Labyrinthus Stellarum "Tales Of The Void" (2023)

  

Progenitor to Vortex Of The Worlds, this inaugural effort suffers the knowledge of its own infancy. In light of a stellar brilliance yet to come, this album rides high and mighty through the cosmos, somehow with the wind sucked from its sails. Lurching in the shadow of its successor, the precise mechanical rattle of stiff drum machines and shrill elongated howls paint an amateurish impression. Retroactive listening perceives blemishes to be ironed out, giving Tales Of The Void the impression of a demo.

Spending time within its galactic realm reveals a magnetic, indulging charm. Cruising song structures and epic astral melodies pull us adrift through the void without a care for reality. Leaning heavily on its exotic synth, striking me now as a xylophone drowning in reverberations, a leaner aesthetic makeup adorns these colorful songs. The crux of its magic emanates from these bright, steadily paced keyboard tunes, with the underlying rhythmic section driving intensities steady, grindy notation shifts.

With barely a peak or valley in sight, consistent mood stands a key strength. If any weakness is present, stints where synths step aside for other instruments often play dull. An impressive entry given its a narrower set of ideas playing out. The band establish their identity firmly at the offset. I can't help but feel I should of started here. As expressed, knowledge of the genius to follow tainted my view. Fortunately I've enjoyed this and have hopes the continue to evolve as musicians with a vision.

Rating: 7/10

Labyrinthus Stellarum "Vortex Of The Worlds" (2024)

  

Thematically esoteric with astral overtones, this stunning album art strips away any doubts to its lovecraftian cosmic horror influences. Shrill tremolo guitar leads, howling blast beats and elongated screams shrouded in reverb undoubtedly carry all the hallmarks of Atmospheric Black Metal. Tales Of The Void sounds unshakably familiar in design, yet excels with fresh excitement as a Post-Metal delivery of grand, scaling, epic melodies and an exotic symphonic component align for a very memorable listen.

Decent song writing underpins the experience, stellar melodies and a prevailing tunefulness solidifies its catchy ear worming nature. A cacophony of pummeling drums and void descending screams act as sways of intensity and tempo, the ebb and flow, stuttering between tense scenic breaks and descending cosmic eruptions. Together, among dense guitar noise, they guide the musics key component, synths.

Woven deep into the mix, their aesthetic offerings range from unusual and specular, to common and atypical for darkly space themed music. Sparks fly when delving into a mix of bell, woodwind and metallic toned virtual instruments. Foreign for this genre, an unusual fit mostly used to drive home immense cosmic melodies. The aforementioned atypical synths play the subtle role of reinforcing its atmospheric underpinnings.

Another well-earned merit goes to the heathen clean vocals that rise up underneath those howling dirty screams. Its another avenue for one to gorge upon these dazzling melodies they concoct. Initially a ghastly beast of extreme Black Metal, this prevailing tuneful charm becomes the key take-away, a keen triumph for a band in this lane.

 Its only blemish? What seems like programmed drums occasionally amplifies an repetitive drone in its rapid strikes, possibly intentional but definitely sounding stiff in patches. Tales Of The Void is a Stellar record, possibly my favorite Metal record this year? Well worth a spin for fans of extreme music with a crafty focus on melody.

Rating: 8/10

Këkht Aräkh "Night & Love" (2019)

 

Another early 90s Black Metal love letter! Unlike its predecessor Pale Swordsman, Këkht Aräkh's first full length seems a fraction too generic among the many who try to capture that era. Its gritty aesthetics are harsh, a crisp coldness splattered with clattering percussion over blurry rumbling baselines. Shriek howls, throaty cries and noisy distortion guitars paint a familiar sight of unrelenting Norwegian darkness.

On this debut outing, an arsenal of all to typical arrangements fail to muster excitement in the wake of all that came before. Despite its competency and mastery of the grim aesthetic, the aggressive stints of loose blast beats, shrill tremolo guitar and beastly shouts from the shadows fail to add to the conversation. It left the project feeling like a typical cast iron clone from an era that many have tried to recreate.

Night & Love, however, is littered with lonely interludes, sullen moments of reclusive beauty. Hints of nature intruding on soft folkish lullabies and ethereal acoustic guitars. They play as a treat of their own between the hard shadowy onslaughts. On occasion accompanied by a tender clean male voice, these sometimes eerie and often melancholic tunes swiftly became the most intriguing aspects of the record.

Its no place for me to say what an artist should do with their music but hearing this tandem of a unique voice, wedged between a clear and shared obsession with early Norwegian Black Metal, has me feeling as if their talents are misguided. Këkht Aräkh has caught my attention with an impressionable nostalgic venture yet they clearly have something else to offer. The two are yet to merge in a fruitful way as I hear it.

Këkht Aräkh "Pale Swordsman" (2021)

 

Perhaps not a love letter but an embodiment of Black Metal before 94, one man band Këkht Aräkh's retrograde approach is a vivid artistic capture. With both its low-fi aesthetics and raw musical ideals, this project could convince seasoned listeners of imagined early origins. Many of its compositions rehash Burzum and Darkthrone, slipping itself into that era. The later seeming the dominant of two obvious inspirations.

Of course this is a product of our current era. Widespread accessibility and distribution lets musicians peer into the past and examine what might of been. Pale Swordsman adds little to the conversation, the core of its music drawing stiffly from the riffing techniques, drum patterns and arrangements that made the pioneers so unique. Disguising melodies within distortion dissonance, ambushing subtle grooves on top of stark breaks, all housed under a loose incessant rattle of amateur blast beats.

Originality can be found, almost exclusively within its interludes. Sad, lonely, melancholic melodies, these instrumentals conjure a soft dreary romanticism. The tender clean singing of Swordsman steers this into a charming folkish lullaby. Its a character that could have been leaned into, potentially forging a fresh take on old ideals but the two play separated, swaying between one another. An essential listen for fans of the aforementioned but nothing ground breaking, good nostalgic revival.

Rating: 7/10

Jinjer "Wallflowers" (2021)

 

Is the world of modern Metal is one in decline? A lack of freshness and new ideas has left the genre stuck with innovations now twenty years old. At a "mainstream" level, the prevailing trends seem to still be Meshuggah's Djent guitar tones and the repackaging of Hybrid Theory song writing. As a band with an "underground" buzz, Jinjer don't delve in either of these directions specifically, bar the modern guitar tone. Most of what I hear still feels like a reformation of ideas explored before in the world of Metal. I would label them "Post Metalcore", with the general framework feeling closely aligned. However these songs frequently morph into a Progressive beasts loaded with challenging entangled riff work hinged around some non 4/4 time signatures.

As a listener I feel somewhat torn, these songs feel chromatic, downtrodden and gloomy, bustled along by bursts of anger. Never do they seem particularly appealing to me, perhaps mirroring the Nu Metal perils of negativity without resolution. Yet upon spinning the record do I find myself frequently pulled into the mania as dizzying, brooding discordant guitar works bounce from wall to wall, playing of Tatiana Shmailyuk's gristly shouts and harmonious, yet grounded clean voicings. Its a mean affair, exploring the darker topics with little in the way of upbeat hooks or metallic gimmicks to give you a cheap reward or burst of adrenaline.

The broad topicality of Wallflowers catches my ear for the self portrait of trauma, abuse, a struggle with introversion in the face of social pressures and once again, the teachers! From their EP Micro, Teachers caught my attention with its plain and frank language for story telling. The recurring sentiment signals a deep grievance it would seem... and that words says a lot about this band. Grievance, these songs frequent a mood of dealing with grievances in the metallic context, using the aggressive instruments for struggle and pains rather than bombast and momentum. Of course they do load in the occasional "phat riff" or mosh moment, best heard at the end of of Vortex or a little Deathcore charm in the closing of Dead Hands Feel No Pain.

For me, this Ukrainian outfit remain to be a morbid curiosity. I'm never enamored or moved to goosebumps yet there is something undeniably "them" at play. The more I listen, the more I think its a focus on the uncomfortable and unease. Expressing pains and dark emotions, it culminates through Tatiana's words, her vocal style ferocious when roaring and oddly pristine yet lacking a typically effeminate charm in her clean voice. Wallflowers will have me tuning back in for the next one. If their evolution will lead to places I really vibe with remains to be seen.

Rating: 7/10

Jinjer "Micro" (2019)

While working on their forth full length album, Ukrainian Djent and Metalcore hybrid outfit Jinjer have put out this short, twenty minute five track EP. It was easy to dismiss at first, with less bombast and groove the songs rattle through waves of brooding intensity in the form of tangled jangled riffs that wobble through untimely shifts and poly grooves. Its singer Tatiana Shmailyuk who draws one in past the metallic dissonance which offers little melodic relief. Between angered, roaring screams she opens her voice up with a touch of vulnerability and wash of resolve, taking spotlight in an otherwise monochromatic aesthetic of cold crunch Metal instrumentation.

After themes of primitive behavior and childhood trauma Teacher, Teacher grabs the ear with a pratical use of language, plain and descriptive yet telling quite the powerful story. The use of language is either artistic or obstructed by language barriers but either way it has a strong persuasion that drags you in. Its line "don't let the school make a fool of you" sticks out like a thistle. The way she soars her ranges in different temperaments is endearing, often sucking you in like a gravity well. Again it ends on the broken and charming English of "I Smile to you". Fascinating song from the lyrical perspective, not something I experience that often.

Its a rather dark and painful piece of music that progressively opens up and eases of the agression steadily from the instrumental perspective, ending on a non-metallic interlude. Jinjer have delved deeper into the eclectic side of their influences and come up with a more artistic expression where these songs give far more food for thought. The cold and stomping, jaunt guitars create quite the unsettled atmosphere for Tatiana to resolve. The battering and relentless drums are a joy too! A fantastic chemistry, I'd prefer to see more of this direction from them!

Favorite Track: Teacher, Teacher

Rating: 6/10

Jinjer "King Of Everything" (2016)

I initially found the Ukraine Metal outfit Jinjer to be a rather reasonable band. As they continue to gain eardrums in the Metal community, it seemed the hype had alluded me. Cloud Factory was a satisfactory listen, a merging of influences that didn't yield anything particularity unique. King Of Everything however has that same blueprint of obvious inspirations but throughout this record its riffs and songs culminate to a serving with its own spice. With every spin I get sucked further into the energy they forge as a band. Tho it is no masterclass, this album certainly offers up some characterized extreme music that can separate itself from the generic and played out.

With a competent and pounding rhythm section the array of lively guitar work and singer Tatiana Shmailyuk stand aloud. Her deep and burly shouts are ferocious and forceful, cutting through the barrage of metallic might. She pivots into the clean singing and it works well, always with an edge of force but on I Speak Astronomy and Pisces we hear a gentle side to her that is both charming and dynamic as the moody acoustics that accompany her break up the flow of djenty Metalcore brutality.

As the record ebbs and flows between its arsenal of grooving aggressive guitar work, a steady roll out of chemistry emerges as the elements converge and birth fantastic, memorable moments. They don't tend to diverge to far from the baseline temperament but impressive lead guitar licks played by Roman Ibramkhalilov injects bursts of color into the often monochromatic, rhythm oriented low end riffs. They frequent the on off bursts of tonal noise the Djent style is known for and shape up some grand acoustics and other progressive musical ideas around that key guitar component.

The forty two minutes spanned over ten tracks never really falter. Its consistent and engaging, the final track, Beggars Dance, bows out on a comical note as the opening song is replayed in a Jazz Rock context with a lively baseline and softly plucked guitars. When the solo hits around the mid section it sparkles, a different tone to go out on but it wraps up a solid record. Impressive, Looking forward to their new release.

Favorite Tracks: Captain Clock, Words Of Wisdom, Just Another, Under The Dome, Dip A Sail

Rating: 7/10

Jinjer "Cloud Factory" (2018)

You know how it goes, once something new roots itself in the mind you often start to see it everywhere, as if it were somehow invisible beforehand. Since Ive heard of this four piece act from Ukrane Ive spotted quite a few of their shirts worn at gigs. Their views on Youtube would also suggest they are gaining rapid popularity in the Metal community. Naturally I wanted to check them out and see what the fuss was about.

Fronted by singer Tatiana Shmailyuk, a duality is forthright as she swings from strong, powerful effeminate singing to brutal, blunt screaming. She mixes in some native Ukrainian tongue too. Behind her the band put together some very likable songs for Metal fans to gravitate towards. Strong grooving guitars play a range of classic guitar techniques from over the years that hail back to Death and Thrash at times. Its mostly situated around Groove and Metalcore while showing some flashes of Djent and Nu Metal. Its neatly structured into a healthy riff fest of revolving grooves and energetic low end shredding that packs each of its songs with a fair helping of head nodding.

Their music is well executed, its mostly rather accommodating Metal thats loaded with familiar riffs. They do little to define themselves and stand out in my mind however every other song or so seems to find a moment to leap away from the page and throw in a crushing riff, brutal scream, or in the case of Who Is Gonna Be The One, both in a memorable breakdown. I might sound somewhat harsh but this record makes me feel a bit like a "Metal Veteran". There isn't a single riff here that's unexpected or unusual. All the techniques, styles, sounds and grooves Ive heard many a time before.

They pull from Metals best and rework ideas in to their own vision, even throwing in short sections of acoustics and brief non-Metal sounds. In the case of Jinjer they straddle that region well above mediocrity but below greatness. If you're new to Metal they will probably sound rather varied, exciting and invigorating. There is a great range of influence on their sound at work but Ive heard it all before. They are clearly talent musicians though and a band worth keeping an eye on.

Favorite Tracks: A Plus Or A Minus, Who Is Gonna Be The One, Желаю Значит Получу

Rating: 6/10

Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra "Midnight Fullmoon" (1997)

Continuing our journey through the nostalgic realms of Dungeon Synth, I cast my mind far back as memories reach commands. Into my mind popped this strange cassette I obtained well over a decade ago. My memory of how and why I got Midnight Fullmoon are vague but I remember finding the band name somewhat hilarious. The music itself didn't captivate me since I only listened to it once, at the time I had no knowledge of DS or if that term had been coined yet. It was just a strange and peculiar piece of music from the early days of a now evolved and blossomed sound.

Its opening track wains in a balance between harsh, cheesed synths and whirling, spell bounding wave forms in the background. They relish the low fidelity setting and start to conjure the dark and indulging atmospheres one might expect. The following track nails this, a primitive composition pined by a beating heart as the sound of rain drops lowers the tone and thunder strike reinforce a lonely, gloomy setting steeped and an eerie, mystic vibe driven by its subtle synth lines. Track three is one I remember, or more so its familiarity to a well known melody which I couldn't pin down. The music is fine but the aesthetics are just to bold and punchy, it stands in contrast to what came before it.

At this point a direction, arching theme or sense of place fails to define itself. A swampy song is clustered with a selection of sounds including trumpets that seem to pull it in multiple directions, only to be followed by a dizzying six minute experiment with techno synths and buried electronica drums. It too suffers from an arsenal of contrasting sounds that fail to gel. A brief uplift from the short The Last Rays Of A Dying Sun is a brief glimmer as the following track plays around with bells and reoccurring theme of unsuited instruments chiming in with one another in an unmusical fashion of gap filling.

Its easy to point out flaws and focus on negatives. If I were to rid myself of the focus a charm does emerge, one of mysticism and distant voices of despairing figures. Its dark allure has a safe distance and a couple of passages ways do strike something of memorability, especially that ever present heartbeat. Another consideration is how primitive this was. I have no idea as to how these ideas spread beyond tape trading and its relation to the Black Metal scene. Although records like Depressive Silence had far more to offer at its time, this could be seen as a jewel if isolated in its inception. There are interesting and intentfull ideas at play here, they are just far behind the then curb.

Favorite Tracks: Raining Darkness Of The Forestland Midnight, The Last Rays Of A Dying Sun

Rating: 4/10

Drudkh "Їм часто сниться капіж" (2018)

Hailing from deep within the endless forests of eastern Europe, Ukraine Black Metal outfit Drudkh release a full length album named in their mother tongue, translated it reads "They often see dreams about the spring". With five lengthy track of bleak, chromatic droning I got more of a sense of looming death at the hands of mother nature than the blossom of spring. Its long sprawling riffs shred shrill tones in a constant tumble of bleak grinding that when put in focus seems all to abrasive. Little charm emerged from its foundations, moments of respite through acoustics and the calming entrance of synths sparked some interest in brief shifts of tone but mostly its a drab and pale affair.

In the right mood this chromatic droning can be rather indulging and relaxing. The constant rumbling of the drums and the high tremble bass guitar plodding away becomes hypnotic as the textural shifts and directional changes seem to magnify with a sense of epic proportion. Stepping back from its harsh and ugly aesthetic doesn't leave one with many impressionable moments other than its break aways, like a singular moment in the middle of the third track. The harsh, angular grinding of steep riffs seems to fall wayside to a deep uprising of male choral voices upon soft synth that buries the guitar and elevates the music to a wondrous place. The following track dabbled a little with this too and the penultimate track has an epic conclusion as synths help elevate its climactic end to soaring heights.

Unfortunately for me, too much of the record is based around its harsh, unforgiving approach to atmosphere and so my attention doesn't serve it well. The most enjoyable moments came from synths and choral sounds that would overwhelm the guitar, soften the tone and elevate the mood but it was far and few between. I hold this band in high regard, I appreciate their approach to the genre and I will continue to be curious about their records even if its not quite for me it has been worth my time.

Rating: 5/10

Drudkh "Microcosmos" (2009)

I enjoyed the Ukrainian bands latest release Somewhere Sadness Wanders. Intrigued by their dense, stoic sound I turned to what some fans say is their finest moment, the seventh album, Microcosmos, which I unfortunately didn't find a connection deserving of such praise. My experience of this record is mostly mediocrity with an exceptional moment of soaring epic between a hardship of forms broken by a raw, visual Slavic folk instrumentation in the acoustic oriented moments that interlink long passageways of thick, grisly guitars that span four lengthy ordeals.

Moody cold winds, overcast skies and vast forests stretching the mountains as Drudkh capture the bleak yet beautiful side of Eastern European countrysides with their thick wall of tonal noise. The ever present drone of dense, chromatic guitars haze over clunky, muddied baselines as the drums do an industrious job of holding it together with on a kit that rattles and rumbles as if its bursting at the seems, ready to fall apart. Singer Thurious snarls and shrieks in his native tongue at regular measures with a helping amount of reverberation that bleeds his shouts into the fog of guitar distortion.

The songs grind and groan as unapologetic riffs carry the burden of continuing forward on these nine minute plus epics. They carry a hardship as bluesy woes cry from the harmonization buried in its tonal thickness. No flashy tricks, or stunts shift the music in unexpected directions or uplift the weight, "Ars Poetica" finds respite in the rumbling of a gentle snare drum alongside a folk like acoustic plucking as the song rests its tired feet for a moment. Its a continuous journey of hardship with only the occasional break for something a little more excitable, the albums longest song "Decadence" drags us through the dark to the eight minute mark for a gleaming moment of triumph and relief as the song reaches a satisfying peak with its soaring riff of victory.

Flashy electric guitar solos arise in short bursts on these songs. With a more conventional tone and flair they seem a little out of place however one can hear that's not what the band were going for. They have sorrow, grief and pain in their call but the tone feels unequal to the music and they stuck out like a sore thumb for me. The atmosphere this records holds is strong and rigid, vivid and engulfing but its wasn't quite to my taste, it leans to far into the struggle with not enough rest from the ruin.

Favorite Song: Decedance

Rating: 5/10

Drudkh "Somewhere Sadness Wanders" (2017)

Many years back in my early days of Black Metal discovery I remember Drudkh as one of the first bands I heard branching out from the traditional aggression and satanic oriented sound. Perhaps with a strong influence from Burzum their journey into low fidelity textural guitar distortions brought about a sense of naturism, atmosphere and natural beauty. At the time it was a really odd experience but Id never stuck with the band despite holding them in high regard, they just slipped my mind at the time. All these years later I tune into there latest EP and I'm greeted with a reminder of how we learn music, the textures, melodies, structures and inspiration. This was once a challenging band for me, yet now its a welcoming pleasure. Drudkh are a Ukrainian band who formed in 2002 and have since released ten full lengths and this is the latest of six EPs.

Opening with "All Shades Of Silence" we are hurtled into an immediate wall of sound, thick and textural with shrill melodies bleeding from distortion wrapped in the thunder of blast beats and driven by a pounding baseline. In rather primitive yet effective song structuring this drone of darkness breaks to reveal the light with a shift to another short repeated section of dual guitar work, scaling tremolo picking and churning power chord ripping working off one another in tandem. These simple shifts lead the song into a stark and bleak minimalist composition on the keyboards, a cosmic glimpse as astral synths draw out their spacious tones over a buried, mysterious clicking. In its final phase the song finds its way back to a far more expansive Black Metal tone with Post-Metal guitar leads and an adventurous baseline rumbling up and down the fret board. Its a song that conjures an Ethereal setting, rich in atmosphere, with the harsh contrast of mother natures cruelty through ripping guitar distortions. The second song is more of the same, big blocks of arrangements on repeat, changing up every minute or so, shuffling back and forth and around the five minute mark jumping to an excellent climatic break with heathen chants over the shift in musical intensity.

The music is fantastic, fast, intense yet soothing, indulgent and wondrous in that typically Black Metal way. The guitar texture and riffs are much to my taste but the one thing I couldn't get out of my mind were the song structures. Each song seemed to play of the shifting of the short sections on repeat. Each had four to five each with some variations that made up over twenty minutes of music. Despite seeming simplistic, its extremely effective! Solid record, I have no excuse now to not give them more attention.

Rating: 5/10