The Rock Blogger

Negura Bunget. OM. 2006. 4 stars.

Powerful black metal from the forests of Romania, Negura Bunget offer a tour de force of the genre, incorporating folk, thrash and progressive rock styles into a cohesive and atmospheric whole. The songs are epic and devastating, with hefty doses of aggression and intelligence, with great attention to detail and mood. The drumming is incredibly fast and fluid, providing a sonic field for the intense growling vocals (they’re in Romanian, so I don’t understand them), ethereal synth passages and wiry guitar lines.

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Ulver. Shadows of the Sun. 2007. 4.5 stars.

A dark, brooding and beautiful album, Shadows of the Sun sees Norway’s Ulver continue on with the reinvention of their sound, opting for symphonic ambiance with black metal and electronic flourishes. The songs here are subtle, tense and mystical, crafting a mournful testament to days and loves long past.

The album as a whole is incredibly cohesive, with each track progressing seamlessly into the next, building from sparse, reverb-drenched sonic landscapes to full-fledged arrangements complete with horns, saxophones and gorgeous piano lines. While Ulver prove their compositional virtuosity with their experimental passages , the album’s moody atmosphere remains consistent and immersing. The vocals are also deep and haunting without the wailing histrionics that made some of Ulver’s past work so divisive.

The only complaint I have against Shadows of the Sun is that it rarely reaches the impenetrable crescendos associated with the band, as it strives toward tranquility rather than pure apocalyptic transcendence. Still, as an ambient metal record, Shadows of the Sun is remarkable for its originality, its restrained intensity and its melancholic imagery - a masterful work of art that defies genre conventions.

Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters. 2007 4 stars.

Once again, the friendly black metal acolytes at rateyourmusic.com have recommended another stellar release, this one by Olympia, WA’s Wolves in the Throne Room (why do so many existential bands hail from there?). The second studio album from the band, Two Hunters is an extensive, doom-laden mindfuck that features dark ambient passages, demonic vocals and impenetrably fast drumming.

Wolves in the Throne Room, taking cues from Southern Lord label mates Sunn O))) and Earth, engage in misty post-metal jams that give prevalence to atmosphere while still hearkening back to traditional black metal sensibilities a la Agalloch. The inclusion of spooky choral vocals from a female guest also adds to the haunting power this disc delivers. While some of the jams run a little too long, and the metal vocals can be overwhelming at times, Two Hunters is an immersing listen overall.

Alcest Souvenirs d’un autre monde 2007. 4.5 stars.

Among the several recent discoveries of albums I overlooked in 2007, is this post-rock gem by France’s Alcest. Souvenirs is an ethereal, hypnotic and engaging listen that takes shoe-gaze dynamics to new and evocative heights. While formerly a black metal band, Alcest has moved away from that genre’s resigned aggressiveness to produce this work of surprising tranquility, dipping into the same shimmering, glacial pools as Sigur Ros and even Jesu.

The tracks here are layered with hazy and churning guitars that wash over you, while the serene (and indecipherable) vocals glide over the beautiful chaos, driving epic and fluid compositions toward a distant horizon. Like the album’s title suggests, Alcest’s work here is like a window to another world, one of blinding sunshine and swirling snow drifts, where battered souls can hide from their Earthly troubles. Truly an exercise in catharsis that plays to your imagination.

Primordial To the Nameless Dead. 2007. 3 stars.

I discovered this release after it had received such a strong showing on Rate your music’s Top 2007 list and its interesting to see how underground metal acts, in all sub-genres, are generating extensive cult followings online. Primordial’s grand atmospherics, passionate intensity and Celtic underpinnings make them standout among a cluttered field of Black Metal provocateurs. The sound here is epic and sweeping as the band indulge in lengthy, yet stunningly focused, song structures.

The thematics of this album explore the prideful and gluttonous failings of mankind, with tracks like “Empire Falls”, “As Rome Burns” and “No Nation on this Earth” hearkening back to the nomadic tribulations of warriors long lost, of barbarian invaders trekking across Northern Europe and the Nordic forests to make epic confrontations against imperial hordes.

If this all sounds over the top, its because it is. But the majesty and ferocity of this music overcomes its obvious lyrical pretensions. The vocals here are quite interesting as well, abandoning beast-like moans and growls for the more refined and emotional tenor of Alan Averill.

The exhaustive length of the album’s songs due take a toll on having a full, contemplative listening experience, as the epic dirges tend to drag on, blending into each other across its progression. But To the Nameless Dead remains an intriguing release that certainly demonstrates the band’s technical prowess and penchant for crafting mood and atmosphere.

I thought it would fitting to throw up a song that captured the feelings of my commute this morning. The cold, the dark, the long drawn out wait, the hellfire. Well maybe not the hellfire. Anyways, this song from the album The Mantle gave my frustrations a cathartic soundtrack while I watched the snow blow across the dirty suburban roads. Rock on.