Kristallnacht – Blooddrenched Memorial 1994-2002 (2006)

by Staff on August 4, 2018

Article by Doron Rosenberg

The present is the final compilation of all music released by “NSBM” band Kristallnacht. The importance of this release lies entirely on the fact that it is one of the few acts coming from said ideological background with any artistic merit at all. That said, Kristallnacht was always a band of modest musical means, making up for it with a subtle talent for suggestive melodies in lullaby-like triplet feels. As is “tradition” within these circles, the music aims at the formation of axis between melancholic longing, mystic elevation and disenfranchised anger. These are deeply connected to point of origin of everything that underlies the movement, explaining the very limited, usually embarrassingly poor resulting art —to which projects like Kristallnacht or Fanisk are an exception.
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Kataxu – Hunger of Elements (2005)

by D.A.R.G. on August 3, 2018

Kataxu play a style of black metal in which the keyboards appear to lead, while the guitars follow a complementary role that enhances and sustains. In maintaining activity in the melodic movement of the phrases, and a distinct harmonic progression between sections, Kataxu avoids relaxing on the guitar riffs avoiding a meandering feeling that is common to bands utilizing this type of approach. Guitars in distorted power chords are always behind the keyboards in the mix, but are given prominence in between sections or in certain passages in ways that enrich textural variety accross the pieces. Percussion is ever present, but one can rather sense their bulk in the spectrume, rather than actually hear drum patterns.
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Vargavinter – Frostfödd (1996)

by D.A.R.G. on August 2, 2018

A single-release project from Sweden, Vargavinter play a style of black metal that could accurately be described as melodic and ‘ripping’, ‘pagan’ and ‘symphonic’ without falling into any of those narrow misnomers. By holding its influences together into a pointed lance-tip, the music is able to maintain a dignified character as it preserves a certain aggression. The driving, aggressive impetus is able to stand even major chord progressions without disassembling its unitary momentum into constituent mediocrity.  When such disintegration takes place, subpar passages arise, and the music is no longer black metal, but ‘pagan’ or ‘progressive’, for instance. This process entails a frequent alternation of outstanding and mediocre moments in Frostfödd which make of it a tragedy.
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A first step: MMXVIII eh

by Staff on July 31, 2018

A triumphant first month has just elapsed, and our current team has been able to capitalize on all the effort and work that Brock Dorsey put introducing and maintaining a more structured internal protocol. By now, besides reviews focused on excellence and constructive highlighting, we have designed different series of articles, with more technical and didactic material in the works to propagate the know-how and philosophy for a dark artistry, rather than musical entertainment or sportsmanship.
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An Exercise in Linear Songwriting: Deeds of Flesh “End of All”

by Creed Braddock on July 30, 2018

Although most likely viewed as a mere footnote in the immense catalog of Deeds if Flesh, “End of All” from Inbreeding the Anthropophagi is deceptive in that its brief run time and violent introduction mask the fact that it may be one of the only instances in truly linear songwriting present in the metal genre. Having heard the song countless times since its release but still not fully grasping the nuances of its composition, I decided to figure out how it’s played only to realize that aside from one brief moment where a segment of a phrase is repeated, there are no repeats of any kind in the song either regarding whole riffs or portions of melody. It had still somehow become a track that had tangible substance despite there being so little to retain in one’s memory, so I made a video of a playthrough of the track to point out what exactly is happening to give the song resonance where typical structuring would normally provide support. (more…)

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Ectovoid – Dark Abstraction (2015)

by Nicholas Vahdias on July 29, 2018

In this age of musical saturation, noteworthy releases slip through the cracks as mediocrity bombards the average Death metal listener who prefers to remain within the well-defined boundaries of the classics of the genre. Some bands distinguish themselves the horde and create compelling works that while not classics are sincere and well-crafted pieces of music that deserve attention and that merit multiple listens. Very rarely do we see works of art crafted within this genre that can be compared on equal footing to the greats of the past in creating their own unique voice. Here at Death Metal Underground we have entered Sammath and Serpent Ascending into that category. Today we open the gates for Ectovoid and their release Dark Abstraction (2015).
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De Vermis Mysteriis / Azhubham Haani [Split] (1992)

by D.A.R.G. on July 29, 2018

Sweden’s Angramain’yo was responsible for various, interrelated black metal projects in that appeared in demos during the years 1991 and 1992. They were all rather primitive, clearly eschewing musicianship for musical elaboration on minimalist premises. In, Desentery, the artist appears focused on developing a clear structure for the crudest but expressive phrasal riffs, this flourished into the project for which he is mostly known: Azhubham Haani. The transition from the precursor to the actualized musical goal came in the form of a higher awareness of the ‘sound’ principle, utilizing structures to define areas of mood by variating texture, intensity as well as the vocal tone, the last within limited bounds. Somewhere in this journey we see the appearance of a singel rehearsal take from an alternate project called Daemonius. Contrary to the more dark cosmology of stars and blackened spaces depicted by the music and words of Azhubham Haani, Daemonius would rather attempt to formulate a mysticism of violent naturalism not unlike the spirit and musical approach of Ildjarn, however informed by the artist’s personality. Before serving prison for stabbing a man in the throat, Angramain’yo brought to our world the crown jewel of his underground metal achievements in the form of a veritable dark revelation: De Vermis Mysteriis.
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Parabellum – Tempus Mortis (2005) [Compilation]

by D.A.R.G. on July 29, 2018

Our commentary on the work of Parabellum must start by going beyond genre sectarianism that plagues genres, including that of so-called Colombian “ultra metal” back in the eighties. To begin with, Parabellum is arguably the originator of any and all musical contributions by said movement and style. That is to say, “ultra metal” is Parabellum. All other bands subscribing to this approach are seen to grasp only a fraction of the possibilities, with unique propositions that fell short by an apparent lack of insight of what the breaking of chains occuring here could lead to. Where the movement was clearly imitating the visible distinctive traits that Parabellum exibited, it was this band alone that cultivated twisted vociferations, stop-go hardcorisms and unconventional ways of utilizing caveman black metal riffs into compositions that were not only well-beyond their time, but which signal a timeless approach that could inform possibilities for the future of metal well into the 21st century.
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Reverorum Ib Malacht – Im Ra Distare Summum Soveris Seris Vas Innoble (2018)

by D.A.R.G. on July 28, 2018

The present album sees Reverorum ib Malacht moving towards more concise expressions of their by-now established sound and style. While now we see less of the separation and experimentation of approaches in instrumentation that circled around a definite sound and concept, the same are no condensed to concentrated moments and particles in the more standardized texture of black metal consisting of drums, guitars and vocals —with the important addition of synths and some programming. The end result is nonetheless highly differentiated and very much in line with the spirit of the project, as the implementation of the elements is dragged to functional extremes so that we find a music that is more accurately defined as dark ambient utilizing black metal “samples.” (more…)

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