Over the years, black metal has developed into something of a template. That being the case, the appeal of your black metal project depends a lot on whether you’re able to follow that template while simultaneously breaking it up and giving it a fresh or personal twist in order to avoid sounding like everybody else.
Isgherurd Morth, a brand-new French/Russian entity, skilfully navigate these tricky waters on their debut album Hellrduk. Their sound is clearly inspired by Bathory, Darkthrone and Enslaved, but it also contains more recent elements some of which are commonly labelled as blackgaze.
While the project is new, its protagonists could be called old stagers. Res (Max Konstantinov), guitars, and Pitom (Peter Shallmin), bass and vocals, are from Krasnoyarsk in the icy expanse of Siberia, and they used to play together in Kamlath. Ghoul (Romain Goulon), drums, is from France and involved with numerous bands. Most notably he played drums in Necrophagist. Together the trio have already collaborated in Stench Price. Judging from their performance on Hellrduk, every band member is at the top of their game.
A look at the album cover already tells you that this is not your garden-variety black metal album. The imagery is familiarly blasphemous, but the presentation and the colouring are atypical and unusual. Clearly an attempt to think outside of the box has been made. The same is true for the music.
Over the course of slightly over half an hour Hellrduk gifts us with plenty of tremolo picking, blast beats and outstandingly ghoulish vocals, but also with calm and slow instrumental parts, unexpected breaks, rhythm changes and stand stills, jazz-inspired drumming and here and there an 80s-sounding guitar riff.
Of the album’s five tracks Kultth Tormentr is my favourite and the track I would suggest for you to check out. In this whirlwind of a piece of music, the beginning does in no way indicate where the middle part will take you – which is always interesting. The vocal performance, including crazy laughter, is especially ghoul-like here.
From the band name, to the album title, the track names and the lyrics, the band uses a made-up language of which some words are recognizable for English speakers and others are not. Nothing uncommon or new in black metal, of course, but considering the band’s background it makes more sense than usual.
This transcontinental collaboration has certainly cooked up an appealing mixture. It will be a while though until the band name will roll easily of my tongue.
(8/10 Slavica)
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