Wednesday, June 19, 2013 09:07

Posts Tagged ‘Ancestrale Production’

FHOI MYORE – FHOI MYORE (Ancestrale Production)

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

The colours and artwork may be far-removed from the beloved traditional Black Metal clichés, but Fhoi Myore thankfully don’t bother with any progressive or post-BM arty-fartiness on their debut full-length. Instead, we are treated to 51 minutes of blasting, raw blackness that deserves a front cover closer to ‘A Blaze In The Northern Sky’ than this flat-Fanta-coloured autumn leafiness!

Screeching lyrics, pummelling drums and rabid guitars with an abundance of wicked melody wrapped within a low-profile production are the order of the day on a self-titled album that could one day be hailed as something of a classic (by some). Refreshing in its directness, ‘Fhoi Myore’ rages insatiably from start to finish, with a modicum of respite provided by instrumentals ‘Drum & Horn’ and ‘The One-Eyed’.

A tour de force, an exhibition, a demonstration … call it what you will … but either way this album is a damn fine slab of Black Metal that puts most of the subgenre’s big names to shame. It’s not perfect but it still represents a pleasant surprise.

Evilometer: 444/666

Tags: ,
Posted in Black | No Comments »

DRAUGEN – AMONG THE LONELY SHADES (Ancestrale Production)

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Ten years in the making, Draugen’s debut full-length is a decent attempt at Golden Era Norwegian worship. On ‘Among The Lonely Shades’ (don’t let the uninspired title put you off), we are presented with eight tracks in total, two of which are short instrumentals. In the vein of bands like classic Darkthrone (only not as raw), Burzum (obviously) and early Enslaved / Satyricon / Immortal, Draugen dishes out some competent ancient-sounding Black Metal with more than a hint of melody, which adds to the overall atmosphere without drowning the whole thing in sugar / shit.

Throughout the album, there are some nice sound effects to add to the ambience; you feel like a pariah might, hidden in a cave, being hunted by Christians in the woodlands outside, whilst a thunderstorm rages. Or something… The compositions are top-notch; the execution exemplary; and the production pretty much perfect for this kind of epic-sounding BM.

Don’t think for a minute this is one of these wishy-washy, ultra-melodic albums with overwhelming keys and clean vocals, however (if it was, I would refuse to review it), because there’s no such thing to be found within the notes of ‘Among The Lonely Shades’. It is very melodic, I’ll grant you that, and I normally have a big issue with that … but I find this album to be quite endearing and I’d gladly recommend ‘ATLS’ to anyone who fancies the idea of 50 minutes of melodic BM from France that retains most of its edge.

Evilometer: 333/666

Tags: , ,
Posted in Black | No Comments »

ARGANORK – DUSIOS (Ancestrale Production)

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Arganork is the Black Metal face of schizophrenic French extreme metal merchant  Satyriasis Demonius von Nettesheim, also of Death Metal / grindcore entity Cosmoloco. I’m not at all familiar with Cosmoloco (sounds a bit too ambitious for my liking…) and probably never will be but ‘Dusios’ – released in 2010 – is an excellent piece of work. As good a BM demo as you’re likely to hear.

Occult Black Metal with a ritualistic feel and a real ancient vibe, excellently performed by one man who uses traditional instruments and some beautiful ambient touches to create a dark but pleasant sound. For a demo, the production  is absolutely top notch and the musicianship as a whole – both in terms of conception and performance – is right up there with the very best European peddlers of blackness.

If you appreciate (mostly mid-paced) underground BM with a sinister current running through it, then you can’t go wrong here. ‘Dusios’ is a wonderful release that gets the balance right between rawness and atmosphere and makes for an unexpectedly thrilling 37 minutes or so. I have no hesitation whatsoever in giving this tape a hearty seal of approval.

Evilometer: 555/666

Tags: , ,
Posted in Black, Cassettes | No Comments »