Review Summary: The void staring back at you.
How do you talk about black metal? a genre that so shamelessly stands for everything that’s considered “off-limits” in most modern societies? how do you talk about a movement that so carelessly delves into subjects so taboo for your everyday by-stander? everyone who’s ever been in contact with black metal in any capacity has heard the histories about church arsons, sacrifices, satanic rituals, occultism, white ultra-nationalistic affiliations; These, and many more things make it hard for people to discuss things related to the genre, and with good reason, as to this day it becomes more and more difficult to find artists as crazily devoted to their craft as black metal musicians, it’s indeed a monumental task, and no other CD (at 17 songs I’d hardly call it an EP) could be a better representation of the multifaceted nature of a genre so maligned by its nay-sayers as it is loved by its fans, the ‘Crushing The Holy Trinity’ LP in its three incarnations (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) is now presented to you.
Each part of this LP is composed of different artists, thus, the lineups are as follow:
Father: Deathspell Omega & Stabat Mater
Son: Musta Surma & Clandestine Blaze
Holy Spirit: Mgla & Exordium
Father:
Starting out with a small intro we are welcomed to the first proper track by BM Juggernauts Deathspell Omega, Clocking at 22 minutes (!) “Diabolus Absconditus” is a pretty relentless affair; Starting out soft and mellow, almost melancholic, it quickly changes pace to a full-on black metal assault, with vocalist Mikko Aspa absolutely commanding voice as a main focus of the song. The production is pure black metal genius, nicely done but still retaining the fuzzy atmosphere that any black metal listener is used to, at about the midpoint, the song shifts back to a more ambient/folk track with electric guitars being switched for acoustic guitars, the soft bass lines layered behind the guitars and the occasional drowned out scream change once again to your standard black metal affair, with some sweet drumming and tremolo picking, this song is truly a stand out track, if you can stand its length.
The second song on this CD comes from another one of Aspa’s projects, Stabat Mater, a song with a much slower and sludgy pace, starting out with pretty solid guitar work, it really drives the feeling of raw anger and despair home quite well, dissonant guitars and slow and steady drumming really build up an atmosphere unrivaled here.
Son:
The mood is switched right from the get-go for this one; The first song being work of Musta Surma, with a frantic tempo and relentless bass pedal work it takes on a more crust punk/black metal style, it really is a much welcome switch from the previous album as it only slightly relents around the midway point to give way to a more classic black metal drone, this song is a true gem.
Musta Surma takes a big part of this CD, as it handles the first 4 songs of off it, it really is a display of very powerful and raw energy that most people will certainly enjoy, the fast and almost non-stop punk riffs mixed up with some superb layered BM vocals, they are absolutely on top of their game when firing on all cylinders, like only a true punk band can, absolute standouts are “Kalpeina Helvetin Tulessa” and the amazing “Hän On Pimeys” with is almost crazy Death-n-Roll vibe to it.
That’s not to say this is all Crust Punk in here, Clandestine Blaze picks up where MS left off and layers down a very slow and powerful song in the shape of “Destroyer of the Nations” with a very slow buildup intro, its bass pedal work keeps the song droning along, simple chord progressions and pretty good guitar fills make this a great song for anyone looking to get best of both worlds when it comes to Doom Metal beauty and Black Metal Aggression, the second song “Trophy” fades in and rebirths the sludgy tempos and slow almost crawl-like drumming feel that Destroyer of the Nations had, with a range much lower of your average black metal singer the grunts laid down by again, lead vocalist Mikko Aspa, these are a much welcome change and it showcases the uniqueness this musical genre can have.
Holy Spirit:
Mgla shows a different kind of Crust Punk than the showcased by Musta Surma, with a much more fuzzy production most of the bass work (if any at all) is drowned in the mix, the tremolo-picked riffs and drumming are top-notch and the vocalist showcases itself more than competent with his high register shrieks, ‘Power And Will IV’ shows the band closer to their black metal roots, tremolo picking almost every single note, slow and steady drum fills fill the ambiance making this song a much slower song.
And, just when you think it’s all said and done here, Exordium kicks in.
Starting out with a beautiful intro of perfectly clean vocals sung in Latin, and a brooding piano with brass and strings backing, It really creates an unsettling mood for ‘Tyrannia Martyrum’ An absolute killer song when mixed with ‘Ei Toivottu Vieras’, bringing both beauty on the later on and aggression on the former one, if I am to have one complaint is that the mix for the drums are absolutely terrible here; ‘Craving Vehemence’ follows up on the tremolo-picked riffing, its short but sweet solo around the middle of the song gives it a different twist showing a bit of death metal (a bit of grind too) influences as well, having the bass a bit higher in the mix is a much-welcomed gift too, as the bassist sounds more than capable than keeping up with the chaos.
Listening to an album of mammoth proportions, with 6 Black Metal Juggernauts fighting for attention, is truly a daunting task, but if you can somehow manage to digest all this metal and appreciate it, you might have somehow find the reason why Black Metal has some of the most devoted audience, and if you choose let it suffocate you with its grip, I assure you, you’ll love every second of it.
