On his third full-length album, Blood Stronghold serves us another journey to the depths of the sounds of the old Polish BM scene under the sign of Graveland, Iuvenes, Werewolf or Infernum. Austrian Woodtemple also bows here. Yes, these are those sounds and atmosphere. They combine the pagan element with a medieval atmosphere and black metal darkness. It's harsh, the sound is almost demo-like, but it is thanks to this album that it has such a unique retro tone. It takes the listener perfectly to the ancient times and if you were not aware that it was created now, you could easily take it for recordings from like twenty or twenty-five years ago. I am happy that such albums are still being released and thanks to them, younger generations of metalheads can easily get to know this older stuff and discover not only Blood Stronghold, but also all those bands I mentioned at the beginning. After all, "Specters of Bloodshed" is a huge tribute to those old albums and bands that initiated this aesthetics in Black Metal. So who likes the old, good Graveland from the times of "Following the Voice of Blood" and up, and other similar stuff, should not hesitate to reach for the new Blood Stronghold, it is in fact the stronghold of this old blood that once pumped the bloodstream of the Polish BM scene.
Offering a reimaging of the early Graveland format, Blood Stronghold’s latest release ‘Spectres of Bloodshed’ is a mid-paced, bouncy jaunt into black metal that borrows rhythmic cues from Eastern European folk traditions as much as it does the melodic. Combining off-the-shelf black metal riffing with the bounce of Northern European folk music gives this album a sense of the epic that is tempered into accessibility owing to how humble it sounds. The personal finds its calling in something more permanent, the heroic finds its expression through this melding of styles.
Much like early Graveland, the drums sound awful. But they are also the focus of much attention due to a style not often seen within black metal that never ceases to amaze, owing to the fact that it’s highly accessible from a technical standpoint but endlessly intriguing to listen to all the same. Here, the flat drum sound feels conspicuous because it simply does not fit with the rest of the mix – which, for the most part is competently atmospheric – but, far from being a detriment, one cannot help but be carried along by the joyful creativity, opening up the music to the potential of playfulness and revelry in a more genuine and sincere fashion than the depressing carnival that a lot of folk metal turned out to be.
This same celebratory vibe can be found in the guitar work as well. Bouncy folk melodies are broken up by simple black metal passages that may be a little generic at times, but do the job of extending out the narrative of this music, and lending them a sense of complexity and depth beyond mere music to swig ale to. Early Graveland was more focused on malevolence and foreboding, and Darken’s style gradually evolved into epic battle operas of war and glory, with a few detours along the way. However, his sound eventually stagnated after ‘Creed of Iron’ (2000) and rested on the laurels of perfecting that sound. ‘Spectres of Blood’ combine elements of older and newer Graveland to create a work more diverse and alive than a lot of the post 2000 Graveland catalogue, but still managing to channel that sense of epic folk metal, one that is still a little rough around the edges, battle hardened yet sophisticated.
This is not a polished work of casual novelty with pristine production. Nor is it overtly technical, or even that imaginative speaking at the level of presentation. But through a careful layering of simple yet intuitive rhythm guitars, that make good use of the percussive qualities within this instrument, which are in turn used to bolster up rich and fragile melodies that speak to our sense of continuity with history. It also goes to show that with enough imagination, such impressions can shine above what is a relatively flat mix, into music that overcomes its own shortcomings to become something more than the sum of its parts.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
