Artist: Red Bible Black
Release Title: Allah is Satan's Toy EP
Year: 2017
Label: Merdümgiriz
Genre: Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Allah Is Satan's Toy
2.Pedophilic Baptism
3.Antibirth 11: Rape Your Mom
4.Dark Skinned Children Are for Burning
5.Promote, Support and Glorify Hatred
6.In This Beautiful Existence
Continuing to crush the listeners’ souls, Italian death metallers Red Bible Black have turned to the darkest corners of the world to further explore their extreme sound by drafting in Emir Toğrul to help craft the bands’ sonic assault to it’s fullest. Offering up their first new EP release following a series of demos and splits, the new effort was released June 1, 2017 on Merdümgiriz.
From the outset, there’s very little throughout this one that appeals to the rational side of the crowd with the vast majority of the album featuring the same overall approach. The album is essentially a blur of raw, distorted riffing piling out plenty of deep, churning rhythms that makes for a wholly immersive experience. With the album essentially focusing on these issues almost exclusively and basically only changing up the tempo to go for mid-tempo verses or plodding lethargic sprawls for the different forms of variety here which indeed leaves this one with a furious intensity and anger but also quite an obvious flaw throughout it. The fact that everything really sounds the same, not only due to the use of repeated rhythms and patterns but also because of the overall rawness of the project which ends up leaving this one with a muddied sound that can make it indistinguishable what song you’re on during the release. That is somewhat negated by the intensity and energy of the performances but does end up lowering this one slightly.
While still containing plenty of solid, enjoyable elements, the fact that so much of this one is drowned out in the blur of repeated rhythms and a low-fi sounding production does hamper this one enough that it’s really only appealing for fans of the creative personnel involved or aficionados of raw death metal.
Artist: Yayla
Release Title: Pas.to.rale
Year: 2017
Label: Merdümgiriz Records
Genre: Ambient Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Altars in Temple Sewers
2.Everyday Is Death for Us
3.Pandora
4.Funeral
5.Steadfast Chaos
6.Endless Regrets
7.Mantras of Separation
8.Rats
9.Pastorale
10.They Are Losing You from Me
Finally coming back to form, Turkish ambient black metallers Yayla are joining the continued and expanding ranks of work from mastermind Emir Toğrul as he continues to explore the psychotic madness with yet another one of his solo efforts. Abandoning the approach of the bands’ original works with the five-year layoff, the bands’ return effort and fifth overall was originally released February 5, 2017 on Merdümgiriz Records.
Much like with the vast majority of the bands’ previous efforts, the overwhelming sense of this one is still right up-front with the overbearing ambient elements. Fueled by the dark, desolate guitars droning on endlessly throughout the soundscape here alongside the rampaging drum-work that’s utterly nightmarish, there’s such a strong and overall impactful amount of churning tremolo rhythms to drive this one along rather nicely. This atmospheric black metal-laced background is complimented nicely by the ever-present synths that adds a further dimension to the work throughout here, generating the kind of atmospheric evocations of madness typified by the droning riff-work as well as providing the melodic outlines for the stylish interludes that break up the aural assault featured elsewhere. It’s a strong and dynamic approach that results in finely-crafted, unrelenting assaults of melodic turmoil and madness with outbursts of furious black metal energies, and that serves this one well for the most part while pointing out one minor aspect of this that is a minor drawback. The album’s insistence on providing as many interludes as it does here is enough to interrupt the flow of the album’s descent into madness that was so engaging and coordinated that it feels somewhat like another band broke into the recording and placed them there as they’re stylistically out-of-place with the slower relaxing moods in place of the charging aggression and ambient workouts that were so proficient. Still, that’s not nearly enough to worry too much about this one.
Managing to work out quite a solid and impressive series of elements together with plenty of enjoyable features, this is an extremely strong and dynamic offering that continues to offer up Emir as one of the finest musicians in extreme metal and makes this a worthwhile offering for any fan of his other acts, the genre as a whole or the band’s past efforts.
Artist: Viranesir
Release Title: Supports Flag Burning and Female Raping
Year: 2017
Label: Merdümgiriz
Genre: Avant-Garde Black Metal/Synthpunk
Tracklisting:
1.I Only Like Meat When I Know the Animal Suffered Thoroughly
2.Metal Is Full of Faggots
3.NSBM = Nigger Sucking Bi Metal
4.Burning the Flag of USA
5.Christians Oppose Abortion Because They Like to Fuck Orphans
6.I Support Isis, Nazism and Child Rape
7.Instagram Orospusu / Fat Bitch
8.666 - Köylü Orospu
9.666 - Gülsene Orospu
10.666 - Gerzek Orospu
Jumping headlong into controversy, Turkish experimental black metallers Viranesir have taken more than a fair share of attempted censorship in their quest to break down the barriers of artistic expression and freedom by willfully inviting any act or topic into their influences. The second full solo album by the band after Emir Toğrul became the sole member, the projects’ tenth full-length effort was originally released January 5, 2017 on the band-owned Merdümgiriz label.
Due to the willingness to involve a slew of influences into the mix, the album is a chaotic and certainly jarring mixture of extreme metal that ranges through a wide mix of elements. Though based mainly in the realm of chaotic black metal, resulting in a solid backbone of frenetic tremolo riffing firing off utterly blistering blasts of chaotic noise against relentless walls of distortion and vehement, violent vocals that forms a solid part of the majority of the album. Suitably plotting alongside the ravenous work is absolutely maddening ambient-tinged keyboards and synths that add a dissonant, haunting atmosphere to the savagery and relentless energy elsewhere throughout the album and making for quite a striking opposition. This approach enables for a truly overwhelming attack that consistently maneuvers from shattering black metal to haunting synths that add a truly nightmarish vibe to the album as a whole. If the album has a failing at all, it’s the utterly low-budget recording as the production never allows the material to generate its full impact as the haze-riddled guitars and triggered drumming is all swept into a nearly-indecipherable blur of noise that really does a disservice to the music as the ripping riff-work and constant tempo-shifts just wash themselves out. This isn’t a detrimental factor, though, and can certainly help this out just as easily as strike it down.
Another top-notch highlight from one of the scenes’ most impressive figures, this continues Toğrul’s run of consistent, high-quality releases in the field and certainly makes for a highly enjoyable and worthwhile effort to look into for fans of his previous works or any adventurous extreme metal aficionado looking for something else beyond the norm.
Artist: Swine Soul
Release Title: Black Noise Plague EP
Year: 2016
Label: Merdümgiriz
Genre: Black/Noise
Tracklisting:
1. Bats Crawl From Thy Lady's Maw
2. Animalistic Deathcry of Despair
3. AbsoluteBlackNoiseWarPlague
4. Dying Disharmonies Of A Soul's Light
5. Emaciated Recollections Echoing From Cold Walls Long Forgotten
6. TotalAndAbsoluteSoulObliteration
Heading off in a blaze of glory, US black/noise project Swine Soul have once again offered up quite a thrilling and explosive offering of their final release which continues to explore the anger and despair that has long been held in high quantities for their career. Now attempting another effort with the same outpouring of anger and disgust, this new EP release for the group was originally self-released November 26, 2016 before a re-release December 3 on Merdümgiriz.
Churning out the sickness, the group continues to utilize the rather tortured and anguished soundscape at their disposal to create their aural cries. The main impetus of that comes from the sweeping, droning riff-work which is a chaotic mixture of blistering tremolo riffing and utterly pummeling rhythms bursting at the seams as the whole affair is topped off with feverish, nightmare-inducing vocals that drive this one forward at a generally intense pace. This intensity is further boosted with sampled feedback and screeches which creates a dense industrial-style collage of noise which appears at selected intervals to or even full-on tracks as a whole, creating a disjointed and maddening effort that’s also increasingly inconsistent and chaotic. As it slogs through this type of frantic and chaotic sections without any rhyme or reason to further the musical narrative, the music ends up simply being raw, incoherent screeching noise augmented slightly by fits and spurts of classic black metal riff-work without really generating the kind of elements typically associated with the genre. In the end, it leaves this one with only a few select moments of enjoyment beyond the need for creating the sonic madness.
The fact that this is a solid representation of the style’s usual output doesn’t really make enough headway here with this one as the fact that the vast majority of the music comes off with the noise-factor leaves this one simply for those fans while others who aren’t should heed extreme caution.
Following their successful second release, Turkish avant-garde/experimental black metal horde Blliigghhtted continue their impressive feats with the third release of the calendar year that captures the improvements made on that last release. Considering their successive productive output, this is quite an achievement as their third overall effort is released December 24, 2015 on Merdümgiriz.
Managing to bridge a deep vein from the esoteric to the chaotic, this here is mostly presented as a sort of nightmarish slough through a wide berth of influences that still retains a mainly black metal aesthetic. With a progressive edge to the material that allows them all to last over the ten minute mark, it manages to tack on discordant, jagged rhythms alongside the nominal swirling tremolo patterns for a seemingly jarring experience long before this one tends to play its trump card along the way in the form of the disparate and seemingly haunting vocals. There’s so little about them that sound human and their low, deep and indecipherable howl borders on the edge of madness as if this is a journey through the labyrinth of the mind of a person tormented with Satanic demons for centuries. It’s perfectly coordinated with the howling racket in the background as the chaotic pounding is synced to complete perfection, and when mixed with the album’s churning progressive edge that runs wild throughout the album it really makes for a really chaotic experience. This is mainly hinted at being the album’s weakest part as well with the utterly discordant and jarring material usually found here would be so extreme that it turns off the listener at it’s first listen. This is so far from conventions and traditional black metal aesthetics that it really might not be an immersive experience as it’s maddening feel could be a detriment instead of drawing them in which is about the only thing really wrong here.
This is quite an appealing and intriguing album that’s got plenty to like about it with its adherence to chaos and inherent madness that really does sink or swim on the tolerance for that kind of aesthetic which instead makes this one seem wholly appropriate for fans of the bands’ previous works and the sublime extremity present only.
Artist: Blliigghhtted
Release Title: Into the Cunt of the Witch
Year: 2016
Label: Merdümgiriz
Genre: Experimental Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Black Flame I: Life Is a Prison
2.Black Flame II: Keep Your Light from Me
3.Black Flame III: Death Is Life
4.Illusion I: Religion
5.Illusion II: Pleasure, Pain and Pedophilia
6.Illusion III: Suicide Is Painless
7.Death I: Unknown, Unknowable, Uncertain
8.Death II: Ejaculating into Darkness
9.Death III: Black Flame Is Refusal
10.Suicide I: Chaos Everywhere
11.Suicide II: Naked Life
12.Suicide III: Certainty Is Illusion
The fourth full-length from Turkish avant-garde black metallers Blliigghhtted offers a highly enjoyable and entertaining variety of chaos and discordance that’s quite scattered but still remains fully coherent. With it’s black metal baseline here, this one tends to feature that generally appealing as the fiery tremolo-picked rhythms and stylish melodies firmly place the band within the genre, and it’s only upon dealing with the bands’ other influences that it really becomes apparent how it all works together. Mixing in ambient soundscapes underneath the main rhythms to create a discordant feel against those more traditional elements, there’s a definite sense of experimentation present as it pushes against the most singularly-defined variation of black metal aesthetics since they’re just so weird-sounding against the fiery tremolo rhythms. That does make for quite a varied and highly enjoyable time here as this experimentation is quite appreciated since it’s just putting slightly off-kilter arrangements within the framework of solid black metal that doesn’t really differ too much from nominal chaotic-influenced groups. The fact that the album does seem to lose steam with the four different sections running through varied elements so that it’s quite hard to make out what each one really means overall since there’s little point in doing so at that stage since it ties nothing together with the different sections featured. That’s the only thing really holds this one back.
The first half sets the stage for this one nicely. Opener ‘Black Flame I: Life Is a Prison’ takes thumping tremolo riff-work and pounding drumming through urgent, frantic patterns with discordant rhythms storming along through the highly explosive swirling tremolo patterns firing off through the finale for a fine and enjoyable opener. ‘Black Flame II: Keep Your Light from Me’ uses thunderous, rumbling patterns and plenty of discordant tremolo riff-work firing along through the frantic, chaotic blasts of furious patterns clanking along to the stuttering rhythms before the abrupt end in the final half for a rather dynamic offering. ‘Black Flame III: Death Is Life’ bleeds through with the furious, frantic drumming and frenetic riffing carrying the explosive atmospheres along through the series of chaotic rhythms blazing along throughout the furious riff-work and chaotic blistering drumming in the finale for a highly enjoyable and engaging effort. ‘Illusion I: Religion’ uses screeching riffing and rather simplistic, plodding drumming throughout the early rhythms before turning into a frenzied series of blasting, pounding drumming alongside the frenetic swirling riff-work leading into the abrupt end in the final half for an explosive and enjoyable effort. ‘Illusion II: Pleasure, Pain and Pedophilia’ bleeds through the frantic, frenzied riffing and blistering drumming with a series of swarming tremolo riffing carrying on alongside the frenetic tempo as the chaotic swarm of blasting rhythms carries on into the finale for the album’s highlight as a singular track. ‘Illusion III: Suicide Is Painless’ uses swirling tremolo riffing with plenty of tight, mid-paced blasting and a darkened atmosphere as the churning death-metal styled grooves give way to more of a chaotic blast of fiery classic tremolo-styled riffing and pummeling drumming that carry on through the final half for another solid highlight.
The second half is certainly just as fun and lively as the first half. ‘Death I: Unknown, Unknowable, Uncertain’ features swirling tremolo patterns and frantic, chaotic drumming blasting along throughout the frenetic thumping drumming leading into the finale for a short, disposable interlude that does setup the following track ‘Death II: Ejaculating into Darkness’ as the swirling, plodding rhythms and rather fine mid-tempo industrial collages continue on throughout into the later half where the blasting drumming and frenetic, chaotic patterns charge on through the blistering tempos in the final half for another strong singular effort. ‘Death III: Black Flame Is Refusal’ takes a swirling mid-tempo tremolo riff through a stilted series of plodding tempos against the plodding drumming as the frenzied, chaotic blasting carries along into the strong series of chaotic rhythms in the finale for a strong effort overall. ‘Suicide I: Chaos Everywhere’ leads a tortured scream into a series of plodding mid-tempo riffing with plodding tremolo riffing alongside the frantic blasting drumming that settles into a wholly chaotic series of blinding drumming bristling along through the tremolo riffing in the final half for a highly scathing effort. ‘Suicide II: Naked Life’ takes frantic swirling tremolo patterns and plenty of blasting drumming along through the pummeling tempos filled with scorching patterns and furious, frenzied riff-work with plenty of dynamic tremolo patterns along throughout the series of blistering tremolo patterns into the finale for a wholly enjoyable effort. Lastly, ‘Suicide III: Certainty Is Illusion’ uses a plodding sound-collage intro with plenty of stylish drumming and thumping mid-tempo tremolo riffing that extends outward into the series of swirling atmospheric breaks all throughout the extended mid-section and carrying on through the discordant riffing in the final half for an extended and overlong lasting impression.
Though there’s some misfires here and there along with the overall brevity of this effort, there’s still overall plenty to like and enjoy about this releases as it still features a lot of the trademark rhythms and elements present that it should appeal to those who enjoy and appreciate this chaotic breed of black metal or extreme metal in general.
