Music Banter - View Single Post - The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

Trollheart · 10-22-2014, 09:16 AM

The next band has been suggested by a forum member, although admittedly with a knowing wink and an evil grin, and Mondo Bungle knows he would get me with this one way or the other, as they were on his top ten list. I avoided them there, but now I have no choice so I may as well give them a listen, see what I managed to put off last week. Anyway, I said when I began this short voyage through the metal of each country that I wanted to showcase and listen to metal of as many stripes as possible, so let's just hope they're not a grindcore band. They're a grindcore band, aren't they? Tell me they're not a grindcore band.

They're not a grindcore band.

Hold those sighs of relief though: EM describes them as death/black metal. Two of my least favourite subgenres. Sigh.

Seven chalices --- Teitanblood --- 2009 (Norma Evangelium)

For a band who have been together since 2003 I find it odd that these guys have only two albums to their name, but as their latest was released this year and I want to try staying away from current albums so as not to compromise the “Freshly Forged” section, this is the other choice. And with song titles like “Morbid devil of pestilence”, “Seven chalices of vomit and blood”, and the opener, “Whore mass”, it looks like I'm in for a jolly old time, doesn't it? The album doesn't even have the decency to be short, with eleven tracks, one of which is twelve bloody minutes long! Oh thanks Mondo! I thought it was only me and Batty who were allowed into The Batlord's Torture Chamber?

So what can I tell you about these happy musicians? Well for a start they're yet another two-man-band, with the clever names of J (drums) and NSK (everything else, including what may pass for vocals) and they come from the capital, Madrid. Other than that, not much, except that I doubt they do much dropping around for tea and scones with the vicar on a Sunday afternoon. The aforementioned “Whore mass” takes us, screaming and blubbering, into their dark world as we find ourselves at some black ceremony, with a dark choir singing in (presumably) praise of Santa as atmospheric, cinematic and scary music swirls around us. I don't think Teitanblood do keyboards so I'm assuming this is a sample from some horror movie. A guitar bludgeons its way into proceedings as J lashes the drumkit in fury, NSK making his guitar screech and squeal like a damned soul in torment, but rather --- very --- surprisingly, I think this is pretty cool. Mind you, he ain't started singing yet! Now a big dark Sababthesque riff takes the song as it slows down more into sludge metal territory almost, and it seems the opening track is over with nary a vocal. That's remedied when “Domains of darkness and ancient evil” (these guys ever work for the tourist board I wonder?) sledgehammers its way onboard, and we get exposed to the vocal of NSK, which as expected is a snarly, growly, ragged death vocal.

But the music is good, and a lot faster than the previous track. Ol' NSK (can I call you N? No? Fair enough) can certainly handle that axe --- I meant guitar, NSK! Put that down! It's sharp! And the beat hammered out by J is quite hypnotic. Even though it's fast, the tempo is a lot more restrained than I've heard from other black metal bands. And just as I said that it goes into overdrive. Trollheart, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut?

Pretty smoking solo from NSK as the song pounds on, though I have of course no idea what he's singing. Probably doesn't matter. There are three short songs, all entitled “Interlude”, but each has a strange subtitle in parentheses, two of which look like they're in Arabic or Ancient Greek or Elvish or something. The first, “Interlude ((عين إبليس)”, starts off with what sounds like dark synth but may be feedback on guitar, then some bells and a dark voice muttering or something, the synth sound swelling like a black choir, sort of like a continuation of the opening track.

With a menacing whisper or sigh it's over and we're on to “Morbid devil of pestilence”, seeming to interrupt NSK on the toilet, as J develops four extra arms --- well, he must do, mustn't he, to be able to play that fast? --- and the guitar matches him for speed. NSK growls and snarls like Tom Waits when someone has woken him up without a drink, and I find it hard to find any melody in this song at all: it's just the one riff exploding along for about two minutes until finally it begins to settle down with an Iommi-like riff on the guitar, though the drummer seems to be off doing his own thing, oblivious to what his partner is playing. Very discordant. A shred to end all shreds now from NSK as the drums rumble on like uncontrolled thunder, or like a thousand bowling balls rolling down a steep incline and over a cliff. As the song blunders to its conclusion it sounds like NSK has been strapped into the electric chair.

The next interlude is up next, and this is called “Interlude (Ugaritic title)” ---dunno what that means --- but it's a far heavier one this time, with guitar punching all over it and a deep growling vocal and hold on a minute! This is supposed to be the interlude but I'm getting something called “Infernal dance of the wicked”? What is it with Grooveshark? Looking down I see the other interlude has been replaced by "Qliphotic necromancy”! WTF?? These aren't even mentioned on the album I read about. Are they bonus, or special edition tracks? What happened to the interludes? I can't even look for them on YouTube due to the weird Arabic or whatever writing in their titles, so I'm stuck with these, but where they came from I have no idea.

So now we're listening to “Infernal dance of the wicked”. Okay. As I said, it's another hammerfest with guitar and drums and evil bass, and a scowling vocal. Oh right! These tracks are on the album; it's just that for some reason this version omits the other two interludes. Odd, but it leaves me less of the album to listen to, so that can't be bad. Bit of an almost boogie to this tune in places, but again it's pretty chaotic, and it's not long before we're into the charming love song “Seven chalices of vomit and blood”, which surely should have been an international hit on the charts, with its incessant, grinding guitar assault and its even-deeper-than-usual roared vocal. Oh yeah, it's hard to see how the kids wouldn't be rushing out in their millions to buy this!

Look, I'm going to level with you: there's very little on this album I can even write about, so I'm listening to it in the background and making a few pithy comments, just waiting for it to end. I think there may be certain types of black metal I may be able to endure, or even like, but this is definitely not one of them. If I had to categorise it I'd say brutal black metal, though I an definitely see the reason for including the “death” part in the description. Just does nothing for me. Where are we? Oh yeah, coming to the end of this track and surprisingly it's all slowed to a crawl as NSK intones something like a prayer to Satan backed only by very low feedback guitar I guess and bass, in “Qliphotic necromancy” (what does that even mean??), a short track that then takes us into that one I've been dreading, the twelve-minute “The abomination of desolation”. Oh joy!

We're back on track (to Hell) now, as snarling guitar meets slow, pounding drums and NSK's sneering snarl, a slower, crunchy, grinding track that makes you feel as if the walls are closing in on you. Honestly, I don't mean to be smart but I've heard more coherent noises coming from the neighbour's dog! He can't play the guitar though... Okay, in the ninth minute all music drops way and we have a choral ensemble, again like a mass or lament, though I think I can hear NSK snarling almost quietly through it in the background. It does change things up slightly though. Sounds like dripping water echoing gives the effect of desolation and isolation, almost as if we're seeing into some poor wretch's cell, like The Ruins of Beverast on "Rain upon the impure". Then the choir too fades out and we've nothing but a dark rumbling sound as backdrop to the waterdrops falling, a sound which gets fleshed out a little more and almost becomes rushing water for a moment before it too fades away and the track ends.

Closer is another long one, with “The origins of death” weighing in at nearly nine and a half minutes with a big heavy Sabbath riff to start it off, then taking off at full speed with thick feedback guitar and cannoning drums, NSK's snarling vocal all over the song but completely indecipherable, to me at least. Goes all echoey near the end and then, I have to say thankfully, it's over.

TRACKLISTING

1. Whore mass
2. Domains of darkness and ancient evil
3. Interlude ((عين إبليس)
4. Morbid devil of pestilence
5. Interlude (Ugartic title)
6. Infernal dance of the wicked
7. Interlude (वामाचार )
8. Seven chalices of vomit and blood
9. Qliphotic necromancy
10. The abomination of desolation
11. The origin of death

So I guess the big question is, did I enjoy this?

Some of the subgenres I will never understand nor be able to get into, and I guess black metal --- certainly this kind of black metal --- will forever be one of them. There's not much I can say about this album. I'll give Teitanblood kudos for creating a soundscape with only two of them – mostly NSK, as all J does is bash on the drums like Animal from “The Muppet Show” --- and there was the odd slice of half-decent melody, but overall, too fast in most places, vocals completely incomprehensible and the subject matter is not one I am interested in exploring: too visceral and direct. I prefer my tirades against God to be more subtle, like Slayer. Seriously. Like Slayer.

So this is a big fat NO for me, though I do feel like I've been run down to ground like some animal. Mondo couldn't get me on this with his top ten, but he bade his time, let me twist in the wind and then --- BAM! Got ya! Kudos, man. Kudos.

You sick bastard.

10-22-2014, 09:16 AM	#2423 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	The next band has been suggested by a forum member, although admittedly with a knowing wink and an evil grin, and Mondo Bungle knows he would get me with this one way or the other, as they were on his top ten list. I avoided them there, but now I have no choice so I may as well give them a listen, see what I managed to put off last week. Anyway, I said when I began this short voyage through the metal of each country that I wanted to showcase and listen to metal of as many stripes as possible, so let's just hope they're not a grindcore band. They're a grindcore band, aren't they? Tell me they're not a grindcore band. They're not a grindcore band. Hold those sighs of relief though: EM describes them as death/black metal. Two of my least favourite subgenres. Sigh. Seven chalices --- Teitanblood --- 2009 (Norma Evangelium) For a band who have been together since 2003 I find it odd that these guys have only two albums to their name, but as their latest was released this year and I want to try staying away from current albums so as not to compromise the “Freshly Forged” section, this is the other choice. And with song titles like “Morbid devil of pestilence”, “Seven chalices of vomit and blood”, and the opener, “Whore mass”, it looks like I'm in for a jolly old time, doesn't it? The album doesn't even have the decency to be short, with eleven tracks, one of which is twelve bloody minutes long! Oh thanks Mondo! I thought it was only me and Batty who were allowed into The Batlord's Torture Chamber? So what can I tell you about these happy musicians? Well for a start they're yet another two-man-band, with the clever names of J (drums) and NSK (everything else, including what may pass for vocals) and they come from the capital, Madrid. Other than that, not much, except that I doubt they do much dropping around for tea and scones with the vicar on a Sunday afternoon. The aforementioned “Whore mass” takes us, screaming and blubbering, into their dark world as we find ourselves at some black ceremony, with a dark choir singing in (presumably) praise of Santa as atmospheric, cinematic and scary music swirls around us. I don't think Teitanblood do keyboards so I'm assuming this is a sample from some horror movie. A guitar bludgeons its way into proceedings as J lashes the drumkit in fury, NSK making his guitar screech and squeal like a damned soul in torment, but rather --- very --- surprisingly, I think this is pretty cool. Mind you, he ain't started singing yet! Now a big dark Sababthesque riff takes the song as it slows down more into sludge metal territory almost, and it seems the opening track is over with nary a vocal. That's remedied when “Domains of darkness and ancient evil” (these guys ever work for the tourist board I wonder?) sledgehammers its way onboard, and we get exposed to the vocal of NSK, which as expected is a snarly, growly, ragged death vocal. But the music is good, and a lot faster than the previous track. Ol' NSK (can I call you N? No? Fair enough) can certainly handle that axe --- I meant guitar, NSK! Put that down! It's sharp! And the beat hammered out by J is quite hypnotic. Even though it's fast, the tempo is a lot more restrained than I've heard from other black metal bands. And just as I said that it goes into overdrive. Trollheart, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut? Pretty smoking solo from NSK as the song pounds on, though I have of course no idea what he's singing. Probably doesn't matter. There are three short songs, all entitled “Interlude”, but each has a strange subtitle in parentheses, two of which look like they're in Arabic or Ancient Greek or Elvish or something. The first, “Interlude ((عين إبليس)”, starts off with what sounds like dark synth but may be feedback on guitar, then some bells and a dark voice muttering or something, the synth sound swelling like a black choir, sort of like a continuation of the opening track. With a menacing whisper or sigh it's over and we're on to “Morbid devil of pestilence”, seeming to interrupt NSK on the toilet, as J develops four extra arms --- well, he must do, mustn't he, to be able to play that fast? --- and the guitar matches him for speed. NSK growls and snarls like Tom Waits when someone has woken him up without a drink, and I find it hard to find any melody in this song at all: it's just the one riff exploding along for about two minutes until finally it begins to settle down with an Iommi-like riff on the guitar, though the drummer seems to be off doing his own thing, oblivious to what his partner is playing. Very discordant. A shred to end all shreds now from NSK as the drums rumble on like uncontrolled thunder, or like a thousand bowling balls rolling down a steep incline and over a cliff. As the song blunders to its conclusion it sounds like NSK has been strapped into the electric chair. The next interlude is up next, and this is called “Interlude (Ugaritic title)” ---dunno what that means --- but it's a far heavier one this time, with guitar punching all over it and a deep growling vocal and hold on a minute! This is supposed to be the interlude but I'm getting something called “Infernal dance of the wicked”? What is it with Grooveshark? Looking down I see the other interlude has been replaced by "Qliphotic necromancy”! WTF?? These aren't even mentioned on the album I read about. Are they bonus, or special edition tracks? What happened to the interludes? I can't even look for them on YouTube due to the weird Arabic or whatever writing in their titles, so I'm stuck with these, but where they came from I have no idea. So now we're listening to “Infernal dance of the wicked”. Okay. As I said, it's another hammerfest with guitar and drums and evil bass, and a scowling vocal. Oh right! These tracks are on the album; it's just that for some reason this version omits the other two interludes. Odd, but it leaves me less of the album to listen to, so that can't be bad. Bit of an almost boogie to this tune in places, but again it's pretty chaotic, and it's not long before we're into the charming love song “Seven chalices of vomit and blood”, which surely should have been an international hit on the charts, with its incessant, grinding guitar assault and its even-deeper-than-usual roared vocal. Oh yeah, it's hard to see how the kids wouldn't be rushing out in their millions to buy this! Look, I'm going to level with you: there's very little on this album I can even write about, so I'm listening to it in the background and making a few pithy comments, just waiting for it to end. I think there may be certain types of black metal I may be able to endure, or even like, but this is definitely not one of them. If I had to categorise it I'd say brutal black metal, though I an definitely see the reason for including the “death” part in the description. Just does nothing for me. Where are we? Oh yeah, coming to the end of this track and surprisingly it's all slowed to a crawl as NSK intones something like a prayer to Satan backed only by very low feedback guitar I guess and bass, in “Qliphotic necromancy” (what does that even mean??), a short track that then takes us into that one I've been dreading, the twelve-minute “The abomination of desolation”. Oh joy! We're back on track (to Hell) now, as snarling guitar meets slow, pounding drums and NSK's sneering snarl, a slower, crunchy, grinding track that makes you feel as if the walls are closing in on you. Honestly, I don't mean to be smart but I've heard more coherent noises coming from the neighbour's dog! He can't play the guitar though... Okay, in the ninth minute all music drops way and we have a choral ensemble, again like a mass or lament, though I think I can hear NSK snarling almost quietly through it in the background. It does change things up slightly though. Sounds like dripping water echoing gives the effect of desolation and isolation, almost as if we're seeing into some poor wretch's cell, like The Ruins of Beverast on "Rain upon the impure". Then the choir too fades out and we've nothing but a dark rumbling sound as backdrop to the waterdrops falling, a sound which gets fleshed out a little more and almost becomes rushing water for a moment before it too fades away and the track ends. Closer is another long one, with “The origins of death” weighing in at nearly nine and a half minutes with a big heavy Sabbath riff to start it off, then taking off at full speed with thick feedback guitar and cannoning drums, NSK's snarling vocal all over the song but completely indecipherable, to me at least. Goes all echoey near the end and then, I have to say thankfully, it's over. TRACKLISTING 1. Whore mass 2. Domains of darkness and ancient evil 3. Interlude ((عين إبليس) 4. Morbid devil of pestilence 5. Interlude (Ugartic title) 6. Infernal dance of the wicked 7. Interlude (वामाचार ) 8. Seven chalices of vomit and blood 9. Qliphotic necromancy 10. The abomination of desolation 11. The origin of death So I guess the big question is, did I enjoy this? Some of the subgenres I will never understand nor be able to get into, and I guess black metal --- certainly this kind of black metal --- will forever be one of them. There's not much I can say about this album. I'll give Teitanblood kudos for creating a soundscape with only two of them – mostly NSK, as all J does is bash on the drums like Animal from “The Muppet Show” --- and there was the odd slice of half-decent melody, but overall, too fast in most places, vocals completely incomprehensible and the subject matter is not one I am interested in exploring: too visceral and direct. I prefer my tirades against God to be more subtle, like Slayer. Seriously. Like Slayer. So this is a big fat NO for me, though I do feel like I've been run down to ground like some animal. Mondo couldn't get me on this with his top ten, but he bade his time, let me twist in the wind and then --- BAM! Got ya! Kudos, man. Kudos. You sick bastard. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 10-22-2014 at 01:42 PM.