black metal
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Exclusively on Merchants Of Air: the THISISNOTABANDSHIRT collection
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Coffee and black metal seem to have become big parts of my morning routine lately. I don't know if that's a healthy thing to start my day but it defititely wakes me up. Today, I selected a surprisingly varied album from Hatecrowned, a band from Tripoli, Lebanon. They have been around since 2011, founded as a duo with some guests on drums and bass. As far as I can find, this seems to be their debut album. It's a damn good one, a must for black metal fans from nearly any generation.
Yes, Hatecrowned seems to be inspired by bands like Behemoth, Watain or Taake. They share a similar hook, a raw, primitive and most of all ferocious sound. Yet, here and there some influences from post-black metal come shining through, placing this band firmly in the modern day scene. Furthermore, there are some death metal elements present as well. 'Coronation of the Eternal and Pure', for instance, sounds surprisingly different from the brilliant blackened anthem 'Infest and Conquer'.
That shouldn't be a problem by the way. All of these songs are blistering pieces of extreme metal. Hell, opener 'Ominous Birth of Serpent' could be the shortest funeral doom song of all time. 'Newborn Serpent', the track, even takes elements from old school heavy metal, mainly in the guitars solos in the calmer passages, right before all hell breaks loose again. And hell does break loose, damn this music is intense at times. On 'Cave of Salvation' the chaotic sound of old school Scandinavian black metal reigns surpreme.
I really dig this album. It has a great sound, plenty of variation and a perfect atmosphere. It breathes despair, fear, misantropy and hopelessness. It's extreme metal at its best, regardless of genre boundaries and other useless limitations. I recommend it to every high-speed headbanger out there. I'm sure it will find its way to my CD-player often from now one, which isn't really the case with many black metal albums to be honest...
Serge
Yes, Hatecrowned seems to be inspired by bands like Behemoth, Watain or Taake. They share a similar hook, a raw, primitive and most of all ferocious sound. Yet, here and there some influences from post-black metal come shining through, placing this band firmly in the modern day scene. Furthermore, there are some death metal elements present as well. 'Coronation of the Eternal and Pure', for instance, sounds surprisingly different from the brilliant blackened anthem 'Infest and Conquer'.
That shouldn't be a problem by the way. All of these songs are blistering pieces of extreme metal. Hell, opener 'Ominous Birth of Serpent' could be the shortest funeral doom song of all time. 'Newborn Serpent', the track, even takes elements from old school heavy metal, mainly in the guitars solos in the calmer passages, right before all hell breaks loose again. And hell does break loose, damn this music is intense at times. On 'Cave of Salvation' the chaotic sound of old school Scandinavian black metal reigns surpreme.
I really dig this album. It has a great sound, plenty of variation and a perfect atmosphere. It breathes despair, fear, misantropy and hopelessness. It's extreme metal at its best, regardless of genre boundaries and other useless limitations. I recommend it to every high-speed headbanger out there. I'm sure it will find its way to my CD-player often from now one, which isn't really the case with many black metal albums to be honest...
Serge
