Nordic Metal: A Tribute to Euronymous (1995)

Despite the name of this release, this is not a tribute album.  My understanding is that it is a collection of songs from a variety of black metal bands to spread the black metal sound in honor of Euronymous's efforts with his label Deathlike Silence.  Euronymous attempted to get some sort of compilation like this together, but was unable to do so before his death.

As this is not a tribute album, I am not going to go through each and every song one by one.  Most of the groups are well-known, including Mayhem, Dissection, Emperor and Enslaved.  And some groups have more than one track here.  Some of the songs are unreleased versions of tracks that appeared on other albums or completely new songs. 

The only track here that is a little questionable is the Mortiis outro.  Mortiis is something of an enigma and the track is far-removed from black metal.  Most of the tracks are about what one would expect from an early-to-mid-90's black metal release: cold and ominous atmosphere and hateful riffs.  There are a few standout tracks however, such as the Abruptum opener "De Profundis Mors Vas Consumet", which sets the tone for the entire release.  Then there's the second Dissection track "Elizabeth Bathori", which is a cover of a Tormentor song that absolutely slays. 

I am not sure what to say about this release other than if early second wave black metal is your thing, this needs to be in your collection.  It would also be a terrific introduction to black metal in general as it features a number of the major bands from the scene.   

Arckanum: Kostogher (1997)

Here we go.  Now we are getting into the sound I really associate with Arckanum.  This is the one-man band's second full-length album and it has taken another massive step forward.  The formula has remained largely the same, but there is a massive improvement in the compositional skills and proficiency at the instruments.

Arckanum's sound has always reminded me somewhat of countrymen Dissection, and that is on full display on this release.  Arckanum is decidedly more black metal, but some of the riffing style is similar to when Dissection is doing a heavier section.  There is some melody present, but by and large, Arckanum's sound is based around a few repetitive riffs, but there is a strong, malevolent atmosphere to everything the band does.  The drumming is particularly impressive, which makes sense because Shamaatae used to be the drummer for Grotesque.  His fills and blasts are inspired on this release, one of the better drum performances I have heard in some time from a black metal release.

The songs on this release do tend to run together a little bit, but that's why it is best to listen to the album as a whole rather than skipping through songs.  As a complete album, it absolutely pummels the listener.  That is the way it should be experienced.

Of the three Arckanum releases I have reviewed recently, this is the best, but there are several more to come soon.  And Arckanum really takes off later.

Arckanum: Fran Marder (1995)

I have mentioned several times that one of the things that I love about being a metalhead is being able to locate hard-to-find and out-of-print albums because stuff is constantly reissued.  I assume this is at least partially true of other genres, but there are labels whose sole purpose is re-releasing albums that have come before.  Enter Arckanum, a Swedish one-man black metal band whose unpronounceable album ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ caught my attention almost a decade ago.  So, when the band's material was re-issued recently, I started to pick them up.

Fran Marder is the band's debut full-length.  The music bears a slight resemblance to other early Swedish black metal bands, such as Dark Funeral, Dissection and Marduk.  The focus is more on faster, more intense riffing and building a chaotic and evil atmosphere.  The production is extremely impressive, particularly for a mid 90's black metal album.  The structures are mostly simple, built around one or two repeating riffs, but the use of sound effects (particularly stormy weather) gives the album an icy and forbidding feel.

This is an extremely impressive debut for the band.  Of course it is much more raw than some of the later output, but Arckanum got off to the right start.

Usurper: Threshold of the Usurper (1997)

Those with a short attention span may have forgotten that I talked about Usurper just yesterday.  And this won't be the last time either.  No, I did not pick up a box set.  It just so happened that the seller that I bought yesterday's Usurper album from had a couple of others, so I checked them all out. 

Yesterday I talked a lot about just how much Usurper sounded like Celtic Frost.  Well, this release came out just two years before, and yet, it sounds very different.  The Celtic Frost influence is still very much present, but there is a lot more going on too.  And that makes this EP that much more entertaining than the subsequent full-length.

Opening track "Necrocult, Part 1 (The Metal War)" is a full-on aural assault and sets the tone for the rest of the album.  The band later on attempts a Mercyful Fate cover.  I have written before about how I feel about bands attempting Mercyful Fate covers: I'm usually against them.  The major issue is that virtually no one can pull off the King Diamond vocals.  This one does not do it either, so Usurper vocalist General Diabolical Slaughter (likely not his real name) does not even try.  Otherwise the cover is fine. 

The best track on the EP is "The Dead of Winter".  This is a lengthy, slow-burning track of atmospheric horror.  The keys in particular are eerie and dark, and continue throughout the song, even during the crunching riffs. 

I actually like this EP quite a bit more than the album I reviewed yesterday, and I definitely liked that album.  Usurper is not as much of a Celtic Frost clone on this EP.  They have their own sound and style, and that is always preferred.

Usurper: Usurper II: Skeletal Season (1999)

Recently I heard about a band called Usurper whom I had never heard of before.  I cannot remember quite what I heard about them, but it was probably something about them being a particularly aggressive brand of blackened thrash metal.  And that they were from Chicago, a city that has given the genre a rather impressive collection of terrific metal bands (Trouble, Cianide, Ministry, Novembers Doom, many many more).  So I figured why not check them out.

So first things first, I think it is plainly obvious that Usurper is named after the Celtic Frost song from To Mega Therion.  I say that because it is quite clear that Celtic Frost and Hellhammer are the primary influences on Usurper's sound.  To the point that Usurper sounds like a clone of the legendary Swiss bands, particularly from the pre-Into the Pandemonium.  Every single aspect is present, from the meaty, aggressive riffing style to the Tom Warrior-esque vocals.  Hell, singer Rick Scythe even employs some of Warrior's trademarked grunting vocalizations.  There are times where the band takes on more of a doom-laden, grinding, slow-paced approach, but at those times they sound more like Coffins, a band whose sound I have described as half-speed Celtic Frost.

I guess the easiest way to tell if this album is recommended is whether or not someone enjoys Celtic Frost.  Well, every metalhead SHOULD like early Celtic Frost.  That is the era that Usurper is actively aping on this release.  And they do a damn fine job of it.  There is nothing wrong with them sounding like this if it is sincere.  And Usurper does just enough re-working riffs to distinguish themselves and avoid being dismissed as a copycat.