Teitanfyre - Anno MMXV EP

Artist: Teitanfyre
Release Title: Anno MMXV EP
Year: 2016
Label: Inferna Profundus Records
Genre: Old-School Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Cold Lifeless Faith
2. Seven Graves
3. To the Void

Almost working in reverse in their career, Russian black metallers Teitanfyre initially presented a full-length before moving on to releasing EPs as this one firmly shows. After a three-year break between releases that saw old bassist Kreator departing to be replaced by Roman Rotten, the group’s second EP arrives March 7, 2016 on Inferna Profundus Records.

In league with the rest of their career, this here is mostly simplistic and straightforward traditional black metal played at a slow, lethargic crawl that manages to get kicked up severely once it goes for the jugular with it’s rhythms. Taking this approach is quite a fun time as the material is given a nice chance to set an enjoyable atmosphere before really turning up the savagery with fiery tremolo riff-work and pummeling drumming which usually keep the tracks at a steady pace throughout here once they all get to those particular rhythms. As the material does sway back and forth with the simplistic sprawling sections balancing out the feral, vicious tracks there’s a nice amount of dynamic moods between these sections while providing a nice amount of traditional elements around them. The blend comes off rather nicely here, and it really showcases a lot of nice work in only two tracks with the instrumental outro here that just makes this so brief and over so quick that it really just seems like there’s the need for more work here and at least could’ve had a few other pieces to work with this here. It’s still really the only thing really wrong with this one.

Though it does have some absolutely solid work here involved with the music, there’s just so little actual material here that it really feels so quick and brief which holds this back from what it could’ve been as having more tracks to make it seem even more impressive could’ve made this more than just what it is now as a curiosity piece for fans of the band or the style only.

Score: 72/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://infernaprofundusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/anno-mmxv

Pergalė - Antropologija

Artist: Pergalė
Release Title: Antropologija
Year: 2016
Label: Inferna Profundus Records
Genre: Depressive Black'n'Roll
Tracklisting:
1. A Boy's Night Out
2. Estonian Lesbians
3. Durnius
4. Viskis II
5. Les yeux rouges
6. Gabriel the Norwegian

Continuing to spread their mission throughout the underground, Lithuanian depressive black’n’rollers Pergalė showcases a further refining and honing in on their signature upbeat and bright sound. Finally arriving five years after their last effort, this second full-length album was released March 8th, 2016 on Inferna Profundus Records.

As befits their signature sound, the music here is decidedly non-black metal with their bouncy, hard rock-based riff-work that doesn’t really descend into the traditional strains of most black metal bands as the swirling tremolo rhythms are dropped in favor of these particular rhythms. When especially compared against the simplistic, straightforward drumming that really does showcase more of a rocking backbeat here with the simplistic patterns and total lack of blastbeats, this really showcases itself as a truer rock act that does bring in a few occasions of chugging rhythms for heavier accents than would normally be expected which at times is a nice breath of fresh air in the genre. In other times, this mere facet is infact the bands’ greatest weakness as the tracks where it does descend into propulsive drumming and swirling rhythms just sound so out-of-place here that the effect is more jarring than anything and doesn’t really reach any kind of intended effect throughout here as it’s just simply too extreme to really make an impression on the lighter, more bouncy material featured here for the most part. They’re just not featured enough to really get the full impact of their inclusion which just sounds so oddly placed into the tracks without any kind of real build-up that the effect becomes mostly one of confusion as if one they’ve been placed from another band into the track for shock value as it just completely clashes with the jaunty hard rock-inspired beats present here. Likewise, the series of overlong, extended segments where it’s simply ethereal, atmospheric music presented is quite oddly inserted and really doesn’t do much but make the album sound longer than it really is. Even still, the hard part about all this is that the black metal aesthetics and the hard rock elements are both so competently played and performed that this factor here can overcome the other difficulties featured here.

By no means is this a flawless effort, this here is at times such a jarring and schizophrenic effort that it’s nearly impossible to tell what audience is going to find appeal with it due to the extreme of influences presented, though the competency of the effort as a whole makes this worth checking out for adventurous metal fans or those looking for more than just generic extreme metal.

Score: 68/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://infernaprofundusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/antropologija

Adversum - In the Sign of Satan

Artist: Adversum
Release Title: In the Sign of Satan
Year: 2016
Label: Inferna Profundus Records
Genre: Old-School Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Open the Flesh
2. Left Hand Theosis
3. Force of Faith and Fire
4. Raining Salvation
5. Until Death We Sing Thy Name
6. Incipit Khaos

Founded by mainman S. in 2014, the German black metal band Adversum was from the very beginning an overt and blasphemous Satanic act beginning with the first songs composed at the act’s infancy. Joined by drummer MDB  and session member R. the is finally ready to unleash their debut album released June 30, 2016 by Inferna Profundus Records.

From the onset this here is a tried and true old-school black metal act with plenty of traditional elements found there. Firing away tight, intense tremolo rhythms around a buzzing, mid-tempo gallop while occasionally getting up into a more fiery, energetic realms gives this a rather dynamic appeal to the old-school crowd while generally making the album quite nice overall. There’s plenty of sprawling, atmospheric accents along the way with the kind of slowed-down charges that come across nicely as well by acting as solid buffering segments against the infernal blasting on-display as there’s a generous amount of those rhythms featured here when the album also gets back into the traditional trappings with the swirling tremolo-picked patterns and blasting drum-work. All told, this creates a nice, infernal mixture that’s quite appealing and generally rewarding of it’s old-school approach, though the album does have a few minor issues. The brief running time is something to take into consideration, feeling much more like a demo release or even an EP with the few tracks here which is slightly problematic as the album is really getting going and finding the band just beginning to hit their stride with some great tracks leading up to the finish only for the album to suddenly be over, and while it does work in wanting the listener to want more it does feel short-changed as a result. Again, so effectively calling out the old-school way of doing things here might be a little tiresome though not as tiresome as the album’s final track which is a pointless noise collage that sounds more appropriate on an ambient or industrial release and seems too out-of-place on the album as a whole. Still, for the most part this one isn’t that bad of a release.

Despite a few minor missteps here and there, the fact that there’s a lot of good, solid work to be found here on this one really does make it a far more engaging and enjoyable first-offering than expected making this one a rather appealing listen to all who appreciate and support the second-wave old-school style groups in the underground.

Score: 78/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://infernaprofundusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-sign-of-satan