SAMMATH - Grebbeberg
Hammerheart Records
SAMMATH are, in my not so humble opinion, the best Dutch black metal act over the past few decades. They started out in the mid 1990's finally putting out their debut full length, Strijd, in 1999. I originally got into em back in 2006 with their third album Dodengang. They released another great album, Triumph in Hatred, in 2009. But after that I lost track of em.
Then in 2019 I got their sixth album Across the Rhine Is Only Death. I missed out on 2014's Godless Arrogance. But anyways Across the Rhine Is Only Death happens to be my favorite album by this Dutch three piece black metal act. Obviously the band has changed over the decades. Mainman Jan Kruitwagen is still on guitar and vocals. For the past two decades Ruud Nillesen has been with him on bass. And drummer Wim van der Valk came on in 2016.
What I have always like about modern day SAMMATH is their ferocious take on 90's era black metal. Jan Kruitwagen's full on serpentine vocals combined with guitar work which is one part icy cold tremolo picked riffs or almost grindcore insanity. Add to that you've got Wim van der Valk's drum work in almost grind mode as well. Ruud Nillesen finds a way to insert his bass lines amidst the chaos.
Grebbeberg is eight songs worth of blackened fury that any genre fan needs to hear. Right now it's a constant play because it's the best of black metal album I've heard this year so far.
LISTEN HERE:
https://sammathhhr.bandcamp.com/album/grebbeberg
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