My last experience of Belgians Slecht wasn’t a particularly inspiring one, as I reviewed their very first demo “Triumph of Death” around 6 years ago for Metal Team UK. The fact I didn’t recall a lot about it is explained by the painfully average score it was awarded, and having now re-listened to it before reviewing this (in order to compare their embryonic roots to their full length debut album), I can see that although not a massive difference has changed in the bands stringent outlook and vibe, their overall professionalism and song writing abilities have improved somewhat.
Slecht play a rudimentary brand of black metal that owes to the very earliest of the genres styles. Their sound is painfully basic throughout the majority of the album, relying solely on uncomplicated yet generally rocking guitar riffs to carry the songs forward, with the drum work and barely audible bass following everything as closely as possible. These guys stink of drunken rehearsal rooms that sweat out primal chugging black metal, nothing will shock you or take you by surprise here – there’s certainly no sudden keyboard flourishes or outlandish blasting – this is mid-paced, bile filled Neanderthal styled drunken blackness, nothing more, nothing less. However, Slecht are still missing the X factor which their demo material was also screaming out for, thus for me it’s not quite enough to warrant paroxysms of joy. But there’s definitely a more likable aspect to parts of their one dimensional clumsy rumble this time around. Much like the primeval sickness of the early greats, you can pick up on the rocking thunder of Bathory and Venom mixed into the evil chill of the early 2nd wave classics a la Darkthrone and Burzum in Slecht’s sound, just void of any of the aforementioned pioneer’s true brilliance.
All in all, although I definitely got more out of “Transient” than I did their demo which I found so dull way back when, there’s still not much to get your teeth into here. The songs at times are so basic and under-developed they lack even the most simplistic of hooks to get any kind of kick out of. But with that said, certain tracks (“Kamiel Van Ingelgem” for example) do have a decent chill about them and a solid enough rhythm section to carry it through, the odd track isn’t enough to cut the mustard on a full length album. Still, whilst a step up from their demo material, you won’t find me running to see them live any time soon or keeping an eye on their future efforts. A fair effort which just misses an unwholesome black spark to give it life.
(6/10 Lars Christiansen)
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