Crushing Some Belgian Scum By Nargaroth
Lineup:
Guitar and Vocals - Kanwulf
Live Bass - Akhenaten (best known for Judas Iscariot)
Live Drums - Asbath (full time in Darkestrah)
Nargaroth, easily one of the biggest staples of the underground black metal scene. Essentially, once you get past the mainstream and the well known and historical black metal bands, you will soon reach the name Nargaroth. This is the one man band of Kanwulf, who records in studio with only himself(plus a session drummer). But in this mini-live release, we get our first glimpse of Kanwulf out of the studio(without the aid of a bootleg). And the black metal paradox is given to us on this vinyl release, featuring both brutal and beautiful, intelligent and moronic, lovely and insulting, and the median wonder that this all creates on the general Nargaroth release.
But this vinyl-only release is not meant to present the band in all it's forms, as most live albums attempt to. No, figuring the nature of this limited release, we know that is just for the fans. But this is one interresting release, let me tell you. Starting out with the title track from the phenominal
Black Metal ist Kreig we get the horrid production that we were all expecting. Only the booming drum and the vocals are heard without paying attention. But this actually starts clearing up over time. This song essentially has two main riffs and has a sudden change over about 3/5 of the way through the song. This, this song is very energetic and very fast. A wonderful show-opener is one was ever written.
By this time the production is on par to the studio production of Kanwulf's first two studio outings as soon as we reach track two,
Possessed by Black ****ing Metal. This song chugs along, and it just as entertaining as it was the first time around. This mid-paced song has a great main riff to it that is wonderful in it's simplicity. Probably the song that turns out the best on this whole album.
The 3rd track is one of the three covers from his
Black Metal ist Kreig album.
I Burn for You, originally by Lord Foul, actually has a good place on such a small album. This is also the only cover that has any relevance played live, figuring Lord Foul was a one-demo band that lives on through Nargaroth. An upbeat, black metal song with a somewhat punk feeliung. This song was one of the highlights when it was first performed by Lord Foul, then by Kanwulf.
Finally, we get to the only track not off of
Black Metal ist Kreig. This is Vom Traum die Menschheit zu Töten, the only song to be on
Herbstleyd that didn't involve a keyboard, so it was possible live with this "power trio." This song is a lot slower than anything else on this album, showing the atmospheric side of Kanwulf that comes up on every Nargaroth release(to varying degrees, of course). The straight up lack of speed doesn't serve to lower the spirit created by the first 3/4 of this album, but considering how the drum, bass/guitar, and vocals all fit together, it keeps this mood while lowering it to a more introspective mood at the same time.
So, there are questions that arrive from this. While it is extremely cool to see Kanwulf put out some live material, is it still worth buying? It could have been longer. A lot longer. It could have been released on CD to at least let people listen to it when the 1500 vinyl copys go to 0(1000 black vinyl, 500 picture disks). No complaints on the production, figuring those already into this type of black metal probably already accustomed to this sound. This is something that only a fan of Nargaroth or those already accustomed to the underground black metal scene should buy. For those unfamiliar to this band and enjoy getting live material first, not this time.
Pros: 1)Nargaroth live!
2)All songs chosen are good songs
Cons: 1)Not long enough.
2)Production at the begining and end might annoy some.
3)Only available at [url]http://www.no-colours-records.de/[/url] which is almost impossible to know how you're paying unless you speak German.
FINAL SCORE: 3/5
Note: If anyone knows how to pay credit card on this website, or someway that doesn't turn into a COD, please tell me. I'm tired of only having a pirated version of this.
