Candlemass – Dark Are the Veils of Death: Nightfall Rehearsals & Demos (6/6)
Titling your very first LP “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” is a power move. But the 1986 LP by Candlemass was powerful enough to birth an entire new strain of doom metal dedicated to sonic and emotional grandeur. What else were they gonna call it? Just a year later, the Swedes solidified their lineup, with Messiah Marcolin replacing session vocalist Johan Langquist, and hit the studio to record some demo tracks. These demos would become Candlemass’s second full-length, “Nightfell,” one of the mightiest doom albums ever made, with Marcolin’s powerful vibrato and sense of drama on full display. Those demos were previously available on a triple-LP edition of “Nightfell,” but Gimme’s got them on a single slab alongside a rehearsal recording from 1987. The demo of “Bewitched” has a lumbering, staggering feel that the band would tighten up for the album recording (reminder to watch the music video if you haven’t), Marcolin hits some astounding ‘80s high screams in “Battlecry,” and the rehearsals offer a glimpse of an LP even more epicus and doomicus than the debut in its rawest form. (Did you watch the “Bewitched” video yet?)
Austere – The Stillness of Dissolution
For just two guys, Australia’s Austere have a hefty resume between them, with credits for Autumn’s Dawn, Temple Nightside, and time playing together in Pestilential Shadows and Nazxul, among numerous others. Well, even prolific black metal warriors from the land of Mad Max and wild dingoes have their sensitive side, and Austere gives them the opportunity to wallow in the melancholic sounds of depressive black metal. The duo’s fifth LP, “The Stillness of Dissolution,” unfolds at an unhurried pace. These are lengthy songs with big, open riffing, prominent melodies, and clean vocals used sparingly, not as a cheat code to signify “this is the emotional part, get it?” Because, really, the whole album is the emotional part, with the nine-and-a-half minute closer “Storm Within my Heart” and the almost upbeat harmony vocals on “The Downfall” standing out the most.
Signeri – Signeri
At first, the blend of sounds on the self-titled LP by Sweden’s Signeri might come off like a strange, foreign candy that you’re not sure will be good because you just might not have the palate for it, like a salted licorice, or something made from a fruit you’ve never heard of. There’s a whole lot of what we used to call “occult rock” in the mix, something like the nü-deathrock of Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures, or a less tripped-out Oranssi Pazuzu. Vocalist/bassist Michael Brander flips from clean vocals dripping with goth drama to a black metal crypt-croak, and there’s a malevolent black metal fog hanging over everything. Not a crazy combo so far, but guitarists Lars Bergfält and Ulf Olars are also clearly devoted to the three “V’s” of dissonant riffing, Ved Buens Ende, Virus, and Voivod, creating an atmosphere in which every note feels at least slightly off-kilter. And that’s before left-field moves like the full-on horn section that pops up in “Häxa.” Trust me, it’s tasty!
Nightbearer – Defiance
Hey, At the Gates. Nice melodic death metal you’ve got there on “Slaughter of the Soul.” Be a real shame if someone rubbed dirt and grit all over it by way of the classic HM2 chainsaw buzz of Entombed and Dismember, huh? Actually, in the hands of Germany’s Nightbearer, this approach turns out to be pretty cool, and certainly more inspired than either the mid-2000s wave of ATG-derived metalcore or the legions of generic HM2 worshipers that dial in the sound but not the spirit. For album no. 3, “Defiance,” Nightbearer turned to author Philip Pullman’s universe-hopping dark fantasy trilogy “His Dark Materials” for lyrical inspiration. While they’re nominally young adult fiction, Pullman has no problem admitting that these books “are about killing God,” and if that’s not a neat metaphor for lacing scuzzy Swedeath with catchy melodies, I don’t know what is.
Imha Tarikat – Confessing Darkness
Imha Tarikat guitarist and vocalist Kerem Yilmaz has a great black metal shout. It’s a voice you can imagine commanding an army of orcs on a Mordor battlefield, full of wild-eyed fervor, sometimes dripping with outrage or contempt. At one point on the title track of their fourth LP “Confessing Darkness,” he snarls “YEAH!” and it’s HYPE as HELL, like yes sir, I’m ready to kill some hobbits here. Not to paint Imha Tarikat as a bunch of fantasy nerds; “Confessing Darkness” mines very real, deep, dark emotions like hatred and depression, with the rest of the band (drummer Jerome Reil plus session members billed only as Barth and Marvin) matching Yilmaz’s intensity. Raw, melodic, mostly full-throttle black metal bashed out aggressively, closing with a late-Swans-gone-black-metal interpretation of Thin Lizzy’s intense and ethereal final single, “The Sun Goes Down.”
—Anthony Bartkewicz