Drudkh - Всі належать ночі (All Belong to the Night) (2022) Review

Ukrainian atmospheric black metal legends solder another admirable record with potent messages for their place and time.

Behemoth - Opvs Contra Natvram (2022) Review

Since I Loved You At Your Darkest in 2018, an overall skippable record that amounts essentially to nothing, and considering their rapid ascent into shameless mainstream territory, I had almost fully excluded Behemoth from serious discussions on extreme metal. The band is dressed in gold by now, and it feels like it has the budget of the whole rest of the scene on its feet, with extravagant live shows, visuals and effects. Nergal, the face of rockstar satanists, smirks while sitting on the throne of all anti-religious themed bands of the world, and conveniently puts out another record of the same hate and malice against everyone. On a positive note, things have not gone off the rails as much as their last album, but on the contrary, there’s a handful of bangers in Opvs Contra Natvram. Specifically, tracks like “Malaria Vulgate”, “Disinheritance” and “Thy Becoming Eternal” contain the most brutality Behemoth can offer and reminds of the overwhelming assault the listener would get by listening to the band in the 00’s. “The Deathless Sun” has fairly attractive chorus and melodies and would do great in a live show, and the middle paced tempos in “Off to War!” make it an easy listening track, hinting that they should never play slower than that. At the same time, the fragility of the record’s more adventurous pieces like the mellow “Ov My Herculean Exile”, the ineffective introduction or the worst piece “Upon A Pale Horse” (whatever they tried to do here, it failed), present all the musical weaknesses of the band, clear as day. Lyrics are as frivolous as they’ve always been (special e.g. “Versvs Christvs”) with Behemoth, but at least all the art on Opvs Contra Natvram is wonderfully artistic, and just beautiful. This work, while not that bad, confirms for one more time how ridiculously overrated this band is, but it’s a step ahead from where they were four years ago, and there are a couple of great tracks. [2.75/5 - Average]

Till - Monument to Man's Frailty (2022) Review

This band has been quite active since last year, with two albums then and several split releases in between them and their most recent, third full length, Monument to Man's Frailty. Apart from the neat title, it also features great artwork (John Constable's Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1823) and the same headstrong attitude as the last time you heard them. The production is dirty but not battered and the foundations of the record are clear, sticking to defending old school black metal by all means and above all, material of considerable capacity. When Monument to Man's Frailty initially kicks off, one might think that they're up for yet another raw-ish black metal band that relies on unsound and saturated black and white imaging for getting by. As the album unravels though, hints of compositional proficiency begin to arise, especially on how different parts of the tracks are melded together. Acoustic guitar passages are not just fillers, epic melodies come and go and the employment of background synths is excellent (just listen to the last track "Adrift to Winter's Embrace"). Till's skill was apparent with their earlier material as well and this one is no exception, yet not perfect either. I would have liked a bit more variety in the vocals, which come across as the typical second wave German / Finnish black metal norm of characteristic shrieking, and also some guitar riffs could sometimes lack identity, yet the overall work is concrete and palatable. I don't know what they ought to do differently in these two sections, after all it's that kind of black metal, and some moments are really compelling here, for example the striking "By Bayonet and Saber" or the beautiful folk-ish direction at the end of "Man's Greatest Tomb", and how it gives way to the more intense "Will to Decay". I will be digging the record more and more by time just because of how natural the flow feels, and it is surprising that Till have so much space for inspiration, especially considering how often they put out new material. [3.75/5 - Great]

Morbific - Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm Review

This Finnish act has been ascending in the ranks of the new wave of old school death metal and by no accident, as they have a really good grasp on the visuals and the music, proving it with their debut Ominous Seep of Putridity last year. Their split with Anatomia was also decent, so there were no signs of immediate malfunctions for Morbific, who build up on their first work with a very similar minded record, Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm. Everything seems to be in its proper place once again, and the band does perform to its expected standards, providing material that is full of crawling, heavy grooves, painful growls, violent lyrical themes and a healthy dose of brutality one would hope to receive from such albums. Morbific are not master composers and not the filthiest of death metal practicians that you could find, yet they at least stand well on their feet when it comes to the compositional part of Squirm Beyond... The biggest issue of the record though, one that ruins the listen for me, is this obnoxious production. There is a constant amount of noise that, even if it comes or doesn't come from an instrument, actively damages the outcome. The drums are completely buried and every instrument sounds cut off from the rest of the instrumentation. The vocals are sometimes too silent and generally, the record's audio is simply smashed. Most of the actual material is enjoyable even if sometimes, middle paced guitar lines are repeated too much and make the tracks a bit frail (the longer ones especially have that problem). It sounds like when you watch Morbific perform these tracks live, they will definitely sound different, so the studio editing unfortunately had a negative impact on the outcome of this record. Still, this cover is really great, and there are a handful of nice moments here which death metal fans will dig, if they don't mind its production. [2.5/5 - Average]

Funeral Harvest - Redemptio (2022) Review

Funeral Harvest remain on the same path they started on with 2020's self-titled EP, which showcases a disciplined band with traditional inclinations and adequate music. Debut full length Redemptio is merely half an hour long but makes its case, and it is as elegant as the band itself, with a wonderful cover and catered production, a healthy use of Latin text and naturally a vibrant Satanic element. While certainly not aiming to sound strictly old school, the toolset in practice is stripped down to the basics and constitutes to what is imperative for memorability. The band's origins are also apparent, as Funeral Harvest reproduce the work as it would be described in a textbook and fit well to their time period, they are not ones for looking back but not that much forward either. The album is short and with barely enough variation and two distinct, dark ambient texture pieces as an intro / outro and interlude (in "Soli Ego Gloria"), yet it makes it case with rather solid material. While listening to Redemptio however, sometimes it feels that urges are repressed to an extent, or that the record's sound doesn't allow it to hit as hard as it could. Several tracks faintly give this feeling, even when the band phenomenally ostensibly plays heavier, like for example in the first piece "Fire Sermon" or "Womb of Snakes". On the other hand, "Principum Et Finis" (with a high pitched short scream in the beginning that could hint Mercyful Fate) is a banger, and there is generally no part in Redemptio that is shaky. With more potent expression, Funeral Harvest have the skills and the potential for greatness, and their elegant debut should be an instantaneous listen for people into the current wave of Norwegian black metal and not only. In an already good spot, I think this band should beef up and not hold back on the aggressiveness in future material, so that what is achievable can be achieved. [3.5/5 - Great]