Slidhr are Irishman J. Deegan, here helped out with drums by B. Einarsson and they have previously released an EP and a split before entering the dreaded ‘hiatus’. But back they are and this was recorded and mastered in Iceland (which sounds like a tale in itself).
You know I’ve been getting kinda depressed about the state of current orthodox black metal: Whereas atmospheric, depressive stuff still keeps producing the goods, the fine Quebec scene still burns, and the beasts are still ripping, every bit of the more orthodox stuff I’ve heard in the last year or two has been, frankly, generic. Still, this work landed on my desk and I had to give it a good go.
We get a slow, gentle keyboard intro to Wielding Daggers before the drum battery and freezing riffs descend. It’s a good, dense production and carries a nice black melody with it. The vocals are bitter howls and there is that air of Deathspell Omega to them and the surrounding discordant cacophony. As the song twists the tempo, dropping into slow cavernous territory with excellent timing, I also begin to appreciate the variation and depth of the vocals. Ripping, howling, harsh semi-spoken, a touch of clean cries, the pinch of early Anaal Nathrakh with added insanity; this is no monotone generic spit and snarl and nor are they afraid to take centre stage and carry the song.
Well, that is a fine surprise.
The album seems to follow the notion of the earth rising up to swallow the human race at last and put an end to this shit. Although I hear influences of the two bands just mentioned, this is still a recognisably orthodox black metal album but the reason it begins to glisten and burn so well is the thought and the variation and musical touch J Deegan has breathed into this vision. Oh, make no mistake that this hammers and rages but equally slower and quieter passages within songs focus your mind on this harsh journey. The bass at times is a gloriously loose sound (no not sloppy at all, simply low, throbbing and well picked out in the mix kind of like a well recorded Ildjarn..) and somehow I think this undulating undercurrent helps those cascading riffs sound all the sharper. Odd sounds almost ‘off stage’ jar the nerves, unbalance you, keeping your mind constantly looking for the next and enjoying the surging riffs or sudden blasts all the more. There is a glorious passage in Their Blood where the bottom end briefly drops away and we really do enter Ildjarn territory, which is just bloody magnificent.
It’s this great contrast between real lo-fi black metal and perfectly but harshly produced sounds that makes this album live. It has a presence and a voice I have found missing from so much recent black metal, particularly the endless side and ‘super’ projects splashing around Europe. No, I am not saying this is new but what it is, is a genuinely interesting, enjoyable and fine piece of art and there is still room to grow better. It has a resonance and a heart that is both easily accessible but far from generic. In short it is a good, fine, varied album of pure black metal.
I think you should be buying this.
(7.5/10 Gizmo)
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