Taake

Band: Taake
Genre: Black Metal
Album(s): Nattestid Ser Porten Vid 
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvukOqFe0wE

So after two consecutive reviews of black metal albums, I'm gonna keep this black-metal-a-thon going until the end of this week.  For this review, I want to go into the uncharted areas of after 2nd wave black metal era, where there are still great gems to be found!  In this case, it is Taake's "Nattestid Ser Porten Vid," which is one of my personal favorites from the black metal genre.

Taake do absolutely everything right on "Nattestid Ser Porten Vid," and all of it without the satanic imagery, which is a bit of a relief since I have been getting bored of that stuff.  Musically, I find their work in "Nattestid..." to be very creative, and they completely fill the music with their own signature sound.  The production is a bit murky and at times it almost sounds like there is static noise interference, and this makes it sound really chaotic (which is typically a good thing in black metal).  Actually, this particular production is what I would call the ideal black metal production no matter WHAT band you are.  Wait, what?  Symphonic black metal?  Get the hell outta here...moving on...

There are a lot of reoccurring themes throughout this album, and this is definitely one of the things I love the most about "Nattestid Ser Porten Vid."  The songs flow together so well, as if they're all a part of one huge story.  Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that the songs blend in, making them sound generic and undifferentiable.  What I mean instead is that there is actually a reason why all of these songs were put together under the same title, which may also be why it was so appropriate for them to title each track with the album title and a Roman numeral at the end (indicating the order, of course).  

Now lets discuss further about these themes. Often times to me they sound like folk-esque melodies: very melodic riffs that paint the natural wonders of our earth, and so on.  I may be wrong in saying this, but I'm gonna take a huge jump and assume this album actually is about the nature (specifically the forests and mountains of Norway), but please do excuse me if I'm wrong as I'm not the best in speaking Norwegian.  These melodies are of course 100% produced by the extensive use of tremolo picking, and are as efficient as ever in creating wonderful black metal.  At some points there is also singing that accompanies the melodies, which also sound a lot like singing in folk music.  So I guess it may seem like they were trying to have that whole "pagan black metal in the forest" image going on, which is completely acceptable!

My favorite thing about this album, along with the melodies, is the extravagant drum work.    I've yet to hear a single black metal band that has such amazing drumming in their music, that doesn't just use a bunch of blast beats.  I hear all sorts of insane fills throughout this album, and even on many of the songs there will be riffs where the guitars repeat the same melody and actually let the drummer have all of the glory!  Especially in some songs, you will find yourself having all of your attention on the drums than the rest of the music.

Darkthrone

Band: Darkthrone
Genre: Black Metal
Album: "Under a Funeral Moon"
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-nIv6m45U

While on black metal, I thought I should put up another essential by the one and only Darkthrone.  Although there's a lot of debate about it, most metalheads would consider them to have three masterpieces in a row:  "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" (1992), "Under a Funeral Moon" (1993), and "Transilvanian Hunger" (1994), all back to back with a year between each release.  The album I've chosen is obviously "Under a Funeral Moon," and this is only because I feel like "Under a Funeral Moon" is Darkthrone's peak in black metal.

"Under..." is truly an amazing listen for anyone who enjoys black metal, or even any metalhead in general.  Being one of the first in the 2nd wave (in fact influencing a lot of other 2nd wave bands), it reaches out to some of the basic elements of black metal that many bands seem to have forgotten nowadays.  There are lots of rich influences from Bathory's "Under the Sign of the Black Mark" (I'm not sure if it was intended for the titles to have such similarities; I might have to check up on that...), where they took very sharp, cutting guitar tones that sound sort of like they're buzzing.  The particular melodies played by the guitars also show similarities with many of Bathory's, as they still have a lot of epic vibe in them (most likely from Bathory's "viking" metal elements).  Also, the vocals definitely resemble Quorthon's (vocalist of Bathory, who also happens to play all the instruments), which are basically the typical black metal vocals that we have all heard of.

However, Darkthrone have definitely built much more on the music which Bathory has spawned (otherwise Darkthrone wouldn't be as important, duh!).  One thing I've noticed in the music is that the drums have been relocated in the texture of the music, so to speak, to the background.  Although the drums still perform very speedy rhythm for the music, they are no longer the same thrash metal drums that would keep beating at a thousand bpm as they do in Bathory's music.  With this difference, Darkthrone took the music towards a different direction: they expanded more on simple-almost minimalistic-melodies which enriched the music with grim, evil atmospheres.    From the complex "epicness" which Bathory had created so long ago, Darkthrone achieved an epic, apocalyptic evil atmosphere.

To wrap it up, I'll end this review by saying that this album has some of the most well-written songs in all of black metal;  in fact, every single track will impress the listener.  And once again, keep an open mind if you're new to black metal, because most likely you will eventually grow into the music (since it's not always the most aesthetically pleasing music for many people).

Gorgoroth

Band: Gorgoroth
Genre: Black Metal 
Album(s): Pentagram
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB-iQAddxzo

So now that I'm starting a new week, I've decided to make these posts a bit less formal; I'll give more of my own opinions and commentate a bit more on the actual music. In a sense, yes, they will be more like reviews. As a bit of a change, today I've chosen to review one of 2nd Wave of Black Metal's finest albums: Gorgoroth's "Pentagram."

With those distant shrieks by Gaahl (the lead vocalist) buried beneath the icy cold guitar riffs, this album really can give one chills down the spine (in a good way, of course).  Most of the tracks are relatively short and there are varying tempos between each track; some songs such as "Begravelsesnett" are thrash-reminiscently speedy while others have multiple tempo changes.  Overall, most of the music is fast and tense, but there will be slow sections that have the more "doomy" feeling.

Personally, I feel like the true black metal sound arrives on the second track titled "Crushing the Scepter."  At first, there's the gloomy, slow and atmospheric intro, and as it reels in the listener with its hypnotic timber, the winter black metal riffs find their way into your ears.  These black metal riffs are absolutely amazing, and they are one of my favorites of all time (which is probably why this album is praised so much).  This album creates such atmospheres (as I will elaborate on in a bit), that I can simply close my eyes and feel as if I am in the middle of a cold, snow covered mountain with a massive blizzard storm.  I would highly recommend listening to this album if A) it is winter or you live in a cold place, or B) you want to feel colder (so basically anywhere).

One thing I love about this album is the intense combination of the thick texture, low-fi production, and the distant, evil vocals as I've mentioned earlier, that create a one-of-a-kind black metal atmosphere.  Of course, none of this could work without the melodies played by the guitarist, which are absolutely awe-inspiring.  Song after song, this guy never ceases to amaze me with such memorable melodies that aren't overused nor generic/bland.  Many songs will work with a particular melody and just keep varying it a little, and maybe mess around with the other instruments.  It's a shame that a lot of people don't understand how dissonant music like this can be enjoyed, because in the end it's not only high quality music, but it's also innovative and unique.

Overall, if you want to get into black metal, all you need are two things:  Gorgoroth's "Pentagram" and an open mind.

~LeetMetalhead~