Sleepwalker - I

Fell Voices + Ash Borer = Sleepwalker

If you don't already have it, Go fetch it.

Lunar Aurora - Ars Moriendi (2001)

With over 7.000 listeners on Last.fm, one wouldn't exactly call Lunar Aurora an underground black metal band, but it sure pisses me off when people don't mention them when talking about quality, worthwhile black metal.

Every other black metal band nowadays seems to have the "symphonic" moniker attached to it's genre description, simply by using keyboards in the music. Lunar Aurora do use synths, but I'm not gonna be all cliché and tell you that their sound is majestic or whatever. I'll try to be brief and just say this:

They kick ass.

Instead of lumping a brick on top of certain keys to hummm some repetitive sounds in the background, they sporadically appear throughout the songs, bitchslapping the guitars to STFU while they do their thing. Fuck coexistence and supporting roles, this is a war now! Yet do not think there's some bitchin' 70s guitar solo going on, and then the synth comes in, unplugs the guitar's amp and goes off in one of Chopin's "Etudes".

No sir, everything fits nicely, thanks in no small part to the exquisite drumming. It's not 399,999 bpm fast, there aren't tom rolls every split second and I don't think you can find 7/3,14 beats here. However, it's varied, the drums themselves have a nice crunchy sound, and they're angry as fuck. You can feel the misanthropy dripping off every cymball crash, forming a pool of AIDS for all humanity to drown in, ignorantly screaming, begging to be forgiven for their intransigent ways.

To expand on the aforementioned guitar-synth interplay, I'll say that these two do a good job at complementing each other. While the former buzzes along nicely and ever so abrasive, spewing out good, somewhat standard black metal riffs, the latter varies from droning, selenial, Beherit-esque electronic sounds to short orchestral bits, keeping the tracks fresh and entertaining, but never restraining you from headbanging. And speaking of "selenial", no wonder that adjective came up when referring to a band named Lunar Aurora. However, instead of using the moon as some sort of gloomy feminine symbol for flowery sonatas and bukakke rose petal fetishes, you feel as if Aran and the gang are outside in the middle of a wintery night, striking the Abbathian "storm summoning" pose on top of a cliff somewhere, declaring their distaste for mankind while lightning flashes behind them in a dramatic scene, after which they retreat to their medieval, tastefully-decorated castle found somewhere in the mountains of Germany to sip wine and listen to Wagner or Beethoven. And maybe give each other foot massages.

It's an album that reveres nature and psychotically laughs in the face of modern man. You can try to remember it by its lycanthropic nature, it's misanthropy or it's kick-assity. You can put peanut butter and anchovies on it and place it between your thighs, for all I care. Just get it if you're a fan of wintery, atmospheric black metal akin to Paysage d'Hiver, german black metal, in general, or this interview. If I've over-hyped it, go complain to your boyfriend, your mom, or your pet weasel.

Download

-Radu

The Ruins of Beverast - Unlock The Shrine (2004)

Well, boys and germs, here's The Ruins of Beverast's debut LP, Unlock the Shrine. It's a one man band, the genius responsible for this being Alexander von Meilenwald, the drummer for the late Nagelfar. He plays every instrument here, and I gotta say, more drummers should be guitarists. There's an uncanny sense of groove for a black metal record, here, and it doesn't feel out of place at all. The musical synesthesia is just astounding, even though it's quite a thick and layered album. Electronics intertwine with guitars, drums and movie samples to create something new on each track. From the progressive headbangable riff on The Clockhand's Groaning Circles, to the bitter atmosphere of Unlock the Shrine, and even the trip-hop sounding synth on Between Bronze Walls, this album puts most black metal bands to shame in terms of diversity. And, also, it does much more than make you bang your noggin and tap your foot...the artist(yeah, I used this word, Alexander is a true artist, something very rare these days) connects to you on a personal level. Read the lyrics. Bask in the album's atmosphere. It's a moving piece of art that will not leave you indifferent.

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-Radu

Drudkh - Autumn Aurora (2004)

Quite often this album gets voted as the second best album in the Drudkh discography next to their first offering 'Forgotten Legends', a sentiment I just can not share.

This album is one of a very few black metal albums that I can refer to as beautiful, the sense of melancholy and the representation of the change of seasons, the depressing yet uplifting feel of Autumn is presented through a series of long atmospheric repetitive guitar riffs and synths that bring forth an organic and fresh sound to the music of Drudkh and to that of the atmospheric black metal genre.

The defining moment on this album comes in the form of 'sunwheel' a surprisingly optimistic and joyful black metal track with a very melancholic undertone that really highlights all the key things I have mentioned about this album, a track which earns it's place as one of my favourite if not my favourite black metal song.


Genre: Black Metal
Download: Rapidshare
Disclaimer: None of the albums I add are uploaded by myself and are intended for promotional purposes only, if you enjoy the album please support artists by buying records.


- RTG