One of the best things about being a metal fan are finding those weird forgotten albums and demos that then surprise you in their high quality. Sometimes these forgotten albums are remembered by a few but are not talked about in the general public either mainstream or underground. The Black seems to be remembered by a few but in general this album is not something that is well remembered. I found out about it through reading about the drummers ambient noise project which has been released on Cold Meat and seems to have quite a following. I wasn't too into that stuff (thus why I can't remember the name) but I found out about this metal project of his that he did with Jon from Dissection and I felt that I had to hear this forgotten gem.
Well putting it on what does it sound like? It's a very old school release, don't expect mountains of blast beats or anything, in the songwriting this is very much in the vein of early Marduk, and albums like the first Immortal albums. The primitive death metal elements still bare their heads here and there, before some melodic primal Swedish riffs raise up or maybe some just dark early black metal barbarism. There are touches here and there of keyboards to add a bit extra atmosphere, but the atmosphere is pretty thick as it is. This is one of those albums that you can really feel that evil obscure atmosphere so important to the early black metal bands.
Jon's vocals are insane on this release, similar to his work with Ophthalamia, they are way more aggressive and hateful then his vocals on Dissection's albums, at times even reminding me of Mayhem's Dead is sure hatefilled intensity. They add a lot to the album, really bringing a far more brutal feeling to certain songs.
Production is the rough 90's sound, drums are warm and natural, I like their sound a lot, particularly compared to the whole triggered insanity of nowadays metal. The guitars sound full yet still have a buzzsaw feeling a bit. The bass is underlying the guitars, not very distorted and audible in some parts and not so much in others. When the keyboards are added they are hovering a little above the guitars, but usually they help to add a horror movie feeling so I like them.
The mood on this album really puts this album up there. It's very evil and dark, like watching some odd half remembered 70s or 80s satanic horror movie. The ritual has started in the dark cold woods, flames and demons and the knife is raised for the sacrifice and out there is satan standing encloaked in black. Yes that is partly what this album brings to mind. With the grainy production and sweat soaked hate, slowing down so we can focus on the horror of the zombie being raised all bloody and hungry...
Overall I have to say if you really enjoy that special magic of early second wave pure black metal this is a must listen. Some people used to the sounds of black metal today might not enjoy the mixture of some primitive death metal riffs, etc. but thats their loss. Recommended for fans of early Norwegian black metal and albums like Necrophobic's The Nocturnal Silence or Marduk's Dark Endless.
Sample:
youtube.com/watch?v=6VoSKaLpIE4&list=RD6VoSKaLpIE4&start_radio=1
