Autumn Roar

Whenever I hear Raven Dark, it's hard to take it completely seriously. Of all the horribly produced, questionably played, intensely derivative bands in the Blazebirth Hall scene, Raven Dark has the worst production, playing, and music of all of them. Hands down. No contest. They are, for all intents and purposes, the worst band in Blazebirth Hall. In fact, they're so incompetently bad on nearly every track I've heard by them, I fail to see how people view them with some sort of legitimacy. Everywhere I turn I see people listening to Raven Dark like it's serious black metal- the same people that would dismiss this if it was an American kid in his bedroom love this because it's some weird Russian dudes in the middle of nowhere. That doesn't work for me, man. It's still super shitty.

So apparently 'Autumn Roar' was supposed to be released back in 1994, but the band sat on it until 2006. Honestly, this shit might not have sounded quite as dated if it was released back in 1994, but at this point, the style of overly dramatic Russian dissonant raw black metal is pretty fucking played out, and 'Autumn Roar' doesn't express any of those ideas in a way any more compelling than the hundred other bands out there releasing unknown tapes of the same general shit. Production: non-existent. The thinness actually hurts my ears if I turn it too loud since I'm pretty sure some of the riffs are played in a register that only dogs can hear. The music: ponderously written. Long, boring songs composed of sloppy blast beats with one or two Darkthrone-derived tremolo riffs over them alongside some howling vocals. This reminds me of early Striborg without any of the artistry.

And... I'm at a loss for what else to say about this, really. I fully believe that the only reason this has legitimacy is due to the weight of the Blazebirth Hall name (or should I say the Branikald and Forest names); were this released by some unknown musicians, this would be roundly rejected- hell, not even that, it wouldn't get to the point where rejection is necessary. But since this is BBH-affiliated, everyone feels the need to gather around their stereos with quizzical looks on their faces, occasionally nodding slowly to themselves over the depth of the compositions. I'm no stranger to extremely raw and minimal black metal, but the raw, minimal black metal Raven Dark plays is so derivative and simply boring that I can't find anything to recommend about it. It's a joke. This doesn't convey any majesty, grimness, or whatever else some are saying about it: it just sucks, and doesn't even suck in a particularly interesting way. Do you know how many random NSBM CDrs from South America I own that sound just like this?

There's an interesting thing about Raven Dark: whenever you read a review of a Raven Dark album that's positive, the reviewer tends to go on and on, describing the music and the production in detail, but when it comes time to actually talk about what is functionally good about the record, they're mysteriously silent. That's because there's nothing to say: Raven Dark, for all its trappings as a grim, mysterious, true black metal band, is really just an entity of style and fashion like the worst of hipster USBM. There's nothing of enduring value here: just the pretense of it.