Since the announcement of the recordings in 2016 this is an album that was long awaited, and being Immortal my first contact with black metal – probably this is also true for many people – this awaiting couldn’t be different for me. I always put them side by side with great heroes of heavy metal. There’s fierceness, power and gloom in their music, crucial elements of the genre; but there’s also a vivid thrill, a kind of joy that can be felt in the blind euphoria of their dark riffs and lyrics, something I don’t find in other black metal bands.

After Abbath’s exit from the band, and after the issues relating to that, it was plausible that people could be concerned about the future of the band. The announcement of new recordings have happened in December 2016 and just now, July 2018, we have Northern Chaos Gods. For many people Abbath with his outgoing personality was the face of Immortal, but I don’t see as honest the doubts concerning the integrity of the band after his exit. Immortal, since the beginning, has had the lyrical work from Demonaz – which is also a crucial element, though Blashyrkh can be deemed as a creation of both of them – and the musical choices in this new album are evidence that Immortal’s music is not just Abbath’s property. I respect Abbath as a great artist and personality of heavy metal, but Immortal is greater than Abbath.

The first impression you can get from the album is it’s straightness: riffs in a classic thrash pace allied to blast beats make the main tone of the album. Usually it can be taken as a poor option if the band is just waffling out, but this is not the case. You have classic here but it doesn’t sound as more of the same, it’s good metal to listen on a daily basis. I don’t know if someone have come up with a formula, but there are works in which the classical things sounds as new, and this album is a good example of that.

I can feel the presence of Sons of The Northern Darkness and Blizard Beasts in this album, and it also remembers me of At the Heart of Winter – my first contact with Immortal – due to the well constructed arpeggios in Gates of Blashyrkh and in Where The Mountains Rise. These cold and cavernous arpeggios give the tone I wished to feel in this album: for me this the most precious element in their music, for it seems to ignite all the sense of coldness and darkness in the music, therefore giving to the listener a mindscape of Blashyrkh. This also seems to say to the fan that despite the issues the band has faced, good old Immortal is still here.

I also liked to listen to Demonaz’s vocal in this album. It is another piece of classic black metal: a harsh vocal singing in an epic style, truly telling a story and setting a mindscape. The drums from Horgh are quite good too: it’s focused in the tradition of blast beats but it also has something inventive in the composition. The entire album is a good piece but I must point Dark Ravendark as a really great track: it has all of the above plus the inspired tremolos that give the song an epic attitude. It’s hard for me to give an 80 for this album because I really expected something huge, but if they keep composing songs as this last one I will certainly have a good reason to raise my stakes.

With this release I truly hope they start an international tour. I haven’t had the pleasure to see the original set up on stage but I will gladly go to a concert in this new phase of the band. They are here an they keep doing good metal. May they keep like this.

Since the announcement of the recordings in 2016 this is an album that was long awaited, and being Immortal my first contact with black metal - probably this is also true for many people - this awaiting couldn't be different for me.  I always put them side by side with great heroes of heavy metal. There's fierceness, power and gloom in their music, crucial elements of the genre; but there's also a vivid thrill, a kind of joy that can be felt in the blind euphoria of their dark riffs and lyrics, something I don't find in other black metal bands.

After Abbath's exit from the band, and after the issues relating to that, it was  plausible that people could be concerned about the future of the band. The announcement of new recordings  have happened in December 2016 and just now, July 2018, we have Northern Chaos Gods. For many people Abbath with his outgoing personality was the face of Immortal, but I don't see as honest the doubts concerning the integrity of the band after his exit. Immortal, since the beginning, has had the lyrical work from Demonaz - which is also a crucial element, though Blashyrkh can be deemed as a creation of both of them - and the musical choices in this new album are evidence that Immortal's music is not just Abbath's property.  I respect Abbath as a great artist and personality of heavy metal, but Immortal is greater than Abbath.

The first impression you can get from the album is it's straightness, and by that I mean a sound centered in plain construction, without bad surprises : riffs in a thrash pace allied to blast beats make the main tone of the album. Usually it can be taken as a poor option if the band is just waffling out, but this is not the case. You have classic here but it doesn't sound as more of the same, it's good metal to listen on a daily basis. I don't know if someone have come up with a formula, but there are works in which the classical things sounds as new, and this album is a good example of that.

I can feel the presence of  Sons of The Northern Darkness and Blizard Beasts in this album, and it also remembers me of At the Heart of Winter - my first contact with Immortal - due to the well constructed arpeggios in Gates of Blashyrkh  and in Where The Mountains Rise. These cold and cavernous arpeggios give the tone I wished to feel in this album: for me this the most precious element in their music, for it seems to ignite all the sense of coldness and darkness in the music, therefore  giving to the listener a mindscape of Blashyrkh. This also seems to say to the fan that despite the issues the band has faced, good old Immortal is still here. I also liked to listen to Demonaz's vocals in this album, which is a true element of black metal: a harsh voice singing in an epic style, truly telling a story and setting a mindscape. The drums from Horgh are quite good too: it's focused in the tradition of blast beats but it also has something inventive in the composition. The entire album is a good piece but I must point Dark Ravendark as a really great track: it has all of the above plus the inspired tremolos that give the song an epic attitude.

What I most liked from Northern Chaos Gods was it's objectivity and tradition. As I stated before some works are constructed under common and traditional arrangements and even so they sound as a novel thing. You listen to the music as if you had already listened to that, but there's still a difference, an essence or force that brings forth this album as the truly fresh work that it actually  is. I can say that this impression is the result of Demonaz's vocals in the album, for the listener is not used to it; even though it's hard to point it this is truly the case. The album sounds as a lost classic to me, a very nice lost classic.

With this release I truly hope they start an international tour. I haven't had the pleasure to see the original set up on stage but I will gladly go to a concert in this new phase of the band. They are here an they keep doing good metal. May they keep like this.

Without going into a "Cannibal Corpse are so overrated" rant, I will just go ahead and say I've been familiar with Cannibal Corpse for several years and I haven't gotten into them. However, Vile sort of feels like a breath of fresh air for Cannibal Corpse. I wrote a review for its predeccesor, The Bleeding, which was the last album to feature Chris Barnes. I mistakenly raved about it basically because it had 2 cool tracks and honestly I don't even remember the rest of the album.

Vile dosen't represent a major stylistic change for the band, however at the same time it doesn't pick up where The Bleeding left off. Instead of continuing down the accesible path, Vile is sort of a rebirth of Cannibal Corpse's earlier sound, now with clearer production, and more refined riffs. More on that later, now I am going to address the most important aspect of Vile. George "Corpsegrinder" Fischer joins the band. His style isn't far from Chris Barnes's indecipherable growls, and he fits the band quite well. The main difference is that he is louder and easier to understand (part of that may be the production), but Corpsegrinder definately brings something new to the music.

As for the songs themselves, none of them are all that memorable. There is a lot of typical midtempo riffage, and there aren't many deviations from that. While tracks such as "Bloodlands" and "Relentless Beating" are distinctive enough to make a decent name for themselves, I would hardly describe anything on Vile as catchy. That to me is the number one fallback of this album. I like catchy death metal with headbang-able groove riffs; I don't particularly care for constant plodding. At this point I am getting too negative, so lets look at the positive aspects.

The most enjoyable part of Vile is the atmosphere. The way the songs plod along makes everything blend in and seem ominous, which does create a cool effect if one is in the right mindset. Also, earlier I mentioned the production. I fucking love the sound of this album. The mix is almost perfect. I was expecting a more modern production style like that of their latest albums, and while that is partially here, the rawness is still present. This allows the for everything to come through clearly enough to be hear well while keeping a sound that fits the aggressive music.

I am not a fan of Cannibal Corpse so I never plan on actually buying this album, but if you are a fan who already has their classic albums, it is probably worth buying. For me, like every thing else by Cannibal Corpse, I am content with listening to it on YouTube or any kind kf music streaming service.

Ahh... Eld one of the many paramount releases of this skilled and undoubtedly original Norwegian band, often unfairly seen as an album inferior to 1994's Frost. It doesn't seem lucrative or even that much of a good idea to compare the two on terms of quality; they're both great, accomplished pieces of art differing in sonic landscape and atmosphere.

Both Frost and Eld have their share of epic guitar riffs and Grutle's raspy vocals, but atmospheres are a bit different. Frost was appropriately bleak and cold whereas Eld feels warmer, more welcoming in a way, probably due to dissimilar production. You may think "Wait, warm and welcoming black metal album? That's an oxymoron right there," but Enslaved make it work, believe it or not.

Let's finally get to the music. "(793) Slaget om Lindisfarne" is one hell of an intro track. It begins with a synth melody that never feels overlong or out of place. It sets the mood right from the start - to prepare for battle. At 16 minutes and 10 seconds, it remains Enslaved's longest song to date, but never overstays its welcome. Later on the more pummeling riffs begin to inhabit the album and never seem uninspired. Clean vocals in "Hordalendingen" and "Kvasirs blod" are magnificient and hauntingly beautiful, painting these Norwegians' musical canvas with Vikinglike vigor and bravery, sounding ancient and primordial.

Drumming is strong and relentless. How Harald Helgeson managed not to get tired while playing his parts is beyond me. He is an excellent support to Bjørnson's imaginitive riffs. Acoustic touches spread across the album are wondrous and build yet another layer of epicness around tracks speaking of ancient Viking history and mythology. Grutle's growls and clean vocals are both intimidating and strong.

It's a shame really that Eld keeps being largely overlooked by the black metal community that seems to prefer Hordanes land (which I find a bit tedious) and Frost, for Eld is Enslaved at their most monumental, really showing the measureless talent of this awesome Norwegian group.

Oh, and the end of the title track never fails to crack me up.

How many “original era” thrash metal bands have reformed this side of the millennium? I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a lot, possibly too many, which does make one wonder whether there were really so many underground thrash groups in the ‘80s or whether they are simply making up demos that sound old as a means for promoting their comeback albums. Infrared hung around for five years at the end of the ‘80s, but only managed to squeeze out a four-track demo that later become the basis for 2016’s reformation release No Peace. Two years later and here we are again with a totally new set of songs.

As thrash comebacks go, this second album from the Canadians is at least slightly welcome due to the fact that it doesn’t make a habit of throwing out familiar tropes willy-nilly and hoping they will be accepted. Comparisons to Saviours could be drawn from Metallica’s late-‘80s period of mild experimentation, as well as Testament or Forbidden’s pace and vocal style, which comes out most clearly on closer “Genocide Convention”. That should be a hint that this isn’t a straightforward attempt to revisit youthful speed and aggression, but a more roundabout trip through technicality and plenty of melody. In fact, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that Saviours doesn’t really become a thrash release at all until its second half, when “All in Favour” and “Genocide Convention” bury that particular hatchet with the past in formidable style. As those song titles might be enough to guess from, political frustration and social ills take up the majority of Armin Kamal’s lyrics. Of course, that doesn’t preclude a set of songs averaging over six minutes apiece from taking plenty of time building up to certain high points and heavy moments on each of the eight cuts.

A minor issue with such a lengthy approach is that this kind of hard-hitting steel-toecapped thrash isn’t meant to hang around for too long, so the repetitive chugging during “They Kill for Gods” or the drawn-out balladic structure of “The Fallen” won’t tickle the pickle of anyone looking for a more thorough beating. Some similar techniques in the build and release sections on “Father of Lies” might also prove frustrating for those in search of action rather than atmosphere. That said, there are benefits to taking some pace off the previous album’s more direct approach, not least that the anthemic nature of the choruses get full support, especially when “The Demagogue” drops the speed for a driving chorus or “Project Karma” invites the listener to roar out the climax of its refrain. That means that some of the middle of the album would benefit from trimming down, but the overall effect is of enough detail and highlights to sustain the experience.

The sticking point for anyone on the verge of investing in another thrash group is the durability of the songs and perhaps also the tastiness of the musicians’ chops, on which points Infrared can’t absolutely swing the balance. It’s true that there is enough replay value in the explorative virtues of the relaxed mid-section to “All in Favour” and the rhythmic technicality on display during the title track, while a few details will seep into the consciousness as familiarity is built up; for example, the tasty classic melody inserted into “The Demagogue”, which is only played twice as if to tempt listeners to return. The musicianship, on the other hand, won’t blow any minds even if Infrared resist rehashing familiar re-thrash tropes, such as slam riffs and too many gang vocals, though the latter suit “All in Favour” on a thematic level. Essentially, the group offer a competent showing from each instrument without pushing anything particular to the fore, forming a careful balance between lead playing, thick groove, and mild atmosphere. As such, Saviours won’t be at the top of the reunion thrash pile, but you could do a lot worse than taking a chance on the Canadians.

I hear ya. Luckily, it's a good draft. Some sentences get convoluted, and your points are frequently sidetracked by qualifications. Streamline word count, and be sure your ideas connect.


How many “original era” thrash metal bands have reformed this side of the millennium? I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a lot, possibly too many, which does make one wonder whether there were really so many underground thrash groups in the ‘80s or whether they are simply making up demos that sound old as a means for promoting their comeback albums (... people do this?). Infrared hung around for five years at the end of the ‘80s, but only managed to squeeze out a four-track demo that later become the basis for 2016’s reformation release No Peace. Two years later and here we are again with a totally new set of songs.

(The main point diffuses, and by the end I don't get it. I have no context for this dynamic in the thrash scene, so already I'm questioning both the point and thinking, "what does this have to do with the album if these guys don't do that"? Thus far, I know it's a thrash album by a band that's had a sporadic output. Learning that was too hard.

Introductory paragraphs are low-stakes abstracts. It's the first thing people read when they find their way to the piece. A well-crafted introductory paragraph will generally summarize the thrust of the piece without rendering the body redundant. )


As thrash comebacks go, this second album from the Canadians is at least slightly welcome due to the fact that it doesn’t make a habit of throwing out familiar tropes willy-nilly and hoping they will be accepted (Speculation that seems unnecessary. It's enough to give a band the compliment they deserve. Without a clearer picture of the trend they're avoiding, reference to that trend is confusing). Comparisons to Saviours could be drawn from Metallica’s late-‘80s period of mild experimentation, as well as Testament or Forbidden’s pace and vocal style, which comes out most clearly on closer “Genocide Convention”. That should be a hint that this isn’t a straightforward attempt to revisit youthful speed and aggression, but a more roundabout trip through technicality and plenty of melody. In fact, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that Saviours doesn’t really become a thrash release at all until its second half (What is it like in the first half?), when “All in Favour” and “Genocide Convention” bury that particular hatchet with the past in formidable style (Confused about what hatchet they're burying, seeing as I wasn't clear on the related conflict. Subject gets vague). As those song titles might be enough to guess from, political frustration and social ills take up the majority of Armin Kamal’s lyrics. Of course, that doesn’t preclude a set of songs (How would lyrical content preclude substantial arrangements? It's almost as if .. something's missing ... ) averaging over six minutes apiece from taking plenty of time building up to certain high points and heavy moments on each of the eight cuts.

(Oh here it is. This point is the context for the point above. Work on merging these paragraphs and finding a topic point at which to break.)
A minor issue with such a lengthy approach is that this kind of hard-hitting steel-toecapped thrash isn’t meant to hang around for too long, so the repetitive chugging during “They Kill for Gods” or the drawn-out balladic structure of “The Fallen” won’t tickle the pickle of anyone looking for a more thorough beating (This, on the other hand, is a long sentence that works fine). Some similar techniques in the build and release sections on “Father of Lies” might also prove frustrating for those in search of action rather than atmosphere. That said, there are benefits to taking some pace off the previous album’s more direct approach, not least that the anthemic nature of the choruses get full support, especially when “The Demagogue” drops the speed for a driving chorus or “Project Karma” invites the listener to roar out the climax of its refrain. That means that some of the middle of the album would benefit from trimming down, but the overall effect is of enough detail and highlights to sustain the experience.
(This paragraph is a good one to compare all of the others to. It sticks to its theme, reliably developing its relevant points.)

The sticking point for anyone on the verge of investing in another thrash group is the durability of the songs and perhaps also the tastiness of the musicians’ chops, on which points Infrared can’t absolutely swing the balance (Starting to lose me again.). It’s true that there is enough replay value in the explorative virtues of the relaxed mid-section to “All in Favour” and the rhythmic technicality on display during the title track, while a few details will seep into the consciousness as familiarity is built up; for example, the tasty classic melody inserted into “The Demagogue”, which is only played twice as if to tempt listeners to return (Crazy huge. What's going on). The musicianship, on the other hand, won’t blow any minds even if Infrared resist rehashing familiar re-thrash tropes, such as slam riffs and too many gang vocals, though the latter suit “All in Favour” on a thematic level (Meandery, probably best in two sentences). Essentially, the group offer a competent showing from each instrument without pushing anything particular to the fore, forming a careful balance between lead playing, thick groove, and mild atmosphere (Good sentence. Try putting it in the introduction. It's concise and evocative). As such, Saviours won’t be at the top of the reunion thrash pile, but you could do a lot worse than taking a chance on the Canadians.


At its heart, it's a straightforward, capable review. While you work on it, be sure to preserve the parts that work well. Good draft.

At some point you'll want to look into commas. I had to look up some usage the other day when I was editing a proposal for my boss. Nothing really helps it click like a good example does: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writ ... ommas.html

"When I first grabbed this cassette I was pretty interested from the start, it's not very often that you see a cover art that is only a single image with no band logo or writing of any kind. When I got the chance to listen to it I was floored! The sounds that these three people produce is quite this, murky and has a ton of atmosphere to it!


As others have mentioned it would seem that the atmosphere these Quebec natives of the cascadian variety have a unique type of feeling. There isn't quite as "open" of a sound, it feels more as if your underneath the earth in a huge warehouse style chasm that has walls which have seen tons of erosion from decades of ground water seeping over them. I know this is all descriptive, however they just nail this form of atmosphere so well and it really floored me!


Despite the lack of a bassist at this time the two guitars and drums on this release are very thick and come across quite well on the tape. There are moments where the atmosphere is so thick you could have it spilling over you, then there are times where they open up a bit and really let the riff / lyrics pull you in. This album is three long tracks which seamlessly flow through one another, I feel like this was done on purpose and it really works wonders! Each time I put this on I end up listening to the whole thing which is a great feeling.

I totally recommend this if you are into black metal (This is the first time you say what kind of music this is) and especially if you're into atmospheric black metal. I could even see this help get more people interested in the genre, and am honestly surprised you don't hear more about these dudes or this band."

Prog era <b>Holocaust</b> is an interesting story. They started as a NWOBHM band back in the early 80’s with their debut. Ten years later they released this album titled “Hypnosis of Birds”, which I’m sure is exactly what an A.I would vomit out if you fed it every single thing Deepak Chopra has ever written. Something must have happened inside the mind of lead member John Mortimer between that period, because the music here is fundamentally different from previous records: more complex, acoustic at times and progressive at heart.

First two songs are excellent, the title track starting with prog/doom inspired riffs that don't let go for the duration of the whole album. Transitions here are smooth, changing between mid-paced riffs to mid-paced riffs with ease, giving of the slight sense that the music wants to break free of its own slow tempo, but seemingly never really able to do so. “The Tower” amps the complexity just <i>very</i> slightly, with a more prominent bass, showcasing a dose of technicality with the instrument and always sounding like a ton of fun. Seriously, the bass work on the album is really great, good inflection and cool use of it overall, very enjoyable.

Although this guys are from the U.K, the album is very reminiscent of USPM of the “white collar” type, which is the more melodic, romantic and mystical variety. Think something along the lines of <b>Crimson Glory</b>’s debut in terms of sound production, even though this gives off a different vibe altogether. More airy, serious and esoteric in nature. Add in some small <b>Voivod</b> influences on the riff department and you can maybe begin to describe this record.

One thing you’ll notice is the weird approach to the vocals here. Mortimer uses a sort of minimalistic, very clean and at first seemingly emotionally detached singing style, and almost never breaks out of character throughout the album. He sounds vulnerable, very tired and almost hopeless. Not unlike the music, his vocal style seems to have a deep longing, always trying to break free of its own restrictions, looking up for a better place. Some of my favorite sections from the album are when he briefly deviates a bit from the monotony and shows signs of anger and even a sort of fleeting hope, making those moments even more emotional and lasting.

“Book of Seasons” is very cool, with a very creepy flute and weird drumming, and the chorus is also quite chilling, with the repeating mantra of “sun and moon, sun and moon, sun and moon” being an album highlight. “Summer Tides” is a gorgeous acoustic instrumental.

Special mention to the final song “Caledonia”, you can feel the whole album was leading into it. It’s a powerful ballad and is the culmination of all the oppression and gloom building up and finally setting our protagonist free at last. It’s a very cathartic moment, even though Mortimer still has this lack of confidence in his singing, vaguely unsure of what this journey will have in mind for him. Good stuff.

The song “The Small Hours” is my least favorite song in here. It sounds really out of place and breaks the atmosphere of the album quite a bit. It’s not even a bad song, it’s just doesn’t feel at home in this album. Everything I praised about the album is not present here. It’s a rocking tune, with some bit of sleaze on the vocals. Would have liked this song either as a bonus track at the end or removed completely.

Overall, this is a great album that I can’t recommend enough. If you are looking for something different, with an arcane air to it, and some subtle undertones, look no further.

<i>We cross the Rubicon at birth, the point of no return, no return…</i>

Matriarch is Illinois -core band Veil of Maya's fifth release, and it marks a rather drastic change in their style--adopting a new vocalist (though I swear it sounds like there's two vocalists working together in classic -core fashion at times), the band also went for a much more melodic sound this time around, enough to be more Metalcore than Deathcore. As a Metalcore album, Matriarch embodies its genre quite well--to a fault at times, even.

Production-wise, this is pure squeaky-clean Metalcore. The guitars use a very punchy Djent-style, especially given the prevelance of palm-muting in classic Djent fashion. The drums however, are mixed so low that they're damn near impossible to hear unless you're looking for them, which is strange not only in and of itself, but also because the two songs where they're actually audible are also the two best songs on the album. To be fair, they are never doing anything interesting at all, most just regularly keeping time while the guitarists chugga-chugga to the point of the guitars being borderline percussion instruments themselves. The vocals are very standard Deathcore highs and lows, but they sound nice and powerful. The all-dreaded clean singing is...actually quite rare, only really being prominent on a few songs like Mikasa, and it is quite good, unless you absolutely despise high-pitched -core cleans.

The bass is utterly inaudible, but fuck it, if Metal and Metalcore/Deathcore share anything it's nigh-inexistent bass guitar.

Structure-wise, Matriarch relies on a very particular progcore/djent method of songwriting: songs are not so much driven by riffs that are repeated and expounded upon, but rather rely on a chaotic and messy set of chugs and technical tapped notes to create sort of "micro-riffs" that are quickly discarded and then replaced. Almost no lick or "riff" in this album is brought back, and most are but 1-3 seconds long at that, interspered with djent chugs. At best, this style excites a listener into anticipating what new idea a band can come up with next; at worst, however, it results in chaotic and messy noodling where a good idea is quickly thrown away and lies in a sea of obnoxious wankery and chugs.

Veil of Maya generally remains on the good side of things, but the lack of riffs in this album are indeed a problem, exemplified in track 10, Teleute. This song is the only one in the album to actually be anything close to riff-driven, utilizing a straight-up death metal riff starting from a minute in, and returning to it multiple times. The result is probably the strongest one of them all (though unfortunately the song uses its riff for only about a third of its runtime), and makes it very clear that Veil of Maya could easily retain a riff-driven structure alongside their chaotic djent style noodling and chugs. The other standout song besides Teleute is Mikasa, a song which does the exact opposite of the former: it's absurdly cheesy and poppy Metalcore wankery for three minutes straight, and while it embodies every flaw of the album, it's cheesy enough to work--"ALIIIIIIIIGN THE STONES" is an affectionate meme amongst -core fans for a reason, after all.

The lack of noticeable and lengthy riffs in the other songs is painfully noticeable, meaning that the album runs into a very common problem amongst -core albums: everything runs together into a long indistinguishable set of chugs and djent noodling. The songs are good, mind you. They just lack core identities, having no distinct riffs amongst each other to feel unique, instead being chaotic mashes of mathy/technical sections. Each song has to be remembered in full, because any one section in a song usually isn't terribly rememberable on their own. Each song is also has 1-2 of the dreaded breakdowns. There's not much of note. They're -core breakdowns.

There is one solo in the album. One. It's on Teleute (wow, guys, almost like the more Metal elements you bring in the better your songs get!), and it was done by a guest guitarist. This album came out in 2015, guys. ERRA, August Burns Red, and Carnifex had all released albums with strong solos by then. Being -core does not mean you get to skimp out on the solos. You clearly have the skill to make some and Teleute's is pretty kickass so you can clearly write them too.

In the end, an album should feel almost like a musical journey...and Matriarch just doesn't. It's final song, Lisbeth, is basically identical in length to every other song and just ends without any feeling of denouement. You could put it nearly anywhere else in the album and it would fit (in fact that's true of basically every song on it). There's no epic final solo, intense melodic emotion, or even pure epic length. Matriarch just...ends.

It sounds like I'm slagging on the album, but I did enjoy it. VoM clearly knows how to play their guitars, and when they're chaotic song structure works, it works quite well. Matriarch simply embodies many of the flaws of its genre at the same time, and shies away from incorporating more straight Metal elements that could help it--all the more odd when the song that did is also by far the most memorable. More songs like Teleute, please, or just go full -core cheese like Mikasa.

came [seventh] and lost the job - 49%

Let's start with a nonsensical little conspiracy theory thingy. I have a feeling that after the release of Peste Noire's debut album, La Sanie des siècles, Famine decided to celebrate it. And celebrate he did, and thoroughly so, so thoroughly in fact, that the big fat inspiration came to him and inspired him to write the next album, Folkfuck folie, the morning after. I mean, why else would it be such a hangover after the masterful Sanie and sound like one as well? And then, some time later, between the summer of 2007 and the fall of 2008, a terrible accident happened - a barrel of eau-de-vie (read: moonshine) fell on the shiny chrome dome that Famine seems to always carry on his noggin. But you can't drink your glass away, and neither could Famine, instead pouring it drop by drop into some usually pretty good and always pretty whimsical music - or, as it were, ungodly noise, if you're not into that kind of thing. Oh well, I don't blame you if you aren't.

And now, four albums, countless drops and almost 10 years down the drain, the inspiration is almost gone. Why almost? Well, as evident by the fact Famine signed to the Ukrainian label Militant Zone and shot the music video for "Le dernier putsch" in Kiev, he switched from the good old eau-de-vie to the not-so-good old Ukrainian beer. Well, why, even beer can inspire the guts out of you, especially in large amounts and/or combined with something a little stronger. And Ukrainian beer is, to say the least, hard to consume without large amounts of something a lot stronger. And it shows, since the music here is still characteristically Peste Noire and there are a few moments here that recall Famine and company's previous works - at least on the traditional part.

That's right, the traditional part. See, this album is, by concept, supposed to be a split between the Famine we all know and love (or don't know and don't love, your choice) and the same old Famine cosplaying some chain- (no, I'm talking about a different kind of chain) and blackface-wearing, in Famine's own terms, degenerate, with the "traditional part" on the A-side and the "degenerate part" on the B-side. And although it doesn't come first, I'd like to gloss over the degenerate part now, since bad news are supposed to delivered first. So, let's drink to the birth of a new genre - French NS horror blackened trap! Well, "new"... there isn't really that much new about it, you know, or interesting, for that matter. It's just Famine spewing bile in his trademark "goblin gangster on his period" manner over some frankly anemic and plodding grooves (that aren't really groovy, no less), sometimes sampled and other times "played" on the good ol' TR-808. It's just... no. I may not be the biggest fan of hip hop, but the fact Peste Noire, a band I like a lot, ventured into the realms of bars and beats actually got me excited, especially given that I like "Le dernier putsch" and the ending of "Dans ma nuit", where Famine experimented with rapping, but this excitement lasted precisely until I heard the teaser single "Aristocrasse". It doesn't suck enough to be actively bad, but I doubt it's really worth your while if you don't speak French, aren't really into rap, and don't endorse the NS ideology. See how the last two things amusingly contradict each other - I feel like this "degenerate part" a troll move from Famine, but flippancy should be backed up by some music that either kicks at least seven asses or sucks at least seven blue whale penises, not used as an excuse to be mediocre. Here's hoping Famine succeeded in taking the piss out of his Nazi comrades, but hip hop isn't all like that, while this trash can't even pass for a good experiment for reasons already described above. And the brutal butchery of "Des médecins malades" is nothing if not unforgivable, approaching Russian rap in terms of both music and awfulness. Oh well, at least "Turbofascisme" sort of made me nod my head a little bit.

Now onto the traditional part, and it doesn't save the day either. It's supposed to be some sort of a return to the roots - no connection to the Roots as in the great hip hop group, or the Czech dark metallers Root, although I'd rather listen to and recommend both of those bands over this - but although it's the "blackest" Peste Noire has ever been, the roots it returns to seem to be rotten, and so the result ends up sharing more than a few things in common with the aforementioned Folkfuck folie. It's also predominantly fast and aggressive, manages to come across as monotonous, unremarkable and tiring, and has a majorly annoying production. But while Folie was noisy and chaotic, and its production ground my gears because of how noisy, buzzy and tinny it was, and not in a typical raw black metal sense, more like some old punk recording, the production here does the same by being overly polished and tinny, and the chaos present on Folie, and all other Peste Noire recordings for that matter, is absent, with careful consideration taking its place, so much so that even the rare "wacky" moments sound predictable and like they're supposed to be there. And isn't that a mortal sin for a band like KPN?

On the other hand, at least there still are some moments here that can be called good without . Hell, "Songe viking" and "Raid éclair" are actually pretty nice if I abstain from comparisons. The former has a pretty nice clean-sung bit towards the end, and the latter features a little of Peste Noire's characteristic oddness and Alexei from M8L8TH, also the head of Militant Zone, "singing" his lines probably better than he does in his main band. Accordingly, the riffs in those tracks are the best on the album, even though they're played in that same old dissonant-yet-melodic arpeggiated manner, the guitar tone reminds me of mosquitoes more than ever, and the first riff of "Raid éclair" sounds quite similar to that of Burzum's "Dauði Baldrs". As for the other two tracks, discounting the interlude, they're pretty boring, "666 millions d'esclaves et de déchets" sounds a lot worse than on the raw and energetic Macabre transcendance demo, but at least both "666 millions..." and "Aux armes!" have some pretty nice solos, and the samples and trumpets in "Aux armes!" make me think of The Ruins of Beverast's "Summer Decapitation Ritual" for some inexplicable reason. But, of course, this album doesn't have the dark, experimental and mechanistic yet organic brilliance of TRoB or the endless but sensibly restrained and beautiful solos of, say, Pagan Altar, so it's not like you can get a lot of juice from this squeeze. But at least it's passable.

So to sum it up, Split turned out half "okay" in a mediocre way and half bad in a mediocre way, a six out of ten for the traditional part and a four out of ten for the degenerate part respectively. If you want something in the vein of the charmingly offbeat, boozy and kitschy older KPN albums that doesn't resort to mindless copying, there's this Swiss band called Ungfell, the fusion of black metal with hip hop has been done better by Diapsiquir, and for your fix of French folk-tinged melodic black metal you might as well come to Aorlhac - who, moreover, have released another awesome album in 2018, although Peste Noire fans would find more to enjoy on Aorlhac's 2010 album, La cité des vents. And regarding Split, well, a Peste Noire album that can be replaced is definitely a pretty disappointing one to say the least. And this disappointment is more bitter still given that Split is far from hopeless, instead seeming like a half-hearted effort and like Famine could obviously do way better but simply didn't care.

came [seventh] and lost the job - 49%
(Unfortunately, I don't know what this means .. lost the job)

Let's start with a nonsensical little conspiracy theory thingy. I have a feeling that after the release of Peste Noire's debut album, La Sanie des siècles, Famine decided to celebrate it. And celebrate he did, and thoroughly so, so thoroughly in fact, that the big fat inspiration came to him and inspired him to write the next album, Folkfuck folie, the morning after. I mean, why else would it be such a hangover after the masterful Sanie and sound like one as well? And then, some time later, between the summer of 2007 and the fall of 2008, a terrible accident happened - a barrel of eau-de-vie (read: moonshine) fell on the shiny chrome dome that Famine seems to always carry on his noggin. But you can't drink your glass away, and neither could Famine, instead pouring it drop by drop into some usually pretty good and always pretty whimsical music - or, as it were, ungodly noise, if you're not into that kind of thing. Oh well, I don't blame you if you aren't.

(It's pretty difficult to follow the train of thought. It veers into a truly confusing metaphor at the end. What are you trying to say here, without any metaphor at all?)

And now, four albums, countless drops and almost 10 years down the drain, the inspiration is almost gone. Why almost? Well, as evident by the fact Famine signed to the Ukrainian label Militant Zone and shot the music video for "Le dernier putsch" in Kiev, he switched from the good old eau-de-vie to the not-so-good old Ukrainian beer. Well, why, even beer can inspire the guts out of you, especially in large amounts and/or combined with something a little stronger. And Ukrainian beer is, to say the least, hard to consume without large amounts of something a lot stronger. And it shows, since the music here is still characteristically Peste Noire and there are a few moments here that recall Famine and company's previous works - at least on the traditional part.

(I'm just not clear on what's going on in the beer metaphor. Also, what kind of music is this? Two paragraphs in and we still aren't sure.)

That's right, the traditional part. See, this album is, by concept, supposed to be a split between the Famine we all know and love (or don't know and don't love, your choice) and the same old Famine cosplaying some chain- (no, I'm talking about a different kind of chain) and blackface-wearing, in Famine's own terms, degenerate, with the "traditional part" on the A-side and the "degenerate part" on the B-side. And although it doesn't come first, I'd like to gloss over the degenerate part now, since bad news are supposed to delivered first. So, let's drink to the birth of a new genre - French NS horror blackened trap! Well, "new"... there isn't really that much new about it, you know, or interesting, for that matter. It's just Famine spewing bile in his trademark "goblin gangster on his period" manner over some frankly anemic and plodding grooves (that aren't really groovy, no less), sometimes sampled and other times "played" on the good ol' TR-808. It's just... no. I may not be the biggest fan of hip hop, but the fact Peste Noire, a band I like a lot, ventured into the realms of bars and beats actually got me excited, especially given that I like "Le dernier putsch" and the ending of "Dans ma nuit", where Famine experimented with rapping, but this excitement lasted precisely until I heard the teaser single "Aristocrasse". It doesn't suck enough to be actively bad, but I doubt it's really worth your while if you don't speak French, aren't really into rap, and don't endorse the NS ideology. See how the last two things amusingly contradict each other - I feel like this "degenerate part" a troll move from Famine, but flippancy should be backed up by some music that either kicks at least seven asses or sucks at least seven blue whale penises, not used as an excuse to be mediocre. Here's hoping Famine succeeded in taking the piss out of his Nazi comrades, but hip hop isn't all like that, while this trash can't even pass for a good experiment for reasons already described above. And the brutal butchery of "Des médecins malades" is nothing if not unforgivable, approaching Russian rap in terms of both music and awfulness. Oh well, at least "Turbofascisme" sort of made me nod my head a little bit.

("I doubt it's really worth your while if you don't speak French, aren't really into rap, and don't endorse the NS ideology"
Well there goes any likelihood of me listening to this..

It's hard to follow what you're saying because it takes a long time for you to get to it. Preamble isn't all that interesting unless you tell one story in order to lead to another, and the two somehow connect. If you aren't doing that, just get to the point: The split isn't between two bands, but one band doing two kinds of music. Think of the simplest way to say what you mean, and then figure out clear ways to add any thoughts you want to be sure you cover. Sentences can basically handle one idea, at most two. Qualifications to the main ideas have to be short, or else it's really easy for readers to get lost. If you were saying all this out loud, I'd probably be able to keep up. The focus is too swingy and the sentences are trying to cover too much ground.)

Now onto the traditional part, and it doesn't save the day either. It's supposed to be some sort of a return to the roots - no connection to the Roots as in the great hip hop group, or the Czech dark metallers Root, although I'd rather listen to and recommend both of those bands over this - but although it's the "blackest" Peste Noire has ever been, the roots it returns to seem to be rotten, and so the result ends up sharing more than a few things in common with the aforementioned Folkfuck folie. It's also predominantly fast and aggressive, manages to come across as monotonous, unremarkable and tiring, and has a majorly annoying production. But while Folie was noisy and chaotic, and its production ground my gears because of how noisy, buzzy and tinny it was, and not in a typical raw black metal sense, more like some old punk recording, the production here does the same by being overly polished and tinny, and the chaos present on Folie, and all other Peste Noire recordings for that matter, is absent, with careful consideration taking its place, so much so that even the rare "wacky" moments sound predictable and like they're supposed to be there. And isn't that a mortal sin for a band like KPN?

(Better. Compare this to the paragraph above it, and you'll see a big difference in clarity.)

On the other hand, at least there still are some moments here that can be called good without . Hell, "Songe viking" and "Raid éclair" are actually pretty nice if I abstain from comparisons. The former has a pretty nice clean-sung bit towards the end, and the latter features a little of Peste Noire's characteristic oddness and Alexei from M8L8TH, also the head of Militant Zone, "singing" his lines probably better than he does in his main band. Accordingly, the riffs in those tracks are the best on the album, even though they're played in that same old dissonant-yet-melodic arpeggiated manner, the guitar tone reminds me of mosquitoes more than ever, and the first riff of "Raid éclair" sounds quite similar to that of Burzum's "Dauði Baldrs". As for the other two tracks, discounting the interlude, they're pretty boring, "666 millions d'esclaves et de déchets" sounds a lot worse than on the raw and energetic Macabre transcendance demo, but at least both "666 millions..." and "Aux armes!" have some pretty nice solos, and the samples and trumpets in "Aux armes!" make me think of The Ruins of Beverast's "Summer Decapitation Ritual" for some inexplicable reason. But, of course, this album doesn't have the dark, experimental and mechanistic yet organic brilliance of TRoB or the endless but sensibly restrained and beautiful solos of, say, Pagan Altar, so it's not like you can get a lot of juice from this squeeze. But at least it's passable.

(The points are decent. I feel like the comparisons you're making work rhetorically, but again, pare down the narration and get to your points. The musical descriptions work well here.)

So to sum it up, Split turned out half "okay" in a mediocre way and half bad in a mediocre way, a six out of ten for the traditional part and a four out of ten for the degenerate part respectively. If you want something in the vein of the charmingly offbeat, boozy and kitschy older KPN albums that doesn't resort to mindless copying, there's this Swiss band called Ungfell, the fusion of black metal with hip hop has been done better by Diapsiquir, and for your fix of French folk-tinged melodic black metal you might as well come to Aorlhac - who, moreover, have released another awesome album in 2018, although Peste Noire fans would find more to enjoy on Aorlhac's 2010 album, La cité des vents. And regarding Split, well, a Peste Noire album that can be replaced is definitely a pretty disappointing one to say the least. And this disappointment is more bitter still given that Split is far from hopeless, instead seeming like a half-hearted effort and like Famine could obviously do way better but simply didn't care.

(I think there's decent work here, it just has to be edited down to be more direct. The conversational approach makes it meander around whereas your description is pretty good and I think your critique will work ok once you render out the redundancies and banter. Keep at it, it's not a bad start. Don't hack and slash, either, just take out the useless bits, keep the description and your main points, and see what you end up with.)

Descent into Decency - 60%

First impressions are everything – you tend to get a pretty good idea of the album’s sound and whether it’s worth listening to within the first two or three tracks. Nightrage’s Descent into Chaos is an album that kind of fucks this all up, with its first four tracks sounding like In Flames knock-offs. Like, they’ll start off on this cool lead or this somewhat ripper of a riff, but then they degenerate either into repetitive drudgery as they ride that riff much longer than it was interesting for, or it just turns to shit as they decide to chug along for much of the rest of the song. About the only semi-interesting parts are Gus G’s short neoclassical solos. Other than that, it’s largely just Whoracle/Colony songs with Tomas Lindberg’s vocals instead of... whatever Anders Friden calls vocals.

Once Frozen kicks in, however, the songs start to become more enjoyable. It’s a shame that it takes five tracks before they decide to play something that has some kick to it, but... better late than never, I guess? The overall structure doesn’t really change, but the compositions are generally better. They riff a bit harder (fuck, one of the songs tremelos for a while), the leads are either a bit bouncier or they lead to something genuinely melodic. But I can’t really go out and say that they ever really reach greatness, because they don’t. I guess if you’re somebody who loves In Flames’ early stuff, this is something you’ll really dig, especially when Gus G decides for a hot minute to just solo out or play a cool lead for more than just the intro of the song. Otherwise, it’s largely listenable melodeath when you get past those first four tracks.

At the Gates with no crown - 60%

First impressions are everything – you tend to get a pretty good idea of the album’s sound and whether it’s worth listening to within the first two or three tracks. In fact, you can often get the idea within the first few seconds, and this is what Nightrage tries to take advantage of. Nightrage’s Descent into Chaos sets the scene for each song rather well. In most cases, it’s this cool ass lead that gives the impression that the song will be hyper melodic – the sort that stays in your head like bubblegum tar. But – like Whoracle-Clayman era In Flames – Nightrage either recycle the lead to a tiresome point, or it just ends up slowing down and turning into non-descript background noise. In some cases, though, they open up with this ferocious fucking riff – like, the main guitarist here is Gus G, the guy behind Firewind, and Firewind is a fairly traditionally-oriented power metal band; and yet, here’s Gus G with some riffs that rip ass.

Anyway, you’d be thinking that it’d maintain the momentum and be like... you know, death metal with melody. Well, besides Tomas Lindberg’s ripping tearing melodeathy growls, the riffs quickly degenerate largely into chug chug chug after the intro, losing their bite until maybe the chorus when they get a fair bit of it back. They all come back with Gus G’s neoclassical solos that, while quick, sound really fucking sick – like some air guitar shit right there – before the song picks back up where it left off and peters out before the next song starts. Man, when you hear Gus G just solo out like an unrestrained animal, the songs pick up some serious steam, like maybe the song will get more energetic afterwards... nope, it just kind of relies on hoping you’re still hyped up on Gus G goodness while essentially repeating the chorus or just the main recycled melody you’re tired of by that point.

There are times where Descent into Chaos breaks that mold. The titular song’s verse riff has some oomph to it that’s initially just as good as its intro and it’s only until towards the end of the song that it loses its luster – which still puts it well in advance of the three preceding it where 10-25 seconds plus the solo is all that’s good. Frozen has a simple riff it rides on with some quick clean vocals, and its overall bounciness makes it work well even if it shouldn’t be all that great on a technical level. Drug picks up the pace with tremelos during the verses, and it’s got a real ripper of a solo to boot. Ditto for Reality VS Truth. On that note, Solus is a pretty solid instrumental with this smooth composition and a fairly sweet lead that culminates into a somewhat melodious suite.

There’s a fairly good EP you could make out of the album’s standout songs. The whole of Descent into Chaos is mediocre to decent melodeath, only with a much better vocalist and terrific soloing. It wants so badly to be the next Slaughter of the Soul – even so far as to have the same vocalist – but it instead just comes across as a continuation of In Flames’ Clayman sound... which is great if you’re a big fan of In Flames! In that case, up the score by like 10 or 20 if you want. Otherwise, eh, it’s okay.