Track 10 Celtic Frost cover!!
I haven't looked around Axafan's house for a while, which was a big mistake, because our friend living in Tamási conjures something from the chest of his soul's darkness almost every month. This time, the bat wings of the Urachel project have risen high, or more precisely, descended into the depths of Gehenna.
The disc, shooting ten tongues of flame into the air, stabs, slashes, tears, scorches and breaks to pieces all those who try it in 34 minutes. I admit honestly, I avoided the material for a while because I was afraid that, like most one-man projects, Urachel would fall into the world of a soggy sound. The performer may not even notice this, but for the listener – mastering here or there – the initial magic is lost and the album does not seem differentiated, and the nuances of the melodic work are also lost. So that's what I feared, fortunately unfounded, because what I got was anything but a kitsch box!
The structure of Gehenna is not expansive! In some songs, a solo, sometimes a riff, and sometimes a mysterious vocal block or sound effect bring a completely natural feeling to the material. The programming can only be felt in the fast parts on the drums, but it gets equal space in the mix with the melodic guitar work, which lifts the somewhat dull sound. Good advice: turn it up to 1000 watts, then it will crack the wall with geyser force and break the window! This is not something cute, but the black sigh of Gehenna, reeking of blood and filth, which, in addition to the music, is also precisely depicted by the exceptional cover and the satanic lyrics. After a terrifying Intro, reflecting the pain of the damned, we arrive in the valley of damnation. True to its name, the title track Gehenna pulls at a faster and faster pace in the scene of killing, in the cemetery of the apostates. In short: a devastating, nihilistic, chilling black metal monster, with big marches, thicker bass and a deathly heavy solo. Demonic Visions is a bit slower, more in keeping with Norwegian traditions. In its structure, it indicates that Urachel has arrived again and entered the dark dimension of evil! Its rough bass and hammering drums are characteristic and memorable. Dining with the Devil starts with cool, at the same time sinister riffs, which then dive into a fatal and malevolent sound before the inevitable acceleration, and then the elevated riff flame comes again, igniting everything. Axafan plays a little with his voice for the first time in this movement. He whispers, damages, articulates, suffers, which, supplemented by the choir, all turn the work into an imposing one. The drum sound is also very much there! Eternal Desolation starts with pleasant strings, then – measured by Urachel – slowly expands until you get a complex, viscerally polished crush.
Infernal Confluence is the first composition on the other side of the valley of lamentations. During the alternating tempo game, it pairs a creative and unique melodic approach with expressive and precise narration, while in the closing a soft bell raises the composition to devilish heights. In contrast, Gorgo, although a more massive and explosive composition, deliberately does not boil the blood so much, but rather builds on evil ideas and chanting-croaking vocals. Its greatest moment is the short solo before the closing and the hot riff-flow that follows. Skin-Walker is the least of Urachel's works to date. It seems to me as if our friend was inspired a little by the work of Blackbraid. Spell-casting and shamanic atmosphere, just like we would look for a black metal soundtrack for a remake of a GDR Indian film. Interesting, but not a bad flick at all… Rise of the Void is one of the more serious, more complex tracks. Clicking drums, deadly vocals, and a first-rate and crunchy solo. It has everything you need. I feel it is one of the best tracks on the album after Gehenna, Dining with the Devil and Infernal Confluence.
Although the last cut on the barren wasteland of Gehenna was originally a Celtic Frost cover, its stringing turned out to be quite old-school Metallica. I think it is absolutely lovable! The vocals are balanced in the mix, and the raw-edged riffs are also well placed everywhere.
The uninitiated, who have no ear or experience with this narrow genre, would experience Urachel's latest album as torture. But we, who live on black metal, will first love it and then outright desire it with our morning coffee and evening wine, as we are talking about a publication that is not only meaningful, but also completely mature in terms of form.
Sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWsWkRwFFrw&t=129s
