Review: Chiral – Winter Eternal (Demo)

As you may have gathered from my previous review, one of my new favourite discoveries this year has been Italy’s Chiral. Their ‘Abisso’ release was an ambitious, vast display of black metal majesty. So I did the sensible thing and and forgot to check out their other release from earlier this year, their three track ‘Winter Eternal’ demo. Because, you know, I’ve got too much shit to do. But on recommending them to a friend, I remembered about it and so cranked it.

If you are expecting something similar to the cold, icy ‘Abisso’, you’d be off the mark. This has much more to do with the gloomy death metal of early Swedeath, with elements of black metal making brief appearances. The vocals on opener ‘Sulphur’ are much more guttural than ‘Abisso’, and the riffs and general style is much more in the vein of Eucharist or early Katatonia, with flashes of Unanimated or Tiamat too. The atmosphere is most reminiscient of the black metal path that Chiral have taken after this; it’s bleak and suffocating.

Second track ‘Eternal Winter Day’ is pure Dissection worship, a cacophonous blending of thunderous death metal and buzzing, black metal riffs. It has those quieter, acoustic moments that make ‘Abisso’ so vital and fresh, but here mix them with some crescendoing Swedish death metal to great effect. Closer ‘When Prayers Will Have Nothing Left to Say’ is a two minute piano outro with crashes of thunder to close out the demo.

These are two excellent tracks of murky death metal with black metal atmospherics and are a cool throwback to the early days of the Swedish scene. My only criticism really is the final track, which almost could have been trimmed off without losing much. Maybe on a longer release it would’ve worked better, but on such a short release it seems superfluous. The two main tracks are definitely worth checking out however, even if they bare little resemblence to the beast that Chiral would become only months later.

Review: Chiral – Abisso

When I am not working or lazing around, my favourite thing to do is go fell walking in the Lake District. The Lakeland Fells are equally suited to vast power metal epicness and grim, windswept black metal. I take a lot of photos, and most look like they should be some kind of black metal album cover, except in colour. The reason for my digression into hobbies is ‘Abisso’, the debut offering from Italy’s Chiral. I first became aware of them through Sixsixsix Music’s excellent Helvete compilation, and if there was one band from that who truly suited the vast, cold beauty of the Lake District, it is them.

Opening with some rolling thunder to set the mood, ‘Atto I: Disceso Nel Buio’ leads with grandiose strings and a rising, mesmerising riff. Decidedly measured, weaving a more subtle melancholy than bands who go instantly for the jugular, it eventually settles into a mournful tremolo riff and a menacing rumble of double bass. Essentially an intro, but laying out a clear blueprint for what lays ahead, disrupting expectations from the get go.

‘Atto I: Oblio’ is more conventional, blasting ferociously with a raw, icy riff and throat shredding vocals. It then drops into acoustic guitar and the difference is shocking. Gone is the violence, the blackness, the hatred, to be replaced with lush acoustics that bring to mind Opeth’s softer moments. It accentuates the fury with which Chiral approach their black metal side. ‘Atto II: Abisso’ I reviewed in my Helvete review, but it deserves another mention here, as it is a true centrepiece. A majestic enmeshing of delicate acoustic moments with all out darkness that captures what it means to be a black metal band in this day and age. Not afraid to experiment while also staying true to the tenets that spawned all this in the first place.

Finishing with the introspective ‘Atto II: In Assenza’, Chiral have crafted an excellent release here that any black metal fan worth their studs should check out. Equal parts raw darkness and mournful beauty, ‘Abisso’ is, simply put, stunning.

Review: Helvete – Confederacy of Hatred

I’m assisting my friend Steve Thomas Green at Sixsixsix Music with a few compilation ideas for the next few months, so I was greatly looking forward to the release of his ‘Helvete – Confederacy of Hatred’ compilation he has been putting together recently. This is a black metal compilation of unsigned or small label bands from around the world as a promotional vehicle. It is available here at Buy It Now (Name Your Price) on the label Bandcamp page, and for what you get not donating is a sin! A track by track rundown is my contribution to the promotion of these bands. We must ALL support the underground metal scene as much as we can, otherwise we will lose our most vital and bullshit free source of quality music.

We open with ‘Manifestum Mortis’ by Serbia’s Ophidian Coil. This is how you want a compilation to start, a scything statement of intent that leaves you breathless, savaged and beaten. Punctured in the middle by a majestic, icy solo, this is a band to look out for.

Argentina’s Capgrass are next with ‘Disruption of the Deepest Dreams’. A slice of the frozen north from South America, Capgrass are channeling Immortal’s majesty with this track, six minutes of relentless, hypnotising black metal, broken only by some bleak acoustics and a wonderful solo.

Krajiny Hmly from Slovakia have a tough act to follow with ‘Hlbiny Spanku Zabudnutia’, but the only bad thing about it was my attempts to spell their name. This doesn’t seem like your conventional black metal on first listen, with oddly melodic opening riffs permeating the whole song. There’s a feeling of uneasiness about it, enhanced by the echoing rasps of the vocals and the flourishes of pagan metal.

India’s Solar Deity are a particularly highlight of this comp for me. Their ‘Circling the Moon’ track is totally killer, and is a perfect example of the great things appearing from Indian metal in the past few years. It feels like prime ‘Transylvanian Hunger’ material, energising and thoroughly hateful and raw. The moments of calm only enhance the storm.

It is time for some USBM to appear, and representing is Pittsburgh’s Nox Aeternum with ‘In the Midst of Scarlet Passageways’. It struggles to maintain the heights of Solar Deity, but only just. This is another brilliant track showcasing the quality of US black metal. It reminds me of Marduk’s blitzkrieg attack, coupled with some of Satyricon’s more epic moments. It’s not all hipster or eco-black metal over the pond.

I’ve written about Skiddaw before, and they contribute ‘Even Titans Fall’ from their self titled debut. Go read my review to understand why this Gorgoroth-esque razorblade will flay skin from bone.

A new track from the UK’s Nefarious Dusk is always something to bring a black tear to your eye, and ‘Cast Me to the Lions’ is a raw, bleak and thoroughly dark piece of black metal. This is debut record Bathory shit here my friends, and when the early 90s Darkthrone riffs kick in, you’ll think you’re listening to the corpse painted hordes for the very first time.

The more subdued acoustic intro to Paimonia of Serbia’s offering, ‘Ruined Form Catharsis’, is skewered violently by a urgent, artillery assault of fiery black metal. A track that couples the more traditional aural violence with moments of introspective calm. Another highlight of the comp. We’re ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH PEOPLE!!

Track 9 consists of Columbia’s offering, Penumbra. As traditional with South American black metal, ‘Ritual Genocide’ is rawer than a freshly savaged carcass. There is only one mission here, to batter your brain into submission with blasphemy and battery.

Belgians Sercati open totally differently to everyone else here, with an almost gothic style keyboard intro to ‘Hound from Hell’. It creates a bit of a shock, and allows a bit of breathing space between the constant barrage. Mixing the black metal with something approaching more rock sensibilities is brave, and works here rather well, creating a very memorable song.

I’ve mentioned Baalberith here on the site just recently so I’ll jump ‘Battle for the Blazing Dawn’ and straight into Norway’s Uburen and their track ‘Deprived of Empathy’. Now, these guys have a disadvantage of being from the home of proper old school black metal and so the expectations should be high. Uburen do not disappoint however, with a slower and more malevolent song than a lot of the tracks here. It is atmospheric, crawling and oppressive.

Short but sweet is the next offering from Italy’s NyX. ‘Tulpa Strigoi’ is replete with inhuman growls and is powered by an almost unstoppable juggernaut of blastbeats. Consider the no frills black metal 101 box checked by these guys.

Approaching the end of this black metal marathon, we come across the longest track on the compilation, Chiral (Italy)’s ‘Atto II: Abisso’. Opening with a spine tinglingly peaceful picked intro, you are given the feeling of Opeth’s ‘Damnation’ record. You can believe something special will occur here if a black metal band is willing to risk their ‘troo kvltness’ on such a melodic start. When the blackness arrives, it is just as bleak and mournful. The song swells with evil, a grandiose and hypnotic epic. This rivals Solar Deity as the stand out track on the compilation. Chiral are not afraid to let good song writing get in the way of their underground credentials.

The comp closes with the one two strike of Cvinger and Corruptor Ignis. The former is Slovenian, and is clearly inspired by some malignant dark beast that rages inside them. Its frantic, its raw and its fucking intense. As their homeland is a place close to my heart, I hope they do well out of this, as you’ll struggle to find much as one dimensionally vicious as this in modern black metal. When the pace slows, the feeling of unease grows. It’s fucking brutal. Corruptor Ignis finish us up with a slab of Gibraltan black metal. Yes, even the sunnier edges of what is left of the Empire is capable of summoning black magic from the depths of hell. It is difficult to appreciate the challenge of ending a compilation of some of the best bands in underground black metal, but Corruptor Ignis do it with style. They bring us to a close with some rasping black metal fury that drags you down into a suffocating atmosphere of hatred and bile.

Well, that was fucking epic. I haven’t written a review this long before, and normally I wouldn’t give each song so much depth but since each band deserves their own individual moment, I felt it was only fair. Most of these bands I shall endeavour to support financially with some physical purchases. Some I shall wait to hear more from. All I will recommend to people who like good music. Support these bands and buy this comp! Hail the Legions of Satan!