I’ve only been to Sweden once. It was at Easter time and the sun shone throughout. This album by CB Murdoc, which arose from the old black metal band Mörk Gryning, presents an opposite view. It is described as a “compulsory creative outlet for the introvert Scandinavian mentality steeped in a mandatory 8-month long winter season”.
“Brood and Roaring Fires” is musical chaos. Dark, technical and violent in its production, its structure and style swing from aggressive black metal to moments of jazz and swirling wizardry. The technical complexity has an air of At the Gates. “Nonplus Ultra” starts in the same fast and frantic vein, but emerging out of the corner is a hint of a darkly emotional riff. The track lurches into further turbulence through a wall of sound, then silence appears out of nowhere before the anarchic assault resumes. What I’m hearing is something that is technical, extreme and mostly violent. “The Green” again is noteworthy for its violent outpourings, and has the emotional context of an attack by a wide-eyed monster. CB Murdoc’s intent seems to be to get all the anger and bile out of their system. So too sparks fly on “Rage Enabler”, which has all the charm of an Impaled Nazarene track. I sensed a hint of jazz but it’s all too fast and furious to pinpoint anything precise. Storms are constantly being whipped up. It’s just angry. “Here Be Extremity” might be a more accurate album title. But as “The Violence of Illumination” proves, it’s technical extremity. “Diamonds” has the rare quality of being more subtle than most. Its winding, growly riff develops an air of creepiness in the sense of a knife being twisted. Although this is mostly frantic, the style does vary, and “Everything is Going to be OK” is along the lines of crusty, weird and experimental death metal. It’s like a case of “I don’t give a damn what you think or what style you think this might be”. That’s just fine, and it’s followed by “Dither”, which is a heavy and extreme blast. “Objecting Projection”, in which I felt tinges of At The Gates again, is a seven minute epic wall of sound, before the album closes with a fairly pointless outro.
One thing for sure is that the Swedish Tourist Board is not going to adopt “Here Be Dragons” to promote their country. As an album, it is aggressive and technical, but I didn’t particularly find it cohesive. Each track has a different story of hatred. “Here Be Dragons” is without doubt one of the most turbulent and intense albums that I’ve heard in a while.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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