Tonight sees some of Iceland’s finest black and death metal roll into the Black Heart, to celebrate ‘Unortheta’, the latest album from Reykjavík’s Zhrine.
First up, Hveragerði’s Auðn blast melody, aggression and atmosphere in swathes. Despite the five piece’s undeniable black metal sensibilities, they play at a mid-pace without heavy reliance on blast beats; much of the music revolves around clean and eerie sounding guitars with a few heavy riffs thrown in for good measure. Hjalti Sveinsson’s vocals complement the entire performance with well delivered snarls and shrieks.
Severed (formerly Severed Crotch) add some classic brutal death metal to proceedings and, despite vocalist Ingólfur Ólafsson’s obvious ankle injury, still manage to pull off a performance filled with energy. Reminiscent of early Gorguts and Disgorge, their intense technical playing style is oddly catchy. The strange time changes keep things interesting, amidst churning, monstrous percussion and vocals that are a blend of both throaty growls and ear piercing screams.
‘Unortheta’ gets a full playthrough from Zhrine. The baby-faced quartet play with technical precision and every aspect of the performance is sonically perfect. It’s in their plight for perfection, however, that their set falls slightly flat. The sheer concentration and focus on every member’s face is palpable and, because of this, their show comes across as rather sterile and lifeless. It would have been preferable for the songs to sound a little sloppy in favour of the band having a semblance of stage presence. Despite this, however, the run-through of the album is one that makes use of ferocious moods with breakneck speed riffs and tumultuous blast beats, despite each member’s slightly wooden demeanour. Feel free to let loose a little next time; you’re allowed to have as much as fun as the crowd are!
(Review by Angela Davey, Photos Pete Woods)
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