Maniac Butcher "Masakr" Negative Existence (2010)

It's been a good past year for comeback albums by some of black metal's greats. We have had excellent releases by both Beherit and Profanatica. Now we have the return of Maniac Butcher!, a band that I feel has put out nothing but quality releases during their entire career. So needless to say when news of this album came my way, I rushed to order this album "Masakr" release in august 2010 by Negative Existence label, limited in 500 copies in Gatefold LP 

Masakr opens up with some quick atmospherics before the brutality commences. For those of you not in the know, Maniac Butcher play straight forward, no frills black metal in the tradition of second wave Norwegian bands. Traces of early Gorgoroth, Mayhem, and early Immortal can be found all over Masakr, there are no keyboards or female vocals at all on this, or any Maniac Butcher release. The line up in this record are 

Vlad Blasphemer (R.I.P. 2015): Guitars, Songwriting

Barbarud Hrom: Vocals, Lyrics

Infernal Vlad: Guitars

Lord Obst: Bass

Coroner: Drums in studio

Lets start with the production, it's very abyss studio sounding to me. I'm more accustomed to the complete raw degradation of albums like Invaze and Barbarians, so I find this clean more polished production very detrimental. The drums in particular sound way too punchy, and mechanical. I like how everything sounds the same on the drum kit. 

The track list in album is: 
Side A:
1. Desatero krutých zim přežitých v teple žhnoucí záře slávy minulé
2. Projížďka hvozdem hlubokým za oučelem sčítání stavůch vlkůch a vlkodlakůch
3. Rozhodnutí nezvratné všecken mír rozhodně rozvracející

Side B:
4. Bezbožné rouhání zpovědní před tažení vojnového započetím
5. Masakr krvavý pro plnění zájmůch vyšších i řezničení nadbytečné pro kojení pudůch nízkých
6. Zakončení ouděsné bezpočtům krutou jistotu slibující, však mne bezpočet slibných nejistot skýtající

The other down side to this album is the actual drumming of Coroner. It is very dull and sterile, to say the least. There are almost no drum fills at all and I just feel that his performance could have been stepped up significantly. The guitar tone is razor sharp, and sounds huge thanks in part to the clear production. The production also favors the bass tones too, there is a lot of bass presence on Masakr. 

Barbarud Hrom's vocals are excellent as usual, his angry overly aggressive tone is right upfront and in your face...as it should be. The songs also seem a little more varied on Masakr. Mixed in to the brutal black metal we are treated to thrash styled riffs that would not seem out of place on a Kreator or Sodom album. The effect is crushing and very dynamic in it's chaotic delivery. 

So how does Masakr stand up to older Maniac Butcher releases? Quite good actually, this is not their best work but is an excellent starting point for those who want to get into Maniac Butcher. It's not a perfect album but when your in need of a true black metal fix Masakr will definitely feed your appetite.

This is a few link of album´s song "Masakr". 

Anyway the last full-lenght album of Czech masters are amazing and brutal blasphemous because is a legacy of one member who past R.I.P. in 2015: master Vlad Blasphemer. 

Burzum "Philosophem" Misantrophy Records (1996)

When one creates a masterpiece, it doesn't mean it will be seen by everyone as such, but it will be realised by anyone that listens to it as something different, far from everything the artist has already done. This is clearly the case of Filosofem, since the feeling passed by this particular album is something elsewhere still unfelt. Burzum release this album January 1st, 1996 across the Misanthrophy Records but this double vinyl 12" are reissue by the same label.

While Varg Vikernes would, in his previous releases, try to the utmost to provoke darkness and fear with very heavy songs, Filosofem would have a rather enlightening and astonishing sound made over minimalism, living up to the album title, "Filosofem", a Norwegian word meaning "philosopheme", a succinct philosophic argument, emphasising Burzum's philosophic style. This specific album is about the duality between the Sun and the Moon, light and darkness, day and night, illustrated by the wonderful Nordic mythology, that sees the Sun (the goddess Sol) and the Moon (the god Mani) as brother and sister.

The track list is: 

Side A:

1.     Burzum

2. Jesu død

3. Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament

Side B:

4. Decrepitude I

5. Rundtgåing av den transcendentale egenhetens støtte (Instrumental)

6. Decrepitude II

As soon as you have the album on your hands and you see such a cold and desolate cover, you can start having a feeling of what you will be listening to. This impression is strengthened after you open it and see the amazing art, both on the CD and on the inside. If you get the album phisically, I highly recommend you to open the booklet, take a look at the amazing art inside, beholding it while you listen to the album. If you understand Norwegian (or have spare time enough to translate it), you should take a look at the texts as well, and you'll understand more easily the concepts behind the music.

The guitars overall are destructive, they interact in some kind of organised chaos, since the purposely low-budget effects used made them at the same time chaotically distorted and clear, while previous guitars in Burzum would be more "natural", as in with less effects, however, rawer, hence not as clear as in Filosofem. Another instrumental point that was sharply defected in this album was the presence of keyboards and synthesisers. While these had little to no importance in the previous albums, they would give a last touch in the high end of the guitar sounds. The songs where this characteristic goes stronger are "Burzum" and "Rundtgåing Av Den Transcendentale Egenhetens Støtte", both with keyboards getting contrastingly mixed with the rhythm guitars, that play basically the same melody.

However, the accompanying section, formed by the drums and the bass, seems to be much weaker in this album, for a good reason though, since this album had a much greater focus on the melody. The bass is barely heard overall while the drums play an entrancing rhythm. The result of such a strong melody with such a simple accompaniment is the trance caused by the captivation of the song by the listener, the great Filosofem-feeling.

In the songs Burzum (the oldest one ever recorded to the project but previously unreleased), Jesu Død and Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament, to cause such a feeling, Varg would use some heavy distortion and many chaotic sound effects on beautiful and interesting melodies led by clear guitars and keyboards. This contrast involves the listener in such a way that it's impossible not to feel mesmerised by their result. I call attention for the self-titled song. Since "Burzum" is, in the Lord of the Rings series, a Black Speech word for the Mordor evil and the lyrics quite resemble the concept on the books, our first thought is that it's the sole meaning of this song. However, we can see Varg creating a parallel. Here, the night that falls would be the Dark Ages, while the darkness would be the horror the Catholic Church installed, or maybe even the "darkness" Varg sees religion to causes in a religious mind.

In the later recorded songs "Jesu Død" and "Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament", Varg creates another kind of atmosphere, making a much heavier and more serious sound, without stopping from being thought inducing as the first track though. Both songs use ice cold melodies all along the structure. Jesu Død is played with a destructive riff, with lyrics that contrast the sacred and the unholy antithetically, at the same time drawing a parallel to Nietzsche's famous sentence "God is dead", while the song's title means "Jesus's death". That could be because of the criticism of direction and rationalism used by both Varg and Nietzsche. "Beholding the Daughters of Firmament", though, are the thoughts of a dying man beholding the duality between the night and the sun, the main concept of the album (as we can see on the chart).

Meanwhile, the long instrumental tracks "Decrepitude II" and "Rundtgåing Av Den Transcendentale Egenhetens Støtte" are around the minimalist essence of the album, are both well written and, despite being big, are not tiring at all. Decrepitude II has a strong structure and is focused basically on the guitar, letting one just trip on their distorted raucously played power chords. Its falling structure makes it the perfect closing song for such an album.

Summarising my text, it's a simply amazing thing to see how, as in everything ever made through Burzum, everything fits in this album. Each note, each centimeter of art, each word of the texts. That's the best example of how a genius Varg Vikernes is. Both his big though recent fame and his polemic acts and declarations may have outshined his supreme talent, but there's no other word that could describe him but genius. Hail Varg Vikernes!!! Hail Burzum!!! 

Varg Vikenres "Count Grishnackh" 

Katatonia "Brave Murder Day" Peaceville Records (1994)

Not every band creates a masterpiece let alone a landmark album. Most only squeak by with a "good" or "great" recording that while admired by many, doesn't gain the cult status and the inevitable debate that others do. This in short, was Katatonia's finest hour. The swedeish release "Brave Murder Day" in november 1996 by the Avantgarde Music, it was finally mastered for the first time in 2006 when Peaceville Records re-released it.

This could be considered the birth of modern Doom & Death Metal as it doesn't follow the path of the Peaceville three. The aforementioned were crunch heavy, riff happy and structured. Katatonia on the other hand opted to open chord over 90% of this recording as well as repeat the same few riffs per song avoiding the hallmarks of what is now traditional Doomdeath. 

The production is good enough for what is here. Apparently this album was written completely in the studio, perhaps causing the minimalistic characteristics more out of necessity than intention. The guitars are not all that heavy but they are menacing in a somber sort of way. There are leads woven throughout every song. The songs have a semi-droning feel to them. It also sounds as if they are in drop 'D' tuning. 

The Track list is:
1. Brave
2. Murder
3. Day
4. Rainroom
5. 12
6. Endtime

The bass follows the guitars but this only adds to the downtrodden feeling. The drums are more or less played on hi-hat, bass and snare with little to no variation. This is also used to good effect as anything more would have caused this album to loose its sorrow filled vibe. The line up in this record are: Jonas Renkse in vocals (clean), Drums, Lyrics; Fredrik Norrman in guitars; Blakkheim guitar & bass; the vocals, provided by Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt fit the music’s dreary attitude nicely. He sings clean on one song but the rest are his trademarked growls/shrieks. The lyrics are simplistic and depressing.

Over all this is a very emotionally stark album. Its bleakness filling the listener with dreams of oblivion. This is the album where the band developed its signature melancholy guitar sound. This album (like Paradise Losts' 'Gothic' before it) gave way to countless copycats and sound alikes even to this day. If there are any bad marks to be given it would be the band should have continued on in this style. (Granted 'October Tide' continues this style to an extent, it’s not the same).

This is a very recommended album to Doomdeath/Doom Metal fans as it’s truly a masterwork of simplicity and sadness. Finally you know this album was a reissue in vinyl in a few colour disc adn double vinyl edition, for complete your amazing collection you have many money, but worth it. 

This links is about a few album´s song, all are really amazing in vein Doom Metal, Black Metal riffs. Enjoy it.

Fleshgod Apocalypse "King" Nuclear Blast (2016)

Fleshgod Apocalypse is an italian death metal band who stay in the roots of sounds for many years, they have a many fans arround the world, who turn addicted at band´s sound. Fleshgod Apocalypse are from Perugia, Italy. Former in the 2009 the band scale from underground to sign for cult label Candlelight Records for your first album. This year release a fourth album called "King" between Nuclear Blast Records label this february 5th, 2016. One most important album from this year.

The band was formed by five members actually are: Francesco Paoli (Drums, guitars and backing vocals), Tommaso Riccardi (Leader vocals, guitars) , Cristiano Trionfera (Guitars, Vocals, Orchestration), Francesco Ferrini (Piano, Orchestration), Paolo Rossi (bass & backing vocals, All have a excelent level for all instruments and composition.

The track list are:

1.     Marche Royale (instrumental)

2. In Aeternum

3. Healing Through War

4. The Fool

5. Cold as Perfection

6. Mitra

7. Paramour (Die Leidenschaft Bringt Leiden)

8. And the Vulture Beholds

9. Gravity

10. A Million Deaths

11. Syphilis

12. King (instrumental)

The song are really amazing, have a roots of riffs from past albums but with extra sounds like piano, orquestration and symphonic parts, the sound of Fleshgod Apocalypse don´t down for the conversely stay to much powerfull, the parts of battery are insane since the beginning. Amazing growls vocals too in the charge of Tommasso, the level are brutal in all song of album, all instruments stay quality in amazing style; all guitars are coordinated in the same riffs, the bass pulse sound good but the work battery complete the assembly. Ingredients parts orquestration appear in the moment exactly you enjoy the brutal sound and don´t bad the mixture across the minutes of songs. 

If you would highlight a few songs of this record, don´t could because all song is it so much level in compose music, stay in the same style but don´t sound likewise because are repleted by details like instrumental passages for a few seconds, the clean voices together the growls, the battery are fast in the songs don´t stop, this band get create one the most important album of the year. But ok, I can recommend the songs "The Fool", "Gravity", "Cold as a Perfection" and the instrumental. 

The stuff are different because containt the orquestal sounds, clean voices apper to much comparated with the past albums, amazing quality in any songs, to much powerfull and creative since beginning this record, I sure you enjoy all minutes of this album, because the level band stay 100%  xtreme in all record. I must mention the deluxe edition containt 2 CDs, first album with teh normal songs and the second album its the same songs but in orquestral and instrumental version only. One amazing release from this italian band. 

Hail Fleshgod Apocalypse.