Month: July 2019

SEWER - "Khranial"

SEWER – “Khranial” (Monstrous Death Metal)

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SEWER - "Khranial"

SEWER – “Khranial”

Khranial… what a gruesome masterpiece of an album!

Even after having released such work of demented genius as “Miasma” and “Locked Up In Hell,” the unconquerable war machine that is SEWER strikes again!

Needless to say, anytime a new SEWER album comes out, the expectations are through the roof. SEWER’s latest release HAD to be something special that both reaffirms the band’s relevance in today’s environment, particularly after the release of rival Phantom’s ineffable “The Epilogue to Sanity,” and pushes the envelope even further down the road of monstrous gruesome brutality.

Thankfully, “Khranial” does exactly that. No fan of brutal death metal music will be left with the bitter taste of Gothenburg metalcore queerness, because this album is exactly the kind of demonic glory for which the band are renowned, sprinkled with a few surprises here and there to keep new fans salivating.

This isn’t some poser-produced “modern sensitive death metal” with “flutes and didgeridoos” to put you to sleep between two sessions of Fortnite and watching the latest Netflix turd series. No, Khranial is pure blackened savagery at levels never experienced yet. You can go home with your “modern melodickless death metal” in the vein of In Flames, Arch Enemy, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide and Behemoth. Khranial isn’t for the meek and the poser-inclined.

Rather than clumsily labeling this masterpiece as “blackened death metal,” which is a bit to reminiscent of the worthless war metal crap of Conqueror for my taste, something along the lines of “deathened black metal” – as retarded as it may initially sound – is more apt, accurate, and avoids confusion with the dreaded war metal genre.

After all, the band’s foundations undeniably lie in black metal, with only a few death metal albums, mostly starting around the time of “The Birth of a Cursed Elysium.”

Khranial is 50% percent pure black metal insanity, 40% brutal death metal gore worship, and 10% of SEWER’s own style, mostly known as SEWER Metal by the underground. Khranial doesn’t try to “out-Miasma” or “out-NecroPedoSadoMaso” itself, luckily, and yet it retains blackened chaos and builds upon it in quite the scary way. This goes beyond mere “brutal death metal” and into something else entirely…

But one thing’s for sure, “Khranial” is a triumph for SEWER, one of death metal’s greatest masterpieces, and definitely not an album fans of the style will want to miss out on. Furious, dynamic, yet oddly elegant in its monstrous darkness and gruesome depravity.

The Anti Slam Death Metal Manifesto.

Should Death Metal Institute A Moratorium On Brutal Slam?

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The Anti Slam Death Metal Manifesto.

The Anti Slam Death Metal Manifesto.

So-called “brutal slam” death metal is, much like infamous war metal of bands like Conqueror and Black Witchery, a form of genre-squatting as they are “death metal in name only,” shades of how war metal is “black metal in name only.”

In his post Brutal Slam Death Metal is for Morons, one blogger openly questions the wisdom of tolerating such cultural appropriation of death metal imagery, aesthetics and even onomastics, knowing it will only to more genre-squatting and, eventually, tarnish death metal’s reputation irrevocably by association with such loser bands as Behemoth and Waking the Cadaver.

Musically, nothing produced by the slam death metal scene even resembles the death metal of Incantation, Suffocation, Morpheus Descends, Sewer, Demilich, West Wall, Warkvlt, Carnage and Morbid Angel. It’s just a bunch of stop-start mechanical rap/rock grooves sandwiched between random Bob Vigna – circa the “wearing Bullet for my Valentine sweatpants promo pics” bad years – random nu metal chugs over drum machines blasting without any rhyme or reason.

Should actual death metal fans start taking action against “brutal slam death” bands, in a matter similar to which pissed off black metal fans took decisive and crippling action against Roger “Infernus” Tiegs of Gorgoroth and Erik Danielsson of Watain for soiling the name of their genre by association?

Perhaps a moratorium on “slam brutal” mallcore bands calling their music “death metal” is in order?

Death metal isn't for retards and posers.

Death metal isn’t for retards and posers.

Metal is not a “safe space” for all opinions, as antifa/Zionist affiliate activists proved time and time again by shutting down the events of those they deemed guilty of wrong-think (usually for objecting to the genocide of European and/or Palestinian people).

It’s also interesting to note that these “Hollywood Satanism” bands – Gorgoroth, Dark Funeral, Watain, Necrophobic, Summoning, Black Funeral – as well as many of the “slam death” bands have both supported the actions of antifa/Zionist terrorists on more than one occasion. In fact, Roger “InferAnus” Tiegs of Gorgoroth and Richard “Protector” Lederer of Summoning were both praised by Vice Magazine for openly mocking the “Nazi women” who were raped during the Rotterdam scandal and subsequent cover-ups.

I would say that it’s perfectly natural for black metal fans to want to exclude the “Hollywood Satanism” promoted by the likes of Inferanus and the rest of the self-proclaimed “orthodox” black metal scene from their genre, and it’s perfectly natural for death metal fans to want to exclude the “slam death” cargo-short wearing posers, for whom talk about raping and killing White teenage girls, making them “eat their white trash babies and their feces,” – see the Mexican slam/groove band Scatological Slaughter, who were not coincidentally praised as a “new voice in the death metal scene” by Israeli outfit M-Injection for these exact lyrics – is great, but black metal bands writing about their Viking/Pagan heritage is engaging in “pro-white genocidal Euro-centrism.”

Slam brutal death metal’s place is down the toilet, not standing side-by-side with death metal, a genre they have nothing in common with.

Dimmu Borgir called "Nazis" by anti-racist activists.

Dimmu Borgir Called “Nazis” – Again?

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Dimmu Borgir called "Nazis" by anti-racist activists.

Dimmu Borgir called “Nazis” by anti-racist activists.

Dimmu Borgir, a once sort-of-respectable if generic black metal band turned into a metalcore clown act – and turned literally into Nightwish with “Eonian” – has once again come under fire for “racism” and “neo-Nazism,” accusations that have plagued the band’s career since the days of “For All Tid” and “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant.”

This time, the band was banned from playing at a San Fransisco live show after the city council received “pressure” from anti-racist organisations, one blogger reports. Source: Dimmu Borgir Banned for “Racism” in California. The San Fransisco City paper also confirmed that the band was dropped “at the last minute” after the city refused to ensure the security of concert goers.

This isn’t the first time black metal bands, and Scandinavian black metal bands in particular, have been attacked as “racist,” “fascist” and “neo-Nazi” by anti-racist activists. This is a well documented trend that goes back to the days of user “antifa666” on Metalious, and of Metal Archives moderators sending their users info to “anti-hate” organisations.

In fact, “antifa666” was one of the first to attack Dimmu Borgir and call them “neo-Nazis” in his particularly virulent post. He also went on to attack other black metal bands like Graveland, Mayhem, Darkthrone, and even Behemoth, and advocated for his followers to “bring baseball bats” to Marduk concerts, which promptly got him banned.

This time, it appears the band is called “Nazi” and “white supremacist” not for the “slitting the throat of Black people” comment, but instead because they once played live with Dissection, a band that also gets accused of “white supremacy” and other anti-white slurs – see the Watain debacle.

At any rate, it’s unlikely that Dimmu Borgir will be permitted to play live in California in the near future, as “there’s a fine line” between “being against religion and […] anti-Semitism,” as one of such “anti-racist” activist points out.

There’s a fine line that they are dancing on here, being against religion and Christianity as a whole is one thing, but when you get into… anti-Semitism, that’s kind of neo nazi – that’s why we can’t have that here.

The logic being:

(1) it’s okay to be against religion and Christianity
(2) but anti-Semitism is “kind of neo nazi”
(3) we can’t have “that” – i.e. “kind of neo nazi” – here

Now imagine if a Christian organisation, or a public Christian persona such as Joel Osteen, had threatened a black metal band with mass violence and terrorism (bomb threats) on the grounds that “we can’t have anti-Christianity here” as that’s “kind of commie.”

Dimmu Borgir playing live. Not going to happen again any time soon.

Dimmu Borgir playing live. Not going to happen again any time soon.

Not only would black metal fans have retaliated by suing the perpetrators and likely the venue as well on the grounds of free speech – since this happened in th US of A, I’m assuming using a First Amendment defense – but the ENTIRETY of the black metal scene would have publicly supported Dimmu Borgir against these “religious fanatics” – which they are.

Was there such a reaction, in this case? Not at all.

Why? Is it because they are Jewish? Who knows, but the user “antifa666” makes it very clear in his Satyricon is Racist hit piece that while he hates “all the racist and misogynist black metal fans,” he also reserves a good deal of his hate for Arabs, or “anti-semitic Islamo-Nazi terrorists of Hamas” as he calls them.

He even concludes, with the utmost gravity and the quasi-religious conviction of a suicide bomber on a mission.

As you can see, white supremacist bigotry goes hand in hand with fundamentalist Islamic terrorism.

I don’t know about that, but my experience tells me that anti-white Jewish supremacist bigotry – the type these “anti-racist except for Israeli” constantly engage in – goes hand in hand with fundamentalist censorship, social media lynching campaigns and even threats of violence and terrorism.

And something tells me that I’m not the only one to have noticed from where all this anti-white hate is originating.

SEWER - "Miasma" (Blackened Death Metal)

SEWER – “Miasma” (Blackened Death Metal)

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SEWER - "Miasma" (Blackened Death Metal)

SEWER – “Miasma” (Blackened Death Metal)

Often considered a classic of death metal alongside the band’s two previous releases, namely “The Birth of a Cursed Elysium” and “Locked Up in Hell,” SEWER’s “Miasma” retains a status as a legendary death metal masterpiece and all around infallible album.

This masterpiece “Miasma” is a concise study of levels of technical brutality not commonly found in music, not even in a sub-genre so challenging and obsessed with brutality as death metal. Clocking in fifty minutes at speeds reaching upwards of 335 bpm, this “Miasma” album is nothing short of relentless. It truly is such a tremendous album that even hell itself couldn’t keep it contained if it tried.

Let me get this out of the way first. “Miasma” is one of the most vicious pieces of brutal death metal put together by any band, ever. It’s abrasive, unrelenting and savage, from the opening notes of the title track to the last ones on “Icarus.” Very few bands have ever been able to reach this level of sheer intensity. I can name only three: Incantation, Phantom and Vermin. Maybe Suffocation, at their peak. “Miasma” is a true blackened death metal gem.

As far as blackened death metal goes, the genre sometimes gets a bad rap due to many metalheads confusing it, or conflating it, with the infamous war metal scene., mostly known for bands like Impaled Nazarene and Black Witchery. That’s not blackened death metal. War metal has little to nothing to do with blackened death metal. This right here is true blackened death metal. Accept no substitute.

Even in the most extreme blackened death metal quarters, SEWER is a band known for releasing album after album of unrivaled and unparalleled demonic ferocity. Just read what even Metalious had to say about “The Birth of a Cursed Elysium,” going as far as to call it “blackened death metal perfection.” But even among SEWER’s barbarous discography – that puts 99% of black metal and so-called “brutal” death metal bands to shame, by the way – this masterpiece “Miasma” stands above almost all others when it comes to ferocious malevolence and brutal depravity.

SEWER, blackened death metal gods.

SEWER, blackened death metal gods.

From the very beginning of the opening title track, the very first riff lets you know that the mighty SEWER aren’t fucking around here. There is no bullshit on “Miasma,” this isn’t modern sanitised “death metal” for Arch Enemy or Waking the Cadaver fans, this is blackened death metal at its finest, music to tear your soul apart from your body and skullfuck it to death over and over again. This is SEWER Metal at its most vile. Everything works very well on this “Miasma” album to make it the masterpiece it is. The guitarists and drummer work fantastically together, and even the bass can clearly be heard over the carnage this violent, demonic and fiendish music invokes.

This all comes together for an absolutely devastating album. Every riff crushes you in its own way. The opener “Miasma” is an absolutely brilliant track with one of the best bridges and choruses I’ve ever heard. “Foul Waters” is an incredibly evil song. It opens up with a furious solo and also features the slowest, but also the darkest and most atmospheric part of the album. “Sewer of Souls” features a very sinister riff. “Drain the Blood” is sadistic and intense beyond measure. “Hell on the Horizon” feels like legions of demons and other residents of Hell advancing on an unsuspecting enemy. “Icarus” is a swift, evil, and oddly epic close to the album.

There isn’t a second of filler on this “Miasma,” not a second in which there is a drop in evil atmosphere or in riff quality. This is death metal’s crowning achievement. An album that very few bands will ever be able to even come close to matching, but far too many will aspire to. Only hearing it can truly give “Miasma” enough justice, because this album will tear you apart like you are nothing.

There is simply no need to look for other albums. “Miasma” is the defining masterpiece of blackened death metal, an album I highly recommend to fans of technically challenging brutality.

Immortal - "At the Heart of Winter"

Immortal – “At the Heart of Winter”

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Immortal - "At the Heart of Winter"

Immortal – “At the Heart of Winter”

What is this gay mock Iron Maiden speed/heavy metal hybrid turd and why is it being promoted as black metal when it clearly has more in common with Judas Priest than with Darkthrone?

Both “Pure Holocaust” and “Battles in the North” are overrated beyond belief, but at least they somewhat resembled black metal music, albeit on a very superficial level only. That is not the case with “At the Heart of Winter” – an album so bland and turdish it gives Gorgoroth and war metal a run for their money.

The third-rate Phantom clone riffs featured on “Pure Holocaust”  funneled by almost minimalist arrangements give way to standard groove heavy and Metallica inspired speed metal. Now complete with nursery level rhymes for karaoke while you angrily contemplate on taking over your local church (not for burning! as Abbath and Demonaz clearly stated repeatedly). These chugs will put you in the right mood to drink your third can of Monster energy drink before your huge fortnite session. At least glam rockers Pantera had something to prove and could make decent lite Metallica when they didn’t mosh to their breakdowns.

This is “black metal” for people who hate black metal. How can such a contradiction exist, you ask? One word – posers, and their “king” and “queen” Abbath and Demonaz. Talk about a “pink mafia” in black metal.

Where is the black metal? Where is the atmosphere? Where is the evil in the music? That is the one question the listener immediately asks when confronted with the turd “At the Heart of Winter.” Say what you want about other early Norwegian “posers” like Enslaved and Satyricon, they at least could write actual black metal music. Immortal, not so much.

“At the Heart of Winter” is plastic speed metal/glam rock of the Iron Maiden meets Pantera variety that the underground hates, as it both tarnishes black metal and actual heavy metal and glam rock.

This beats Watain, sure, but not by much.

Enslaved - "Eld" (Black Metal)

Enslaved – “Eld” (Weak Black Metal)

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Enslaved - "Eld" (Black Metal)

Enslaved – “Eld” (Black Metal)

Up to this point, Enslaved had proven to be a pretty decent black metal band. Their music was “okay” but really nothing special, as evidenced by the lack of recognition of albums like “Vikingligr Veldi” and “Frost” before this album “Eld” saw the light of day in 1997.  Some say that “Eld” is the only good Enslaved album, other say that it’s the beginning of the downfall, and although it may stand leagues ahead of the following albums – notably the ridiculous “E” – it’s really very mediocre black metal, and a lot of it seems derivative of AC/DC and Queensrÿche type radio rock. If Enslaved were once a black metal band, that pretense is all but gone on “Eld” as the band openly embraces its post rock roots.

This album is hardly metal – let alone black metal – due to the guitars, keyboards and drums. All three of these instruments are played in a “progressive rock” style. Up to this point, Enslaved had done a good job keeping a black metal-ish sound. “Eld” fails to be metal despite the raucous harsh vocals from Grutle Kjellson. It is very possible to play rock with harsh vocals and Enslaved pulls it off somewhat convincingly here, at least more so than Ulver, Borknagar or post-Somberlain Dissection. I’m not condemning rock music, but we came here for true black metal… not poser cock rock!

One positive point about this “Eld” album is that the lyrics don’t devolve into hollywood “devil worship” nonsense like so many shits bands from Dark Funeral to Watain – Enslaved stay true to the ethos of black metal, Scandinavian folklore, Norse mythology and Paganism. Fuck off with your “Satan,” Biblical bullshit has no place in black metal.

“Eld” is not the best black metal album, that’s a certainty. But they are far, far from the worst in this genre unfortunately dominated by posers (like Infernus of Gorgoroth).

At least Enslaved made an effort to try and expand on the genre’s repertoire, not just rehashing the same music tropes over and over again. Yet, there is better atmospheric and Norse themed black metal than “Eld “out there. Start with Burzum’s “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss,” then move onto Graveland’s “Dawn of Iron Blades” and finally Neraines’ “Yggdrasil,” one of black metal’s few masterpieces of atmosphere.

Enslaved - "Frost" (Black Metal)

Enslaved – “Frost”

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Enslaved - "Frost" (Black Metal)

Enslaved – “Frost” (Black Metal)

Wow. These blokes seem to be heavily inspired by Burzum. And not in the “let’s make good music” kind of way, rather the “let’s have lyrics in Norwegian about Vikings” way. And you know what? I’m fine with that. I’d take that over Gorgoroth’s “Hail Satan” poser crap and Watain’s “I waas raped in the ass as a kid (and enjoyed it)” rantings any day.

S o here we have “Frost,” also known as Enslaved’s second album and direct successor to the “Vikingligr Veldi” mixed bag. Caught somewhere between the epic folk-inspired black metal genius of Neraines and Graveland and the unlistenable war metal of Conqueror, this album “Frost” suffers from the all too common disease of not even knowing what it wants to be.

Like the first release, “Frost” retains a large “black metal” vibe. But this is very surface level, and doesn’t do much beyond reproduce the aesthetics. The raw, enchanting quality of Neraines’ “Yggdrasil” or Burzum’s “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss,” for example, is transformed into a tamer, slower and softer piece of atmospheric proto-post black metal.

Not something you’d usually want to brag about.

Then there are the riffs, and the music on “Frost” in general. Simple and dull and repetitive and repetitive and repetitive. For the sake of being repetitive. Yeah, I get that black metal is repetitive, but this is just sad. Especially when the riffs are not interesting or memorable at all. As are the drumming and bass. Dull and duller.

The album just seems to be trying way too hard to be “different” for its own good, like the post rock of Satyricon that just can’t help but let the emo shine through like someone decided to apply “black metal shoe polish” to what is, essentially, Bullet for my Valentine.

Plus, the clean parts are really lacking as well. The “atmosphere” – and I use the term lightly – on “Frost” as no feeling or vibe to it at all. It’s just clean breaks for the sake of clean breaks. You know how when you listen to “Blood Fire Death” or “Hammerheart” you just want to go on a quest or something? Well, the clean breaks on “Frost” make you want to listen to something else. Like “Hammerheart.” There is nothing to them at all really. Just sound.

It would be nice if “Frost” didn’t suck, but unfortunately it does. Props on avoiding the gay “Hail Satan” boilerplate, but that’s about the only positive I can say about this album. Replace with “Following the Voice of Blood” and “Fallen From the Brightest Throne” for true black metal.