1914 - Viribus Unitis review

 

1914 - Viribus Unitis

Napalm Records

Here's a Ukrainian Black Metal / Blackened Death Doom act who I got into mid-way through their career. This five piece band started out in 2014 and their music is themed around World War One. Now just for the record the two bands I respect the most who are into the whole WW1 thing are MINENWERFER (USBM) and GOD DETHRONED (from the Netherlands) who came out with their Blackened Death WW1 trilogy years ago from 2009 to 2017. 

My introduction to 1914 came in 2018 with their second full length The Blind Leading the Blind. I didn't think too much for that album considering that it did not go beyond what their peers created. Oddly enough, because they're on Napalm Records, I got their next album Where Fear and Weapons Meet from 2021. That album is where I thought they really got their shit together. 

This latest one, Viribus Unitis, the band continues where they left off. In other words producing a compelling piece of work via story telling with sounds ranging from the symphonic range of Black Metal, melodic Doom and of course Blackened Death Metal. The release is book ended by some old traditional WW1 songs. There's a few sound-bites intermixed within the album. But there is a cool bottom line to it all. 

Because this release has so much variety and contrasts it's basically a concept album like their last one. The band invited a few guest vocalists to interpret some songs. On one of the latter cuts it's totally Gothic influenced Doom and it was easy to identify MY DYING BRIDE's vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe as the vocalist. 

Now be that all which it is, Viribus Unitis has a good quality late night sound. It wants to be a true tale of war but ends up being a romantic melodic styled version. It's not horrific enough which bands like MINENWERFER do in a serious Black Metal style. In the end it's decent.

  

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN HERE:

https://x1914x.bandcamp.com/album/viribus-unitis

DRUDKH - Shadow Play review

 

DRUDKH - Shadow Play

Season of Mist

DRUDKH have been around now for over two decades. If you're a fan of this Ukranian Black Metal act, which I am, then you understand that their first four releases are amazing. After that the band started to play around with their sound. I can't say many of those releases are faves of mine. Basically they were hit or miss for me. 

Eventually the band got back around to making, in my not so humble opinion, great music within their style and it's been great. Their last full length, All Belong to the Night from 2022, was a return to form. This one here, Shadow Play, is a companion piece. Main-man Roman Saenko has returned the band's sound to the early atmospheric Black Metal style. Well not too early in fact I'd say it's similar to what he was producing fifteen years ago. 

Be that as it may this full length definitely has a depressive angst ridden tone to the sound. Yeah and for obvious reasons. The riffs are punishing to a point but they still have that cascading effect which washes over you. A couple of cuts start off with instrumental openers. The vocals are far more hateful than usual as well as carrying a tone of desperation. 

In the end you've got six tracks in all spanning around fifty-five minutes. I like this one a lot. Obviously what's going on in the Ukraine these past few years is an influence on this release's sound and atmosphere. It's in a blackened mode of pain, trauma, anguish and full blown anger. It's reality there people.   

https://www.season-of-mist.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://drudkh.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-play

LORD OF PLAGUE - Passage to None EP review

 

LORD OF PLAGUE - Passage to None EP

Carbonized Records

I'll give props to any band who records in a fuckin war zone. And oh yeah they're a death metal act so no confusion there. This is the debut three song EP by LORD OF PLAGUE. They're a two piece act hailing from the Ukraine. They only had time to record three songs because there's a fuckin war going on over there. Actually I don't know if that's true. I mean this EP was recorded in 2023 so ya hope they're alright. 

LORD OF PLAGUE consists of Vlad A on guitars and vocals plus Andrii Zagovora who's on drums. Musically it's what I'd call diabolical old school DM. Vlad has a cool style of playing as well as songwriting. His vocals are that of a bestial smoke stack. Andrii's drum work a good pounder all the way. The opening track "Winds of Sorrow" is cool and my favorite cut on this EP. The other two cuts are decent. 

LORD OF PLAGUE's first release is interesting in that they've got the cool basics, they show some originality in the song writing to a point. So give em time and a full length will be out to knock ya off yer ass. Nuff Said.

https://carbonizedrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://lordofplague.bandcamp.com/album/passage-to-none

MORTAL VISION - Mind Manipulation review

 

MORTAL VISION - Mind Manipulation

Redefining Darkness Records

Ever since the Thrash Revival from over a decade ago it's been hard to find plenty of acts doing something worth some long standing impact. As the years have gone by I'll find one per year that does standard thrash well. What I mean by that is that the band has an obvious past influence but manages to inject something new into it and yet keep the excitement of the early days alive. 

MORTAL VISION, a four piece act who hail from the Ukraine, are a band that deserves recognition for doing everything right with modern day thrash. Mind Manipulation is their debut full length and it's pretty damm amazing. As far as influences go the band touches on old SODOM aka: their Agent Orange era. But that's mainly in certain song structures. 

This band uses what I previously mentioned as a stepping stone and climbs up from there. The riffs are savage and yet inventive which makes each cut interesting. The soloing takes on a hypnotic touch. You can actually hear some bass work being prominent. And of course the drum work takes on a savage quality with so many amazing fills . The vocals are a gruff low fi blast furnace style. Add to that a few Tom G. Warrior grunts.

All in all this debut release comes off like a band of veterans delivering their third or fourth release. Obviously practice makes perfection. MORTAL VISION are the new band in the thrash genre that need to be referred to as the top of the line. At least from me they are now.

https://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://mortalvision-ua.bandcamp.com/album/mind-manipulation

ZGARD - Place of Power review

 

ZGARD - Place of Power

Schwarzdorn Production

Like I always say, black metal music can be harsh as well as brutal but it can also be beautiful. That pretty much says it all about this latest release by Ukraine's ZGARD. From the info I got this has been a one man band for a while with some session players, on drums, added on. The one man here is Yaromisl. As well as being the vocalist and composer he's also responsible for the guitars, bass, some drumming,  keyboards, flutes and Jews Harp.

ZGARD have been around for a while to say the least. The discography starts out in 2012. Of that Yaromisl has come out with six full length releases prior to this one. Unfortunately this is my introduction to his band but I'm liking this one. I'd say musically this release carries that Eastern European black metal rawness with the added symphonic elements. It's not far off from what some of his contemporaries have been pushing of late. 

On Place of Power has a great melodic feel to a good portion of it's cuts. The harshness comes from the vocals which are more like cries of anguish from the wilderness. Sound wise the tempos move from violent to grandiose movements. I'd say there is more than a little latter day BATHORY influence going on with a touch of GRAVELAND. All in all a great listening experience. 

http://www.schwarzdorn.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://schwarzdornproduction.bandcamp.com/album/place-of-power-sd56cd

YGG - The Last Scald review

YGG - The Last Scald

Ashen Dominion




YGG are a Ukrainian black metal act who I got into years ago via their self titled debut from 2011. Of course I moved towards them like a moth to a flame because they had two former NOKTURNAL MORTUM members in their line-up. Hey I'm a fan but also on this latest one, nine fuckin years later, there's still certain aspects which are still around.


First off who the fuck starts off their black metal album off by playing a vargan (aka: a Jews harp)? Yeah well that's what was on their first album and it's starts things off here as well. Bassist/vocalist Vrolok plays that vargan up, with some tribal drum work by Odalv. And then boom it's black metal time. Vrolok proceeds to utilize the vargan as well as some sort of flute throughout this release. There's your folk element.


YGG are glorious in their way of pushing the familiar. Think of the characteristic Ukrainian black metal sound. You've got those layers of atmosphere wedged in-between the melodic cascading riffs and drumming which propels everything forward. The icy sheen of the riffs brings to mind BURZUM. Once in a while the vocals also add to it especially the tortured howls and screams.


Listening to this, especially on a cold cloudy afternoon like today, is like welcoming an old friend you haven't heard from in a while. These four lengthy cuts bring about that whole dissonant sound of the genre re-enforcing that air of majesty that other Ukrainian acts of past and present have. Albeit this band does contain an identity all their own. A great return for YGG.


http://www.ashen-dominion.com/

https://yggmusic.bandcamp.com/album/ygg-the-last-scald

https://www.facebook.com/YGGofficial/

GOATREICH - Godfetor review

GOATREICH - Godfetor

Ashen Dominion




Well if you have "goat" in your band name I'll be interested in you. If you're Ukrainian black metal with band members who've also played with some other cool extreme acts from that great nation. You've got me in your corner. Of course that's the precept because in the end it's all about the music.


So far as the extreme goes GOATREICH's debut full length does reach that peak of black metal/blackened death. Most of this release is a relentless attack on the mind and body reminiscent of bands twenty years ago. That was a time when the underground portion of the genre screamed foul against the softening of black metal. So the bands just got meaner.


The band's description of themselves consists of being a new infernal horde. Well I'll agree to that because they do convey a hateful blackened attitude on all of these songs. We're talking vile spitting filth for vocals. Musically it's mostly familiar sounding fat bludgeoning riffs. No problem with that because I like that kind of stuff. Finally there's the machine like punishment of the drum work. 


GOATREICH considers the songs on Godfetor as hymns written in the name of the horned, perverted cults and violence. Like I mentioned before it's similar to stuff from two decades ago. There are times where a few cuts have a trudging death cadence which does add some variety. Otherwise if you're into some blasphemy which holds no bounds then here you go.
  

http://www.ashen-dominion.com/

https://goatreich.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/goatreich/

CELOPHYS - Fried Chordata review

CELOPHYS - Fried Chordata

Robustfellow




For you sludge metal connoisseurs out there, and there are many. Here we have a two piece act from the Ukraine who will definitely put you into that recoil mode. This is the fourth full length by Alexandr Beregovoy - drums and hideous screaming and Ilya Bryklya on guitar. Ah yeah that's right no bass but who says you need it?


Musically on this six song release the duo does the basics well. You've got the cool crushing riffs, basic drum follow patterns applied plus the adjustments for accelerated song structures. To put it simply yeah they follow the genre recipe to perfection. Love the stoner rock bluesy lead work when available. They also include movie and radio soundbites for fun. 


Basically CELOPHYS are not doing anything new or progressive which is cool by me. I mean why fuck with something that sounds good. Turn up the volume and kick back because you're in for a treat. Sludgy SABBATH - ian grooves monster-ed up or dragged along an asphalt path with severe road pizza effects acquired. I enjoyed the hell out of this.


http://robustfellow.blogspot.com/

https://celophysdoom.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/celophysdoom

KHORS - Beyond The Bestial EP review

KHORS - Beyond The Bestial EP

Ashen Dominion




I'll file this one under "holy shit I remember this band and I've got some of their past stuff". As for the rest of you well here ya go. KHORS is a black metal act hailing from the Ukraine. I first got into them in the late 2000's with their third full length Mysticism. Yeah I was late to the party since they were around for a few years but hey I considered it at the time to be a great album and still do.


A couple of years later while thumbing through the $1.00 cheapo and not for sale (but they were) promo CD bin at a local record store I found the band's Candlelight Records debut Wisdom of Centuries. It had a sticker on it which read "Ukrainian Black Metal for fans of DRUDKH". By the way KHORS never sounded like DRUDKH. I just figured that Candlelight Records was just trying to cash in on the fame of them by signing their own Ukrainian BM act. 


By the way I never found Wisdom of Centuries, which came out in 2012, nor it's follow up Night Falls onto the Fronts of Ours which came out on Candlelight as well in 2015 to be that great. I picked up Return to Abandoned also that year (which originally came out in 2010) and was so impressed that I figured their greatness was behind em. So with this new EP am I correct?


Beyond The Bestial features three new cuts, one being an instrumental, and (wait for it......) three re-worked cuts from Mysticism. The songs in question are "Winterfall", "In the Cold Embrace of Mist" and "Red Mirrors". Now I'm not going to knock em because those songs are great. As for the new cuts well to me the instrumental is a throwaway cut so forget it.


The opener and title cut, "Beyond the Bestial", is dark melodic, somewhat symphonic and is definitely representative of the band's more modern progressive take. Ever since Jurgis, who also plays in NOKTURNAL MORTUM, joined KHORS the band has really dived deep into a more depressive atmospheric BM style. Their other new cut "Through the Realm of Unborn Stars" is a perfect example. As far as the re-recordings go, well since Jurgis has taken over the band it's easy to guess what happened to them. Oh well I guess I'm just pining for the pagan vast-lands.


http://www.ashen-dominion.com/

https://khors1.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-bestial-ep

https://www.facebook.com/Khorsband

DRUDKH - They Often See Dreams About the Spring review

DRUDKH - They Often See Dreams About the Spring

Season of Mist




Many times I will immediately let out "Bias Alert" in order to let the readers know that I'm friends with the band whose release I'm reviewing, I'm a long time fan of the band or I'm not. In DRUDKH's case it's a two fold bias alert. First off I gotta say their first four releases are incredible. They're some of the best black metal that came out during the early 2000s. Of course it's easy for me to say that because I was also a fan of HATE FOREST which preceded DRUDKH. And it was cool to see and hear the natural progression from one band to the other. I'm also a fan of BLOOD OF KINGU as well.


Now the releases they put out in the latter half of the decade were in my not so humble opinion moving off the blackened template. 2007's Estrangement was OK but I thought 2009's Microcosmos was moving towards experimenting in musical areas favored by hipster losers. Then it all went to shit with Handful of Stars in 2010. That one was some post metal shoe gazing indie rock crap. I as well as the fan base looked upon that one as a slap. Luckily there was Sun in the House of the Scorpion which came out the same year by BLOOD OF KINGU which was far superior. But for me I was done.


So after all of these years I'm here checking out the newest release by DRUDKH. Their eleventh by the way. I've skipped two previous ones obviously. First off it took me plenty of listens to this one in order to get a good perspective. I think the big issue here is no it's not some hipster post something or other SONIC YOUTH meets black metal crap experiment. Secondly it's not a complete return to the old which would be boring rehash and seriously we really don't want that.


They Often See Dreams About the Spring is a good release that does hearken back to the past but more like what should have come out after their fourth album. It's better than Estrangement to say the least. This five song, just short of forty five minute, release is a comeback, for me yeah but for fans who have waited a while. In the past you'd put on one of the band's first four releases and let the atmospheric black metal take you away to another plane of existence. This album does that.


Although I wouldn't go so far as to say it's perfect. The songs on here are filled with aggression, texture and at times melancholy. Basically it's everything you want and liked from DRUDKH. They also tend to linger on too much which gets redundant after six minutes which all of these songs are over in length. You can only take so much cascading of repetitive riffs and melodies before you say "Hey stop!"  

http://www.season-of-mist.com/

https://drudkh.bandcamp.com/album/they-often-see-dreams-about-the-spring

https://www.facebook.com/Drudkh.Official

ESKAPISM - Tales of Elder Forest review

ESKAPISM - Tales of Elder Forest 

Folkvangr Records 




Once again the amazing Folkvangr Records puts out another superb release of black metal for your cold and grim listening pleasure. This time around it's the debut full length by ESKAPISM from the Ukraine. The band is a two piece act featuring Zymobor performing vocals, guitars, bass as well as programing (I'm guessing that's the drums). The second member is Dyvozor who performs the keyboard work as well as bass duties.

Originally the nine song Tales of Elder Forest release came out late last year. But by standard operating procedure, Folkvangr Records gave it the cassette treatment and re-issued it in 2017. I've spent the better part of a week listening to this. Obviously trying to find words that fit in order to describe it but mainly from the sheer enjoyment of the music. I have to say this year I've heard plenty of bands from the Ukraine especially black metal bands and ESKAPISM is definitely the finest one.

Musically they're not what you would call a traditional Ukrainian black metal sounding band (aka: lots of atmosphere, rolling tremolo picked riffs that carry you on waves, songs dealing with nature or how bout I just say DRUDKH) On the contrary ESKAPISM are all about symphonic black metal and in a fierce way or better yet think Norway's take on symphonic black metal. We're talking icy tremolo picked melodic riffs, harsh and tormented vocals, keyboards that act as glue to songs and of course savage drumming (albeit programmed drums).

There are times on Tales of Elder Forest when you think ESKAPISM are channeling EMPEROR. Songs like "The Sun Is Falling Into Autumn Embrace" or "The Sad Moon Is Rising In The Sky" convey that well. At other times they're like, dare I say it, a more symphonic version of HATE FOREST. All in all I'd say this duo have recaptured the early 90's symphonic black metal sound without sounding retro or pushing the cheesy grandiosity which plenty of others have done to my disgust.

https://folkvangrrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tales-of-elder-forest

https://www.facebook.com/eskapismofficial

DEVILISH ART - Temple of Desintegration review

DEVILISH ART - Temple of Desintegration

Self Released




Over the years the Ukraine has become a bastion of blackened greatness. Of course in the past it has had it's house hold names and infamous ones as far as black metal goes. But at least in the past ten years, as far as my inclination for hateful music goes, I've seen this great nation pump out more great left hand path bands that would rival their contemplates. I've written about Ukrainian bands for years and here's another one.

DEVILISH ART  are a two piece act (Gelidos on vocals and Wolfheart handling all the instruments). They hail from the Ukraine but sound wise this is second wave black metal circa Norway 1995. Just for the record Gelidos and Wolfheart are also in the blackened death band UNHOLY TRIUMPHANT. 

On this their second full length the duo treat you with very riff centric aggressive blackened death, mainly because of Gelidos' vocal style which consists of harsh vocals and bloody throat death like vocals. The guitars and drum work by Wolfheart are part melodic/part harsh pounding into creation. There's even a small but noticeable industrial element tossed in along with keys giving it all a grand subtle symphonic touch. 

One could say hey I've heard all of this before and yeah you would be correct. But those bands of the past are gone or have petered out. Here you have two guys creating what should have been. All of which sets right with the whole Ukrainian black metal scene. 

https://devilishart.bandcamp.com/releases

MIZANTROPIA - Oblivion review

MIZANTROPIA  -  Oblivion

Metal Scrap Records


Years ago, back before I semi retired from the blog. I used to get at least one release from some Gothic Metal band per month. Yeah ya give a NIGHTWISH CD a good review and it opens the fuckin floodgates. Most of the bands were from Europe with a few exceptions. I mean gothic metal from places like Argentina and South Africa, who would've guested? All of these bands had common threads aka: exceptional musicianship, plenty of keyboards and of course a lovely female singer either wrapped in a ball gown or strapped into a corset with her business hanging out. I named it "Prom Dress Metal".

So with all of that said I don't want to get into the habit of reviewing this stuff anymore. But since this label was nice enough to send SFM666 a bevy of cool stuff to review I'll let this one pass. Just as long as I don't start getting invites to all gothic metal band fests in Bulgaria again. So here we have MIZANTROPIA from the Ukraine who actually break the mold of your typical gothic metal act. Musically it's still the same old progressive melodic death metal with the keyboards layered in the back. But their female vocalist sings in the clean as well as death metal growled vocal style. So that is a twist.

The key here is that she's actually singing in that voice as opposed to a lot of melodic death metal bands with female singers who just grunt rand scream. Typically in the gothic metal genre the woman will sing the clean passages and one of the male band members will do the harsh death vocals. So to me this puts their ranking higher than typical prom dress metal. Plus I checked out one of their videos and the singer is wearing a corset. Yeah I'm an older gentleman now but I appreciate beauty as well as talent. I think if you are into this genre of metal, oh and there are a lot in Europe, then MIZANTROPIA is a band you should be checking out especially if you can appreciate the edge they add to their sound.

 Rating: 4/5


http://metalscraprecords.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Mizantropia-130594892316/

AETERNUS PROPHET - Exclusion Of Non-Dominated Material review

AETERNUS PROPHET - Exclusion Of Non-Dominated Material

Metal Scrap Records

Honestly I'd rather be listening to Ukrainian black metal but I didn't get that draw. Yes AETERNUS PROPHET are three piece act from the Ukraine and are basic death metal, as in their release here is really simplistic. The songs trudge along at a snail's pace until a melodic break and a guitar solo rips through. Vocals are sung in old school brutal fashion. The tempos are played in two speeds, slow and slower but this ain't death doom. This is their second full length and you would think that would be, how shall I put this nicely, ah exciting. Unfortunately that ain't the case here.

Rating: 2/5

http://www.metalscraprecords.com/shop/en/store/product/view/1/7016

https://www.facebook.com/Aeternus-Prophet-242591719155632/?ref=ts