Has a black metal band ever took the great elements of their influences and turned them into something new? Blut Aus Nord is a beast of itself. A very unique and atmospheric band, changing on every one of their releases (as I own almost all of them, except for the split ones). Blut Aus Nord is a band from the country of France, creating original black metal that we haven't heard in years.
"Whoa. This is strange..", I said as I listened to the ineteresting ambient keyboard/whatever intro to
Slaughterday (The Heathen Blood Of Ours). I started to turn up my speakers as it turned to silence, but it cut me off. Oh my balls. The chanting sent me into an almost trance as the instruments blast away with a memorable riff. Surprisingly, the bass is higher in the mix, compared to most black metal and Blut Aus Nord. It doesn't hug the guitar all of the time, it actually plays it's own line sometimes . A new thing for black metal? I dare say, yes. But you should have an ear for bass.
As most black metal albums, the production is comfortablely raw. The guitars are trebly, the drums steady yet plays some odd patterns, and the bass is not too trebly or bassy. My only complaint is that the drums are a little low and sound decent. Another notaceble thing is the vocals. I've never seen such distinct vocals. He almost sounds like his throat is torn to shreds when he painfully lets out a cry of despair, a very painful sounding screech. The folk-esque medival vocals are hauntingly stunning and will leave your jaw drop. There is even haunting Converge-esque spoken vocals. The music isn't all pounding away anyway. Just take a look at the beautiful melodies. Blut Aus Nord has it all, people.
Like most Blut Aus Nord releases, it follows a story. It's almost like a journey to find some.. eh. It's too intracite and hard to follow. Almost like a movie. As the epic 27:41
On The Path Of Wolf... Towards Dwarfhill, progresses we discover that Blut Aus Nord uses layered lead guitar lines :). Every melody, every note, everything is perfectly placed out. The repitition is not excruciating, as a ton of bands are. While Satrycon is urbanizing black metal, a few special bands are keeping it natural and old. These are some of the greatest lyrics in black metal. Including lines such as;
"In front of us the vast towers of the Maganst's castle pierced the nocturnal beauty of the starry sky/The rays of the fullmoon enlighted the sinister
gargolyes of stones".
I call that some bloody good lyrics. Blut Aus Nord has an atmosphere that I would describe as a 'blizzard of epic porportions". It almost seems like you're swirling around in a vast icy landscape, battling the ones who halt your progress, around in circles, and getting lost. It's such a hard atmosphere to describe, yet such a pleasent one to be in. I've never saw a group balance melody and brutalness that can compare to the later days of Emperor. I concur this to be an essential release for black metallers looking for originality, great riffage, melody, atmosphere, and just everything a genre could possibly fit in.
If I were to reccomend one song, It would be
The Territory Of Witches / Guardians Of The Dark Lake. Blut Aus Nord gives it everything that it showcases through this album. A fairly essential album, to me at least. I find it a total aural experience. Beautifully crushing in one to many ways.
