Naer Mataron

[ChapelOfTorment]

Have any of you guys checked out Naer Mataron's music? I'd say that this live video encapsulates what they're about: melding together mid-90's Darkthrone tremolo riffs with consonant Hellenic black metal stuff, and then stitching them together into hybrid black/death song-structures in the manner of the second Necrophobic album. It takes elements from a few different subgenres and takes it in a new direction, but it isn't novel-sounding enough to catch the ear of non-initiates. Pretty impressive drumming as well: no triggers, just brutality. Plus, they have songs with titles like "Revolt against the Modern World" and lyrics like this:

Which is the best Glory for you
 Than to be laurel crowned in battle?
 But how much greater is the glory
 When you conquer the field of battle
 An immortal crown?

 Being killed you will have the Elysian Fields
 The triumphant will rule over the earth
 For that rise determined war
 Place at the same level of worth

 Pleasure and pain!
 Profit and loss!
 Victory and defeat!

 Be prepared for struggle you Arjuna, ancient warrior
 Now it is vital time for a prime and in depth action
 Until the rebirth of Europa, beyond the ruins of the world
 Which will have been overthrown, and doomed?

I got their first two albums on a double CD for pretty cheap. I guess most people just assume that these guys are another Marduk rip-off with all the blast-beats and tremolo riffs, but they seem pretty legit to me. I'll have to investigate them farther.

[Nightspirit]

I'm definitely a late-comer to these guys.I heard of them through the angry black metal elitist blog, which pretty much ran their name through the mud. I was expecting to hear some type of third-rate garbage but I actually enjoyed their entire catalog. Very surprising that I even liked the later stuff as well. Definitely worrisome that I missed out on such cool material in my younger, more active years.

[ChapelOfTorment]

I actually found out about the same way, funnily enough. I was also pleasantly surprised at how good they were: I was expecting some pretty generic fast black metal, but these guys are probably the biggest Hellenic black metal revelation for me since I discovered Legion of Doom's first album.

The biggest fault I can find with their music is that their last three albums are musically similar enough to be interchangable, apart from slight aesthetic differences (different vocalists, production jobs, etc.). Their first two albums seem to be a bit more unique because they were still building their sound, but everything since River at Dash Scalding (probably their best, by the way) seems to exist in the same musical space. Not necessarily a bad thing, given the high quality level of the music itself, but I could see why it might turn people off from this band.

Apparently, their drummer on the last three albums (touted as "fastest on the continent" by the band's promotional material) recently left and was replaced by a new guy from Italy. They acquired a famous Norwegian vocalist for their previous album (Vicotnik of Dødheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende, and Isengard fame), and they started supplementing their melodic black metal with some early Morbid Angel-style death metal stuff. Hopefully, this means that their next album will venture farther into new territory.