Artist: Hellsaw
Title: Trist
Type: Album
Label: Napalm
‘Hellsaw’. Band members gurning in corpse paint. Song titles involving ‘DOOM’, ‘APOCALYPSE’ and ‘WINTER’. Sometimes it just warms the heart to know that there are characters out there doing their damndest to keep this black metal stuff real. As I’ve said before, classic Norsecore in the traditional mould has long since ceased to seem in any way mystical and threatening and to Hellsaw’s credit, for all their undoubted venom and intensity, one suspects that there’s a tongue not too far away from inside the cheek of mainman Aries.
A definite sense of theatrics pervades the material here. ‘It’s so dark… my heart is pounding! It’s so dark… my sweat is freezing!’ are croaked over the funereal closing passage of ‘The Devil is Calling My Name with such pantomime gusto, it can’t help but raise a small smile. OTT moments such as this do suggest an impish sense of mischief at the heart of Hellsaw – a touch of devilish naughtiness as opposed to orthodox, full-on evil-doing.
Let me put you straight though and make clear that ‘Trist’ is certainly no ham-fisted pisstake. Consideration and care has gone into this material, each of the tracks practically bristling with sturdy riffs and precise, powerful drumming. For all of the badger-painted scowling, it’s clear that Aries understands the essence of penning quality black metal, switching gears and moods effortlessly whilst still maintaining a consistent sense of malice.
One of the highlights here is the absurdly-titled ‘Sorrow is Horror’ which opens with a coruscating, blast-beat laden riff before settling into a driving, searing refrain. It’s a short track, well-composed and laced with hooks, as is the mournful-tinged ‘black ‘n’ roll’ attack of ‘The Forerunner of the Apocalypse’, neatly striking the delicate balance between catchy and atmospheric.
The album title track is a surprising change of pace with a slower, more hypnotic and melancholic approach. In terms of pacing, it works well, contrasting nicely with the more manic material that surrounds it. As with much of the album, the quality here is palpable, the thought put into the juxtaposition of the passages shining through. The only downside is the rather one-dimensional ‘mad dog barking’ vocal approach of our man which does jar with the less aggressive elements of the record.
‘Trist’ is perhaps best summarized by the closing track ‘Silence’ in which a total curveball is thrown with a chorus-heavy clean guitar intro that sounds like it could have stepped straight off of a Marillion album. Indeed, until the main body of the song exploded into life, I very nearly checked my Ipod to see if had inadvertently diverted to the AOR section of my library. As with much of this record, there’s a faint whiff of ludicrousness about it but one cannot help but admire the sheer chutzpah involved. Entertaining, well written and above-all, likeable, the Austrians have put out a decent black metal opus here.
(7.5/10 Frank Allain)
Leave a Reply