Blackdeath - "Katharsis: Kalte Lieder aus der Holle" (2010) [Hospital Productions]

So, basically, I scored this vinyl LP at a record store in Chicago upon a pure impulse buy. And boy, am I glad I did.

Blackdeath are a Russian black metal band comprised of two brothers and a female drummer, who have lyrics primarily in German. 

I've heard some of their older material before, and was always impressed by their strange way of making unusual playing styles work for their music. 2002's 'F--king Fullmoon Foundation' was a bit of a sloppy, yet memorable and interesting gem.

This new album showcases their new drummer's excellently executed work, and some awesome scattering vocal work, courtesy of a guy named 'Abysslooker'. It's a bit unusual for a Russian band's vocalist to shout in German, but the raw, cathartic intensity of his voice adds a new dimension to this extremely dark music. 

With this album we see a lot of tempo changes and more interesting rhythmic patterns. There is a lot more lead work that adds a blistering and old school-sounding atmosphere to the already dissonant rhythm chords. Oh! And you can hear the bass crystal clear... excellent. We can definitely note the increasing understanding and mastering of their musical art over the years, and this album seems to showcase all that the band has learned. This is easily imagined to be the brainchild of a band after countless hours of trial and error in riff-writing.

Overall, the atmosphere of this work sounds like a distressed man seeing visions from hell and describing it. One look at the cover art and one can easily gather this scenario. This album is perfect for those contemplative or distressed evenings in which you need something to relate to and obliterate your soul into an enshrouding void that will swallow all the pieces before you can hope to gather them. You know... ever have those nights?

Very dark, impacting, and horrifying work.
Oh yeah, and there's a Summoning cover at the end. Sweet.

For fans of early Deathspell Omega, The Shadow Order, Zyklon-B, and The Ruins of Beverast.

-Elan

Dante's 'Inferno' ain't got nothing on this...