BLUTVIAL - Mysteries of Earth review

BLUTVIAL - Mysteries of Earth

Heidens Hart Records




Last time I heard from this English black metal act was in 2009. To be specific that was when they released their debut full length, I Speak of the Devil, on Spinefarm Records. I have it by the way and it's a decent release. Over the years I never kept up with em. So here we have their third full length. Their last one was 2011's Curses Thorns Blood.


Why the long span of years between releases? Well because the members have other projects going on. Two guys are in CODE who are fairly busy. They also have a new drummer from the Dutch black metal act ISRATHOUM. I have an old CD by them as well. But enough about all of that.


If there's one thing I've learned over the years about English black metal, or UKBM for short, is that there is no cohesive or distinct sound from their scene. I mean you name a blackened sub genre and they have an example of it. Add to that the band actually sounds like they came from somewhere else as well as being just as good.


Which brings us back to this new one by BLUTVIAL. Mysteries of Earth sounds like Norwegian black metal circa 93/94. But of course it's been polished up to modern standards. Imagine if you will two dentists donned in corpse-paint, ala Gaahl formerly of GORGOROTH, boring holes into your skull. Sound good to you?


The vocals are creepy rasps. The riffs and lead work are icy and savage. Add to that the drum work is absolutely fantastic. BLUTVIAL has come out of nowhere and refined old school black metal meets 2018 without bending to outsiders wanting to progress beyond the genre parameters. All hail English black metal.


http://www.heidenshart.nl/

https://heidenshart.bandcamp.com/album/mysteries-of-earth

https://www.facebook.com/Blutvial

BLUTVIAL - Mysteries of Earth review

BLUTVIAL - Mysteries of Earth

Heidens Hart Records




I was definitely looking forward to hearing this one ever since I saw that Heidens Hart Records was releasing it. BLUTVIAL is an English black metal act that I first got into back in the late 2000s with their debut full length I Speak of the Devil. A few years later they came out with another one, Curses Thorns Blood. Both albums are incredible examples of the fusing of traditional raw black metal with, I guess you'd call it, more modern temperaments and non BM influences. All of which does not drive the music out of the genre.


So here we have Mysteries of Earth the band's first new release since 2013's Brythonic EP but still this is their first full length since 2011. As a whole all I can say after blasting this continuously for a week is that the basics of this band's past have not changed. That's a good thing because we're talking about that second wave rawness with intricately picked tremolo  runs, blast  beat brutality as well as some very high pitched and grim vocals. You couple all of that with the melodic portions that sweep in and around like ghostly swirls of atmospheric bodies.


Now with all of that I compare it with their two previous releases and it's easy to see how BLUTVIAL moved their own ways a notch more extreme. I was waiting for something in the bad progressive moves department to kick in but no. Their thrash and burn cuts rip flesh. The longer cuts push a more eloquent torture prospect. Feel the darkness.

http://www.heidenshart.nl/

https://heidenshart.bandcamp.com/album/mysteries-of-earth

https://www.facebook.com/Blutvial