Morbosidad- Profana la Cruz del Nazareno

Morbosidad is a name that is fairly commonplace in the realm of death/black metal, and their latest work, Profana la Cruz del Nazareno, only further solidifies their status in the scene today. While nothing on this disc transcends the traditional aesthetic of black metal, Profana… is a fine example of why sticking to an old formula isn’t such a bad proposal in many cases.


While listening to this album, it is clear that Morbosidad were heavily influenced by the legendary likes of bands such as Blasphemy and Beherit. Now, I’m a sucker for bands who achieve an atmosphere similar to the aforementioned groups, but I can tell when a band excels above the rest, and it is certainly the case here. The band quite often uses the phrase “Morboso Metal” when speaking about their music, and I fail to think of a term more appropriate for Morbosidad. The morbid and twisted nature of the music comes across in the most heartfelt fashion, and retains a sense of sincerity that is rarely paralleled by second rate worship bands. The most prevalent image that comes to my mind when listening to this is that of an army of medieval soldiers storming into a village, killing and raping mercilessly at their own will. This image is derived from the very warlike, and at the same time morbid atmosphere that this disc contains, all of which greet the listener with a complete absence of campiness or self parody.


It is worthless to listen to small fragments of this album at once, as each track works with another to form a bestial, warlike sonic experience. Twisted and sickening guitar riffs are scattered across a pummeling rhythm section that brings many classic second wave black metal bands to mind. Over this are some truly revolting and disgusting vocals that serve the purpose of completely justifying the band’s status as “morbid”. The overall theme of the album seems to be a ruthless and vicious thrashy black metal attack that is quite similar to that of a primitive battleground, though there seems to be a deviant and depraved sexual theme that plays a minor, yet crucial role in defining the experience of this album. When all of these elements come together, they form a cohesive and relentless musical ride that is to be experienced time and time again.


These guys simply wanted to make a simple, yet effective piece of unrelenting black/death metal that compels the person listening to go slay some nearby Christians, and I can attest that they were most definitely successful. The spirit and simple honesty of release play a huge part in making it such a great listen, and I recommend this to anyone who likes their metal played raw, repulsive, and uncompromising.

Avsolutized-Den Svarta Våndans Genealogi(2008) Neinsphere Records
Japan

Walking into Aquarius Records I knew nothing about Avsolutized expect that their website praised them as strange and fucked up black metal from Japan. A formula that sounded good so I picked it up. It sounded better than I would have ever thought and I now present to you what maybe just be the best album of 2008 after only four months.

Avsolutized play strange but strongly melodic black metal that does not sound far from a mixture of Emperor and Arkha Sva. The guitars play hugely epic riffs under the over-the-top vocal lines. The guitar lines are still raw, in a good way, but it does not get contaminated with bad musicianship, which happens to be very tight here, or noisy production. The clean guitar breaks sound very similar to cheaper version of Opeth expect with the very cool opera styled falsetto singing.

The album holds its interesting quality through unique composing with strange bits and pieces here and there. The use of epic guitar breaks with break neck speed gives its breed of raw black metal a different vibe and refreshing vibe that is very rare to find in black metal. I would not tag this album as “progressive black metal” but it does show a much more experimental and full sound that you do not find in the genre much. Songs like “An Everlasting Circulation of Void” build and develop into catchy hymns of darkness that include a fair amount of super high vocals and demented weeping. A very scary song it is.

The minor key melodies play a huge part in the instrumental tracks that create a sinister atmosphere and prelude the track that follows in a proper way. Avsolutized certainly know how to write full songs and not just string riffs together, this skill is shown in “A Lament For You There” and “Utan Död...” , where powerful riffs mix with the extraordinary vocals.

There is a lacks a full album feel though. It is not a declared full-length nor does it have the intention to and it is too long to be an EP but has somehow been called compilation by the band them-self. I am not as to what is being compiled here because of the lack of much released aside for a short demo before this. Keep in mind that the album features a Setheral cover. “My Veins Are Open” sounds excellent but I have never heard the original. I will be sure do to do that soon.

While I would not call the drum machine sounds bad by any means, it does lack a fair amount of diversity and interesting patterns instead of blasting throughout the whole song. The tones do sound real, enough that I did know that they were being produced

The vocals stay sick throughout the whole record. The vocals go from super high falsetto a la Arkha Sva or Peste Noire to low growl vocals. It is perhaps the highlight of the whole record. I can consider this one of the best albums in terms of vocals to come out in the past years. The clean singing is not like much I have ever heard. It is proper classical singing with what seems like a intentional slightly off-key delivery The lyrics have not been really released so I can not comment on them but for some reason they sing in Swedish but are from Japan? Badass indeed.

For fans of: Peste Noire, Emperor, Arkha Sva, Enslaved and Dissection

The album is limited to 500 copies and can be bought through their label Neinsphere Records or Bay-Area record store Aquarius Records.

Originally written for my solo blog known as Obscure Art. http://strangeandobscure.blogspot.com/

Mission Statement

Both of us at Nokturnal Void feel that the diversity and versatility of black metal is something that should be acknowledged and respected. In justifying this statement, every style and form of black metal will be given the appropriate and equal amount of attention as we see fit. Whether it is bands paying homage to the forerunners of the genre, or newcomers looking to expand the genre to new musical grounds, each of the previously mentioned will be acknowledged equally as art, without bias or preconceived opinions. We feel that black metal is a form of art that is very special in a multitude of ways that separate its self from other genres, and each individual component of the music should be analyzed and scrutinized to allow a complete understanding of the enormously expansive genre that is black metal. We plan to show a taste of the underground is producing, thus showing the underground is not dead and can only grow from this point on.