Gorgoroth - Incipit Satan (2000) Review

Album | Incipit Satan
Country | Norway
Genre | Black Metal
Label | Nuclear Blast

Incipit Satan is one of the most popular Gorgoroth albums and has helped a lot to their worldwide and permanent exposure all these years, as a follow-up of a great legacy and a couple of wrong turns, to be fair. This fifth full length by the band was released at the dawn of the new millenia and it's the first to feature almighty Gaahl as a ful ltime vocalist, as well as the insertion of King ov Hell, or simply King, to the bass. The album is dedicated to Grim, or Erik Brødreskift, (their drummer in Under the Sign of Hell and The Tormentor EP) who had died a year before from drug overdose.

Gorgoroth had shown signs of attraction to the industrial sample noise a bit in their bland album Destroyer, which was released in 1998. One could guess that a logical continuation of the band would be to attach these sounds fully to their music and while they didn't exactly do it, Incipit Satan has the industrial element a little more strongly. The opening, self-titled track has such a part, as well as the second "A World to Win", even though their main body is basically quite grinding. "Will To Power" is fully instrumental and very close to what one would call dark ambient / noise / industrial, having a minimal and sweet feel.

The record features clean vocals by both Infernus and Gaahl. The fifth track "An Excerpt of X" was completely composed by Infernus and he does a certain type of a narrating voice, in a composition where his sorrowful middle-paced style, is naturally dominating. There are well known lines in that track, used as a bridge between the attacking "Unchain my Heart" and the primitive "Ein Eim Av Blod Og Helvetesild". Gaahl sings in clean voice on "Litani til Satan" which and "When Love Rages Wild in My Heart", both of them being very easy listening and almost rock sounded in some moments.

With their second effort in the roster of Nuclear Blast, the band has managed to clean their production into a sterile and acceptable sound, making them even more harmless. Slowly and fully stepping into the mainstream, with Incipit Satan they became the band everyone can deal with, losing their once personal spirit and distinction from the rest of the scene. Even the track titles "Unchain My Heart" and "When Love Rages Wild In My Heart" suggest a soft and naive emotional approach and had me laughing the first time I read them. Still, I believe the crazy piano intro in "Unchain My Heart" and the whole song in general, is a standout for the album.

Musically, it seems like Infernus still has the upper hand in the compositional process over King / Gaahl. I prefer it a lot over Under the Sign of Hell and Destroyer, especially in tracks like "Incipit Satan", which is more than solid. The new characteristics that were introduced by the band did not fully fall to place, even though the outcome generally works fine, maintaining a very basic point of stability. Incipit Satan doesn't deliver the same amount of rawness and hate as the name of Gorgoroth carries, it contains a couple of nice moments but nothing more than that, really. The momentum built by it's intense tracks is counterbalanced and destroyed by it's smoother side.

While I don't consider this record bad, I strongly believe that it is an average offering by the band. Nonetheless, the track "Incipit Satan" has grown to be one of Gorgoroth's trademarks and it depicts the band's style when into the spotlight, including new ideas in such a way that the fans won't possible hate them. I would prefer more ferocity and less romantic poetry from them and I can only stick to two or three tracks off the whole album, the ones I fould cool and memorable. It is by now sure that the brilliance of their first record will never be surpassed.

DAMAGE: 6/10

Gorgoroth - Destroyer, Or How to Philosophize with the Hammer (1998) Review

Album | Destroyer, Or How to Philosophize with the Hammer
Country | Norway
Genre | Black Metal
Label | Nuclear Blast Records

I'm not always against bands going very popular and I don't bash them for that single reason, still I have come to mind that Destroyer, Or How to Philosophize with the Hammer is one of the weakest moments in Gorgoroth's carreer, shattering it's potential and the possible status it should have achieved. Signing to Nuclear Blast was a first questionable deed, since they are suspected for eating artirts from the inside, even though the name of Gorgoroth had already been promoted a lot by various popular sources. After several listens, I don't know if it's as bad as Under the Sign of Hell but it undulates around that rank, without reaching very high in my interest meter, so I consider it a letdown.

A major drawback of the album is it's poor production, which characterizes it's weakness to deliver, even when the music goes through some notable moments. It creates a sterile and puzzling sound that doesn't have a healthy balance between the vocals and the instrumentation, as well as the extra keys that have been added in various tracks, which are completely buried or just glitches in seconds. Sometimes, the random growls and fast cymbal hits don't make the guitar lines recognizable at all, resulting in a black metal / noise, dreary travesty, ruining completely the outcome. This can be mistaken as a choice, something done on purpose, a message from the band of it's obscure attitude and unearthly sound, but not all noises are melodies.

Examples of the previous statement exist everywhere in the album. From the very beginning, "Destroyer" starts with a massive instrument hammering intro and the signs of a musical structure begin to show thirty seconds later, where a riff emerges from the overall randomness. It's the only track Gaahl sings to in the album and his vocals are pretty decent, especially during it's second half, even though the song itself is tiring. More random samples come along in the third track "The Devil, The Sinner And His Journey". Here, we are introduced to Frost and his great drumming style, which is also the only above average track in terms of the drums, as all the other are the typical necessity. Yet, it ends abruptly and has various key lines (played by Daimonion of Enslaved, probably) that seem like an experimentation, without fitting at all to the music.

Furthermore, the sixth track "Blodoffer" is just horrible. It's as simplistic as it can be, it has some awful sound effects behind it and disgusting retching vocals that conclude to one of the worst songs in the album. I almost thought it was a joke when I first listened to it. It's an ongoing, monotonous piece of trash. Sadly, the Darkthrone cover they did of the song "Slottet i det fjerne" should also be considered as an attempted rape, it's really bad. If I wasn't aware of the actual, I would not have cought a single riff in there, it is shadowed by the same problems of production and sound, as the rest of the album. "The Virginborn" is a slower and longer track (lasting eight minutes) which isn't much of an activity, but it's generally listenable.

On the other hand, the few legit moments of Destroyer are basically the tracks "Om Kristen Og Jødisk Tru" and "Open The Gates", which have an old-school black metal feeling, lacking the various annoying elements and keeping a good riff or two as a core. I didn't expect to like the epic clean vocals in "På Slagmark Langt Mot Nord" because I hated them in Under the Sign of Hell, but they seem to work out well here. All in all, the music in Destroyer is not at all good and it often shows or unstable songwriting. Could it be that so many people were involved in the album? The main part was written by Infernus and Tormentor, but different musicians are playing different roles in different tracks and that formula rarely works to me.

The origin of the album's title is not hard to guess, as the book Twilight of the Idols, or How One Philosophizes with a Hammer by Nietzche has the same title. It is the same fucking title. If these people were so influenced by it, at least think of your own sentence, it's not that difficult. Everyone knows how staggering huge album titles are, and they leave very few to the imagination. Gorgoroth later took the first half of the book "Twilight of the Idols" to use it in a later album in 2003, thinking that by adding another phrase it would get more original. I don't like it when bands do that and it's not a healthy influence process. Of course it has nothing to do with the music, but it does to the overall worth of the album.

In overall, I think this album does more harm than good to the image of the band, as for the artwork, the music, the line up and the subject itself. They tried new things with new people and that by definition demands more time to work compositions, so a year after the previous full length was rather a hasty and sloppy decision, to release a sloppy album. I would say Destroyer is boring and sometimes bothering to the ear.

DAMAGE: 2.25/10

Gorgoroth - Under the Sign of Hell (1997 / 2011) Review

Album | Under The Sign of Hell
Country | Norway
Genre | Black Metal
Label | Malicious Records / Regain Records

| Destruction and doom |

Revisiting an old album is not an easy task for black metal bands, as the fanbase is always waiting around the next corner with a mask and a pocket knife to put the artists down, for their awful betrayal. I'm certain Gorgoroth have been in the center of attention these years and many people probably hate them by now, especially regarding the poor choice they did to re-record their third full length album completely. They are the greedy rockstars who need more money, so they strive to collect any last bits of the seeds they once planted, re-releasing their records so that we, the ignorant fans, go and buy them. I'm sure it was that they were thinking, as every other mainstream band does nowadays, oh these traitors! Of course, I don't follow that logic and I'm not afraid of the boogeyman.

From what I have seen and heard, the band remade this album, mainly because nothing worked out in the original version. For sure, the randomness and the sloppiness they released in 1997 might have had more personality and that's why kvltists hold it so dearly close to their hearts, but that record had production issues that needed to be fixed. The first time I heard the album, I wasn't even sure if these were the actual recordings they did and how they let it happen, as it just sounds disgusting. It's not the dirty sound that bothers me in general, it's this particular arrangement. These drums sound like metallic kitchen pots being smashed together, while they are too high in volume, while there is a general catuous and dazzling vibe in the album that makes it annoying. Listening to the very first track "Revelation of Doom" describes perfectly the situation, that's what Infernus listened a decade later accidentally, and realized how much it sucked.

So, I believe the main reason this is out again is to fix the problems of the sound, it's not a financial plot against the followers. I understand why some people might have been stuck with the record all these years, being true and faithful to it and getting the same feedback from it, since Gorgoroth were once such a band indeed. It's natural that a new, mechanized version of their favorite album will hurt their feelings, they will loathe it with their heart and blame the band for selling out. The truth is, I really couldn't care less about their pet peeves as they would not care about mine either and since I have not grown up with Under the Sign of Hell, i think the new version is improved. It's not necessarily better, but it's cleaner, and the stupid mixing that was done is no more, now it sounds like the average polished black metal album. A little spiritless, but not garbage worthy.

I'm not reffering to a musical improvement, since Gorgoroth didn't change anything compared to the first album. They didn't add new elements or change the tracks a little, this is the same, note to note and line to line album with just different sound (apart from the missing interlude). They even hired Pest back (who was the original vocalist when they first made it) to deal with the vocals and Tomas Asklund (has played in Dark Funeral and Dissection before) carried the burden of the drums for the occassion. Infernus remains the main guy behind the whole idea, as it is his music and mostly his editing in the new and the old version. Any person who listens to both versions has to admit that the new one is easier to go through as it has that basic balance. I'm feeling this album is being cursed because it was remade by guys who have apparently moved in the overground, as there weren't as many complaints when Svartsyn remade The True Legend, a better album, before and after.

Moreover, it was Mayhem who released Life Eternal EP in 2009, who had some rough mix recordings of their all time classic De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, slightly different from the originals, a completely avoidable release if you ask me. Re-recordings are met with skepticism and distrust most of the times and it's correct, but a couple of times they work, like this one for example. The original album was harsh and bland, almost inconceivable because of it's sound, while the new one is somehow tasteless and sterile. The weak points of the actual music are more apparent in 2011, as this is not fully destructive as Gorgoroth's previous material, only in a couple of moments does one feel the energy. It's like being afraid of something before knowing it better, when you realize it might not be that dangerous after all. For many reasons, I enjoy the newer version more, for I had the chance to listen to the music without needing pain killers after it.

The intense moments of Under the Sign of Hell lie in tracks like "Blood Stains the Circle", "The Rite of Infernal Invocation", "Krig" and "Ødeleggelse og undergang". They are fast and intense, with the familiar cutting riffing of Infernus, which is again dominant. These four tracks have all you need to check from this album, exactly the half in number, because the rest are pretty much boring and distasteful. "Revelation of Doom", "Funeral Procession" and "The Devil Is Calling" are boring and incoherent tracks, but the biggest failure to me is "Profetens åpenbaring". The viking-ish / epic vocals he tried to make in a couple of parts there sound ridiculous, as the ridiculous riffs that follow behind them. So, the album is not keeping a certain quality through it's length, as there notable moments are mixed with ghastly noises. Inconsistency.

To me, it's not the decision of the band to re-record it that sucks here, it's not even the cleaning of the sound that made it harmless. In fact, I enjoyed it a lot more than the first copy. In overall, I think Under the Sign of Hell is just an average album, with some ounces of entertainment that remind of the band's glory, but nothing more. It's not a masterpiece and it's definitely not flawless, I'm glad they chose this one over the first three, as Pentagram and Antichrist both have great sound. If Under the Sign of Hell 2011 doesn't fit for a soundtrack to your Friday cave descends, stick to the original one and it's not the end of the world.

Original damage: 3/10
Re-recording damage: 5.75/10

Gorgoroth - Pentagram (1994) Review

Album | Pentagram
Country | Norway
Genre | Black Metal
Label | Embassy Productions

| Dreams about death |

The first, stenching step of this gargantuan band grew it's roots during the early nineties and it perfectly symbolizes that period, which saw the birth of many crushing, life changing albums. Apart from Pentagram, not far away from Gorgoroth's headquarters, other albums like Dark Medieval Times, In the Nightside Eclipse and Transylvanian Hunger were released the same year, marking the genre's peak with fire, so that it lasts forever. To this day, I strongly believe that the menacing debut of Gorgoroth is their most unique album, as they are one of the bands that fell victim of the media and the shape it gave them the later years, so that they would become an accepted extreme metal act. This record shows the band's primitive aesthetic, building chaos and extracting the members' hating hunger, as it existed back then.

Even though the band is mostly connected to Gaahl, who is their breakthrough frontman and one of the most popular figures in black metal, he was not part of the group on the Pentagram sessions (as he joined them in 1998) and he didn't participate in this album. Instead, Hat handled the vocal post, who was a founding member. A dude with the simple pseudo Goat played drums, who had also taken part in the early demos, while the infamous Samoth of Emperor handled the bass. Of course, the mastermind behind the music on the album was Infernus, who was the guitarist and the main composer, the one who is to be blaimed for this extraordinary record, a proud jewel of Norwegian black metal.  Gorgoroth had their time with various band members in their early days (Satyricon's Frost played the drums in their second album Antichrist) but it wasn't until King and Gaahl joined, that the band wrote success.

Pentagram is brief and precise. It consists of eight three to six minute tracks, keeping the variety of the instrumentation elementary and as raw as possible. It's compelling sound caresses the ears with it's thorny and devastating essence, diving under the flesh of the listener and subjecting them into it's horrible and gruesome beauty. Rather short, almost reaching half an hour in length, it's over before you know it and seems like an obscure dream or a blurred journey through time when it finishes, as you have just tasted a nominal piece of art. There is an excellent flow between the songs, which are well written, quite aggressive and far from repetitive, giving glorious space to the personal style of Gorgoroth in this album. When it comes to the second wave in Norway, it is to me the time up until the middle nineties, before getting huge attention and countless bands and the first two Gorgoroth albums are a part of it.

The production of the album is sincere, lively and dynamic. It's healthy and possibly very close to what the band played back then, which means that the studio didn't ruin all that is good for a cleaner sound. In fact, all the instruments are nicely audible, always giving a heads start to the stomping guitar sound and the vocals. The drums sound very energetic as well, keeping the pace and the rhythm going in every track. Pentagram is dressed in simple black, with only a logo on the cover, following the "fuck the trendy well drawn cover artwork" attitude and that only adds to it's glory, being among favorite unholy gems. Not a lot of albums nowadays have that kind of originality and vibe as this album, as it grows on you the more you listen. The Gorgoroth of 1994 were boiling fury and disgust, they had time, appetite and the vision to create music.

Not enough credit can be given to the contribution of Infernus to this record. His ideas on the guitar are breathtaking, as it's a bombardment of excellent riffs during every track and hardly any filler or boring moments. Seriously, these riffs right here have life of their own and they are blood thirsty, defining the whole album's outcome. If I should describe them in a few words, I'd say uncomplicated brilliance. They are not difficult to digest at all, yet they are masterfully played and well structured, so that monotony is completely out of the table. It sure is one of the best times he had with the handling of the compositions, as there are very few riffs as compelling as in "Crushing the Scepter", the following and painfully slower "Ritual", "(Under) The Pagan Megalith" or the magnificent "Mooneskyggens Slave" (=Moon Shadow Slave..?). As I said, apart from a couple of church bells, there are no effects or samples, introductions, that's why the main part of the synthesis is so powerful.

Listening to Pentagram, one won't leave the suffering vocals of Hat unnoticed. Another trademark of the album are these suffering and agonizing vocal lines, having Hat literally screaming his throat out with the supreme performance. Somewhere between regular shrieked vocals and distorted high pitch yelling, Pentagram's voice is equally malevolent and relentless. The words are not distinguishable at all and it seems like they are nowhere available, maybe because of that matter or just because the band never wanted to release them, since it's hard and not needed to sing along or guess the lyrical concept. The band kept a satanic character from it's beginning, despite the fact that it went a bit off track later on, so it's not hard to guess the lyrics here revolving around anti-religion, nature and Satan. Such vocals might drive away people who have not listened to the genre or not know a lot about it, which by the thought and only, brings an ounce of euphoria.

It's a pity of the path this band decided to follow after a couple of albums, which is shadowed by idiotic right fights, too much media exposure, bold and daring statements, and of course, some pretty shitty albums. Even though I enjoy Gorgoroth as a whole, I find some aspects of them hysterical (and by no means I refer to Gaahl's homosexuality). Nonetheless, they are among the biggest bands of the genre and their first album is the definition of true black metal, a term that has been raped so violently over the years, that it's a joke today. Pentagram was a promising start, it's full of awesome tracks and it stands for what is beloved and missed in the scene.

DAMAGE: 9.5/10

Gorgoroth - Antichrist (1996) Review

Gorgoroth "Antichrist"
Summer 1996, Malicious Records

Song-by-song Examination

Two years after a spectcular debut, Gorgoroth unleashed their second full length album, "Antichrist". While it is close to the debut aesthetically, with a simple and similar cover, an obvious satanic subject and the same (short) length, a majority of the scene has mixed feelings about it. Truth is, it is not as groundbreaking as "Pentagram", but its not a waste of time either. With the addition of Frost at the drum post, it certainly worths a close look.

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En Stram Lukt av Kristent Blod: A twenty second intro with random growls and a risque title. Nothing important, nothing special. Gorgoroth's music is edgy enough to have atmospheric intros anyway.

Bergtrollets Hevn: A warm welcome to the listener, but not at full potential. There are nice riffs, solid vocals, good melodies, with a dose of epicness in them, but still it does not make the earth move. I have a feeling it is lowered by the production, as a little higher volume at the guitars would stress these nice riffs out more.

Gorgoroth: I was skeptical with this song at first listen, but now i think it is amazing. It starts of with a cold tremolo riff and then goes to a standard melodic rhythm. The whole composition bursts melancholy, and there are clean mournful clean vocals that confirm that as well. It is compositionally excellent, greatly produced with every instrument audible. I don't think the fans back in 1996 were used in a song like that, especially from this band, and that's what shows their talent.

Possessed (By Satan): After a nice trip to morbid melody, here we return to a rawer song that could be a part of "Pentagram" and no one would notice. Its based on simple riffs, it might stick in your head, even though it generally average. I don't like the drums here, they don't seem to feel the empty spots at some points. Towards the end, it gets a bit faster, and its enjoyable.

Heavens Fall: Apart from a shout/yelling and then laughter at the end of this song, it is fully instrumental. A nice demonstration of the ability of Infernus to produce solid black metal riffs, but still it didn't impress me.

Sorg: The longest piece on the album, just about over Gorgoroth. It is significantly slower and depressing, the title itself translates as "Sorrow". Im in for tracks like these but it didn't work as intended here. In the middle of the song, it feels like they were rushing to reach twenty five minutes for the album's length. The beginning with the shrieked vocals, and the end with the cleans and the thunder, are pretty nice.

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All in all, i am also one of the people that believe "Antichrist" is not as good as "Pentagram". They did experiment a little, it worked out at some points but didn't at some others. I don't think the whole album is rubbish, since there are a couple of awesome tracks in it, but still it will always be overshadowed by their first release. Im glad i checked this, even for the song Gorgoroth only. It stands among the greatest albums of its time, but it is mediocre compared to them.

DAMAGE: 7.75/10