing conclusion. The whole album is just under 58 minutes long but the time goes by so quickly. Each song stands on it's own. There are no two songs that sound the same yet all sound like Old Corpse Road. "The Hag Of The Mist" makes excellent use of the blast beat underneath a magical arpeggio sound thanks to The Watcher's fine keyboard work, reminding one of Akercocke in many ways. "The Crier Of Claiffe" is the centrepiece of the album with it's very folkish undercurrent whilst "Isobel - Queen Of Scotish Witches" is a slow, sinister and brooding track that includes fire, cackling, blastbeats over a piano and then becomes awash with one of the most beautiful and enchanting keyboard pieces I have ever heard.

This is essentially black metal circa the 90s with a strong (very) early Cradle Of Filth. However this is somewhat of a disservice to Old Corpse Road because they do have their own style and sound in no small to the multiple vocalists, the strong folk element and the lyrics focusing on many British folk tales. Indeed there is something very much distinctly British about this band which may perhaps be another reason why they ended up being signed by Godreah Records and sharing a split album with The Meads Of Aspohdel.

With this album being one of 2012's finest and the band getting ready to do a small tour of the UK, now would be a good time to get involved, check these guys out and support another talented band from the UK underground. Trust me, there's plenty of them and this band is at the top of the heap as far as I am concerned.