black metal / noise / experimental
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You find yourself face down, lying on a filthy floor in a room you do not recognize. You're hurt, bleeding. You look up to the grey walls in search of a window but why should there be a window? As you make a first attempt go get up, you feel a sting in your lower leg. You feel your achilles tendon snap while whatever that stabbed you, slowly starts pulling you back. Your t-shirt starts to rip on the granular ground, you realize that your skin will soon follow. You scream, and grasp your bleeding fingers on the bricks in the floor. You hear a harsh, grinding noise when you're being dragged into another room, a chaotic and eerie sound which repetitively bangs on your head. Then you hear a ritual being performed, a dark ritual that should never see the light of day. Somewhere in this absolute and deafening darkness is an entity, gladdedly lurking at its newest sacrifice, you.
Sometimes, when I first listen to an album, all kinds of different things pop-up in my head, little scenes, sometimes cinematic, sometimes joyful and sometimes things like the opening paragraph of this review. It usually depends on the nature of the album I'm listening to, which in this case is indeed something dark, haunting and frightening. The album is named 'II' and is the latest effort of American avant-garde post-blackened doom noise metal act Crowhurst. The band started as a noise act but gradually evolved into whatever it is now. Noise and soundscapes still are important elements in their music but the whole thing delves deep into the black metal scene. Plus, there is plenty of room for influences from sludge or post-metal, doom and industrial too.
The album opens with an instrumental track, 'Cold Sweat' which somewhat sets the tone. From the very beginning it becomes clear that this is not a commonplace black metal act. The tempo is slow, torpid even, and the guitars make a shitload of noise. On 'Take This Pain Away' the typical blackened screams appear over an equally bleak, slow and grinding piece of music. This is utter despair and utter madness, this is brilliant. 'The End' is also a slow track, but it feels more like a blackened Fields Of The Nephilim or Sisters Of Mercy track, mainly because of the clean vocals. And here too, when the extremes kick in, this monsters feasts on blast beats, eerie atmospheric elements and sheer aggression. You might see this as a mix of goth-rock Tiamat and Blut Aus Nord, or something like that.
But there are more surprises, ever heard a crushing blackened industrial noise rock version of Nirvana? Well, 'No Saviours' is such a song and it rocks. Perhaps this is my favorite track on this album, but I'm not sure. Every song here is an extreme adventure, especially 'Dried Blood and Old Earth' which closes the album in style. This monster is pretty much an "all of the above", include the one song I didn't mention yet, the punishing depressive blackened sludge metal anthem 'Fractured Lung'. This is an unbelievable album, a relentless piece of extreme music, regardless of genres. I absolutely recommend it to all of you who are looking for the bleakest and most obscure sounds out there. This is an absolute gem...
Serge
Sometimes, when I first listen to an album, all kinds of different things pop-up in my head, little scenes, sometimes cinematic, sometimes joyful and sometimes things like the opening paragraph of this review. It usually depends on the nature of the album I'm listening to, which in this case is indeed something dark, haunting and frightening. The album is named 'II' and is the latest effort of American avant-garde post-blackened doom noise metal act Crowhurst. The band started as a noise act but gradually evolved into whatever it is now. Noise and soundscapes still are important elements in their music but the whole thing delves deep into the black metal scene. Plus, there is plenty of room for influences from sludge or post-metal, doom and industrial too.
The album opens with an instrumental track, 'Cold Sweat' which somewhat sets the tone. From the very beginning it becomes clear that this is not a commonplace black metal act. The tempo is slow, torpid even, and the guitars make a shitload of noise. On 'Take This Pain Away' the typical blackened screams appear over an equally bleak, slow and grinding piece of music. This is utter despair and utter madness, this is brilliant. 'The End' is also a slow track, but it feels more like a blackened Fields Of The Nephilim or Sisters Of Mercy track, mainly because of the clean vocals. And here too, when the extremes kick in, this monsters feasts on blast beats, eerie atmospheric elements and sheer aggression. You might see this as a mix of goth-rock Tiamat and Blut Aus Nord, or something like that.
But there are more surprises, ever heard a crushing blackened industrial noise rock version of Nirvana? Well, 'No Saviours' is such a song and it rocks. Perhaps this is my favorite track on this album, but I'm not sure. Every song here is an extreme adventure, especially 'Dried Blood and Old Earth' which closes the album in style. This monster is pretty much an "all of the above", include the one song I didn't mention yet, the punishing depressive blackened sludge metal anthem 'Fractured Lung'. This is an unbelievable album, a relentless piece of extreme music, regardless of genres. I absolutely recommend it to all of you who are looking for the bleakest and most obscure sounds out there. This is an absolute gem...
Serge
