Hypothermia - Skogens Hjärta (2010)

Band: Hypothermia

Album: Skogens Hjärta

Year: 2010

Country: Sweden

Since this song is ridiculously long (68 minutes and 44 seconds to be exact) I rarely manage to squeeze in enough time to listen to the whole song. But just the other day I had an hour and a half long bus journy through dark and snow-covered woods ahead of me so I couldn't resist the temptation. I didn't have a outer worldly experience but it sure made the drive comfortable and relaxing. Hypothermia is perhaps the most common name in the Depressive Black Metal-scene with multiple releases in their bag. Some think that they are amazing and some say that they are just overrated, everyone seems to have an opinion on them though. With this release you can clearly tell that the music tends to drift more and more to the Depressive Rock sound, kind of reminds me of a gloomier and heavier Red House Painters with it's slow and mellow guitar-play and simplistic drumming. The production on Skogens Hjärta is without a doubt the best to feature on any Hypothermia-release to date and overall the sound is more cleaner than before. Although there is some more distorted and harsher parts which for the most part gives the song a heavier background, the focus is mainly on the repetitive and very catchy melodies. This may not be easy listening due to the length and lack of variation, besides some nice build-ups and slightly different drumming on some parts the whole song evolves around the main melody. For me that is the beauty of the song and i think it makes the song more melancholic. Like a lullaby to a suicide.

Song(s) you should listen to: Speaks for itself doesn't it?

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Satan's Satyrs - Demo (2010)

Band: Satan's Satyrs

Album: Demo

Year: 2010

Country: United States

Graveyard pictures! Patched jeansjackets! Blackened metalpunk of Satanic proportions! All packed into one of the best and gnarliest demos I have heard this year. Satan's Satyrs claim to have sprung out of the idea of combining the powers of Electric Wizard and Black Flag. The result is raw, trashy and catchy rifforgies with clean yet dirty vocals and simple drumming. This demo makes me want to grow my hair long, break edge and take my fathers old motorcycle out for a alcohol-reeking joyride which result in chaos and sudden death.

Song(s) you should listen to: The song titled Satan's Satyrs is the best song in my opinion. The fact that it includes an organ-part in the background that gives the song a feeling of taking place in a dark mass is alone reason to listen to this song. Also it has a really sweet guitar-solo.

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Of Legend - Cleric of Samsara (2010)

Band: Of Legend

Album: Cleric of Samsara

Year: 2010

Country: United States

Of Legend from Atlanta is a 5-piece band which, according to their lastfm, uses "the loudest sound equipment they can afford". Although the album-cover looks like something suitable for a power metal/viking rock-band you won't find any of that stuff here. Well I guess that if you use your imagination the vocals could resemble the sound of Thor riding across the sky hailing down thunder at the world, or the sound of a mountain crumbling to dust, whatever you find most appealing. Cleric of Samsara is as loud and dynamic as it is melodic and mesmerizing. The songs are long and has a variety of peaks, fleeting between soft mellow parts to loud and heavy parts. Although the songs can be repetitive there is always something waiting around the corner that keeps it fresh and interesting. Together with the really strong and passionate vocals it makes Of Legend a band that you definitely should not pass on.

Song(s) you should listen to: The Cleric is the last song of the album and starts off strong right away rather than gradually go from soft to strong. It relentlessly keeps pounding it's sludginess on you until it fades out and all is quite once more. A solid end to a solid album.

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V/A Grå Fraktion (2010)

Artist: V/A (Gravsten, Evilblood, Lavender, Untitled, Galge, Marching Church, Garrotte, Salome)

Album: Grå Fraktion

Year: 2010

Country: Denmark

From the country that brought us Tuborg, pølse and piskeflø comes this bizarre collection of underground Black Metal. This LP contains 8 projects where 7 of them have their debut-releases, only Garrotte has previously released something and has gained a reputation among black metal-lofi'ers. It seems like there is a strong punk-vibe in the danish underground-scene which I think is a good thing, it makes the music sound even more dirty and foul. I can imagine that this music is created by a bunch of drunk people smashing instruments at some random party while listening to Darkthrone and GG Allin.

Song(s) you should listen to: All of these bands play a similar form of music with a few exceptions. I think the band that stands out a bit from the rest is Marching Church which has a more wierder build-up in the songs, choppy riffs and stuff like that. Also the vocals are a bit similar to bands like Circle of Ouroborus. Other than that Garrotte and Salome has some really good songs as well.

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Weakling - Dead As Dreams (2000)

Band: Weakling

Album: Dead As Dreams

Year: 2000

Country: United States

This blog needs more Black Metal if we want to live up to its name. Therefore I thought I'd upload this band that a friend of mine told me to check out. As he has been into Black Metal for quite some time he has a good taste in music, and when he talks about a band, it's definitely worth listening to. So I went home, looked them up and the first song that blasted out of my speakers knocked me out of my chair. Weakling plays a style of Black Metal that is just my cup of tea, long songs with great guitarplay and drumming topped with vocals that are characteristic to Depressive Black Metal, full of despair and pain so to speak. Its clearly that Wolves In The Throneroom has been inspired by these guys. If you're looking for extremely raw and gnarly music then you might want to pass this up but if you fancy some really great and well played BM with lots of thought and feelings behind then you don't want to sleep on this one.

Song(s) you should listen to: This Entire Fucking Battlefield. This entire fucking song is fucking great. From start to finish it's a really good but some parts in it is absolutely amazing. You will find a build-up-part about 5 minutes into the song that transfers into a blast-part at 6 minutes that makes you feel like someone just poured a bucket of cold water over you. You might also like the last minutes where the song is slowed down and turns into an mellow and epic outro.

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Diagnose Lebensgefahr - Transformalin (2006)

Band: Diagnose Lebensgefahr
Album: Transformalin
Year: 2006
Country: Sweden
So, last time I told you about the vocalist Nattramn from the band Silencer, and that the rumours about him was a big reason for Silencer's "fame". So, here's the story about Nattramn, according to rumours on forums and websites.
Nattramn has had psychological problems for a while, and he has been to mental institutions every now and then. Around the release of Silencer's album, Nattramn's brother (who also had mental issues) got some new medication from his doctor and got a terrible psychosis. He stabbed two little girls on a playground with an axe, almost to death. He was arrested, but since he was mentally ill, he was sended to a mental institution instead of prison. On the mental institution he comitted suicide when he understood what he had done. This was a true tragedy, written everywhere in the newspapers.
Some people believed it was Nattramn, but it clearly wasn't. After his brother's death, Nattramn spent a longer period at St. Sigfrid Mental Hospital in Växjö. There he was offered to write and record music as therapy and to help him recover. It was later on released, and this album is the result.Nattramn has also been working on a book for quite long, and under that time it has been rumoured that he is dead. But he isn't, so the book Grishjärta will hopefully be released soon.  

Song(s) you should listen to: Honestly, I've tried to listen to this album from the beginning to the end so many times, but I find it so unpleasant. There's this uncomfortable tension going on in most of the songs, like the ones in horror movies, so you're waiting for something to happen while you're not being able to even breathe. I really forced myself to listen to it before uploading it, and found mostly industrial crap influences.
But, it's still very uncomfortable. You can play this for your children when they haven't done their homework. They will be scarred for life, and they will never ever fail a test again.

(NOTE: The doctor on the very left on the album cover is VERY much alike Bestefar, the other writer of this blog)

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