Thursday, June 20, 2013 10:14

Posts Tagged ‘Discipline’

SATANIZE / ETERNA PENUMBRA – ANTI-INTRUDERS / OLVIDO LP (Discipline)

Sunday, February 24th, 2013

There are a lot of good things about this split LP, which pairs two fine bands from the Iberian underground. First and foremost amongst these is the absolute reality that all six songs represent fine examples of what Black Metal is all about. Secondly, the record arrives courtesy of one of my favourite labels, so you just know it’s going to be finished professionally, with fitting artwork and imagery, including lyrics and Discipline’s by-now-customary fold-over pseudo-gatefold cover. Very underground!

Another plus point is the fact that ‘Anti-Intruders / Olvido’ won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Originally self-released a couple of years ago on cassette format, this joint effort looks, feels and sounds the part on vinyl. Both bands deliver very raw, cavernous, grating Black Metal. Not very subtle, but there is a hidden depth and warmth to Eterna Penumbra’s tracks in particular. A strong sense of melody lurks in the murk.

This is actually my first exposure to the no-frills evil of Satanize and I am pleasantly surprised by their sound and style (maybe it’s the name, I half-expected them to be rubbish); Eterna Penumbra is not a new phenomenon to me – I reviewed their outstanding debut album ‘Nuestra Vacía Existencia’ almost two years ago.

The main downside to the deal is that there is only 25 minutes of music on here, which places the record somewhere between EP and MLP territory. This is disappointing; I’d prefer a bit more meat on the bones. Still, all in all, we get some very enjoyable music that’s well worth digging out… which leads me to the second negative: this fine record is limited to just 150 copies.

Evilometer: 555/666

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SENTIMEN BELTZA – ERIO / HEGAN EGITEN 12” EP (Titan Woods / Discipline)

Saturday, September 8th, 2012

If you’ve seen this or this, then you’ll know I’m an admirer of Sentimen Beltza. I try to get my hands on as much material as possible from this Basque one-man affair but sometimes being a completist has its drawbacks in the value-for-money department. In short, this is hardly worth owning.

While the music of Oindurth SaVinitta is as mesmerising as ever, the problem with “Erio / Hegan Egiten” is that there’s simply not enough of it. Two songs, as the title confirms – and they’re not particularly long ones either. Of course, I knew all this before purchase but it’s only when you have the record spinning on your turntable that you realise just how lousy a deal you’ve got.

Basically, this is a 7” EP / single that has been etched onto a 12” record for some reason. I cannot for the life of me see the value or practicality of owning two short songs on a 12” – no matter how great they are. Especially considering that it costs almost the same as a full-length LP. I paid around €15 for this plus postage. At most, it is worth €5. And that’s stretching it. I feel like an idiot. Because I am clearly an idiot, with more money than sense.

Releases like this are of no benefit to hard-pushed consumers.

Evilometer: 111/666

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DOLENTIA – SOB A EGIDE DAS SOMBRAS LP (Discipline / Versets Noirs)

Monday, April 16th, 2012

It rained all day. Again. Fuck Ireland anyway. Luckily, I had ‘Sob a Égide das Sombras’ to listen to. It reflects my disposition perfectly. I’m feeling negative, dull. Outside, it’s dreary, like always. Inside, it’s even drearier. But the debut full-length from Portuguese troupe Dolentia is a wonderful companion in these dark and uneventful times, as the rain hops off the gable and drenches my castle, soaking my life and drowning my mood.

Two of the first three songs are spectacular, emotional instrumentals that reek of pride and passion. In between, there’s the sumptuous, teeming ‘O Reerguer de Medos Antigos’, summoning the spirit of Lusitanian ancestors and filling the listener with a deep sense of nostalgia. Throughout the album, the raw yet melodic Black Metal on offer is of a distinctly epic variety that marks Dolentia out as a special force in modern extreme music.

The vocals are distressed and embittered, the guitars wobbly and dynamic, vibrating, almost humming their tunes of sombreness. The drums are like thigh bones banging off a coffin lid. Well, sort of. Underground Black Metal of the highest calibre from the depths of the Portuguese past, instilled with steel, individuality and purpose, ‘Sob a Égide das Sombras’ is an unremitting tour de force that has been wonderfully presented in vinyl format by two labels from polar ends of the Atlantic.

Black Metal doesn’t really get any better than this.

Evilometer: 666/666

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BLACK CILICE – A CORPSE, A TEMPLE LP (Discipline)

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Previous exposure to Black Cilice was zero so this represented a journey into the (relatively) unknown. Hardly a leap of faith, though, as I know Discipline / Bubonic invariably release superb stuff. True to form, ‘A Corpse, A Temple’ is another sure-fire winner from the Iberian Peninsula. We get six tracks of Portuguese Black Magic forged in chaos and fire, steeped in damnation, a conjuration that could almost tempt the dead back from beyond their final resting places.

If you like melody and some degree of accessibility in your Black Metal, then look elsewhere. From the moment ‘The Gate Of Sulphur’ rips into my living room, it is obvious that Black Cilice has no place for such sentiment or needless embellishment. I’m sure there is some semblance of order amongst the swirling, suffocating, all-pervading maelstrom of gruelling disharmony but for the most part this record is all about noise, pace, aggression and intensity. With no let-up.

Harsh and sheer, unearthly, otherworldly, ‘A Corpse, A Temple’ is grim in a manner that 99% of Black Metal bands couldn’t begin to comprehend. ‘Night’s Veil’ charges forth like a herd of lost souls, a murder of vultures seeking freshly-spilled life and ‘Blood To Murder’ is relentless, unremitting, a barrage of black noise that pounds, pummels, disorientates and – well – satisfies in abundance.  On Side B, ‘The Key’, the delightfully-addictive ‘Resurrection Of Dead Curses’ (with its almost tribal mantra) and ‘Among Dead Rats’ hammer home the painful point, invoking the dead, imploring them to return.

Instead of vocals, we are presented with harrowing howls, shattered shrieks and all manner of wails, moans and bellows. Drums crash and pound like jesters dancing on coffin lids, the guitars hum and fizz – a tortuous cacophony of flayed, discordant chords summoned by the truly demented. While ‘A Corpse, A Temple’ is undoubtedly a difficult, energy-sapping and demanding listen, it is also pure and true and ultimately exceptionally rewarding. The essence of underground Black Metal.

Evilometer: 666/666

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LYTHANY / VULTO – RITUAL DE PRIVACAO (Discipline)

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

This was released nearly two years ago, but it’s timeless. I’ve had it a while but decided to give it a spin again today and was reminded just how good a split release ‘Ritual de Privação’ is. Translated as ‘Deprivation Ritual’, it’s arguably one of the best Black Metal collaborations of all – and in fairness there have been some stupendous ones down through the years!

Lythany is the vehicle of InThyFlesh vocalist Sataere and – 2006 demo aside -  this split is the only proper release he has recorded thus far under that moniker (more to come, hopefully…). It’s slow-to-mid-paced morbid Black Metal full of emotion and genuine spirit. The word cult is overused in reviews but … well … I’m sure you know what I’m getting at.

‘Solidão’ kicks proceedings off in enchanting fashion and for the next six minutes ‘Fragmentos’ fills the listener with despair and dejection, before ‘Acto De Negação’ (‘Act of Denial’, in English) both serenades and disgusts the subject, coming through my speakers and making me feel disappointed to be alive yet elated to have such a good slab of music in my house. All in all, the four songs on here from Lythany are absolutely superb.

Vulto is also Portuguese but a little more mysterious and even more unpolished and I have no idea what the line-up of this nebulous entity is. Not that it matters. The music continues to impress immensely. ‘Desespero’ lays down a worthy marker for the second act, a soaring slice of depressive majesty – rawer and thinner than Lythany’s offerings but no less interesting. Production values are out the window by now, you’ll no doubt be glad to hear.

Whereas the first four songs sounded like they were recorded in a forest, these ones are at first more akin to drugged-out squatters jamming in a slum in some concrete jungle. Garage-y Black Metal. I think it could be the drum sound that gives me that impression; the more I listen, the rest of Vulto’s music contains that ancient, far-away BM feeling we all know and love. The sample and overall feeling of despondency on ‘Chuva Maldita’ weigh down heavily, like a storm in the soul.

The overall feel of ‘Ritual de Privação’ is authentically underground and the music is of an exceptionally high standard if you’re a Black Metal aficionado. It conjures a nasty, evil vibe and should make you a happy bunny if you manage to get your paws on a copy.

Evilometer: 555/666

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