"The Rising Flame Of Pride" is a split of black metal bands Hexenwald from Germany and Polish Tedd Deireadh. It was released in January 2010, in a hundred copies on cassette, by Heerwegen Tod Productions, and nine years later the same publisher reissued it on CD, adding three bonus tracks. This brought the total to seventeen tracks, lasting a total of seventy-eight minutes. .
Both bands were long gone by the time of the reissue, which shouldn't be a cause for concern for anyone. Hexenwald is definitely better, having left two albums behind, in addition to smaller releases. It's furious and hateful black metal, and recorded in garage quality. The sound is booming and blurred, although, considering the underground nature of the release, this may be an effect that adds naturalness. The best is the first "Enlighten The Night Divine", which attacks with frosty riffs and a tight melody, and the hushed vocals merge with the guitars. The second "Sulphur King” is slower and you can see that the band is trying to diversify their message and create different songs, because “Darkness From Within” is an even more marching track in the dark, and “National Satanisten” hits more hurricane-like again. But it is followed by the slowest , even a bit doomy "Through The Cold Void Of Death". You can also notice that over time the quality decreases and these further compositions are already weaker both musically and in terms of recording quality. This is especially audible in the additional "Satan Lebt", which looks like a rehearsal recording and stands out significantly from the rest. It's all very average, although in general you can extract musical values from it and it's suitable for listening, which is not at all the case with the other band.
Tedd Deireadh starts with a keyboard intro and it would be best for everyone, including themselves, if they ended with it. Later, a difficult to describe drama begins. At times, it could still be defended somehow, and especially the first one, "Ona", has catchy riffs and the makings of a good song, but the sound is simply tragic. The guitars are dry and buzz like mosquitoes, and the drums are too loud and drowns them out. All this means that even in moments of better playing, it is some kind of a clumsy caricature and instead of the intended terror it only causes laughter in the hall.
But that's nothing. The highlight of the program and the real star of the evening is, screeching like a raped frog, vocalist. What he does is beyond belief and I really can't believe that someone recorded something like that seriously. I am also surprised that the publisher and the other team decided to expose themselves to such ridicule. It was supposed to be menacing, but it came out funny, because all these texts about burning churches and other glorious deeds have a cabaret convention, and the title pride is so overwhelming that you can shit yourself impressions. The additional "Infernal Pain" is a bit better, but it doesn't change much.
"Czas Pogańskiej Wiary" is amazing, resembling a caricature of Honor's ballad, the cover of Rotting Christ makes an impression, and "Kosowo Jest Serbskie" captivates with its wisdom and accurate observations. Only the question still returns how was it possible to do this?
Getting through these almost eighty minutes is real torture. You can laugh, but only for a while. I have listened to this album six times in the last few days and I am heartily fed up with it.
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