Nine tracks of Alaskan black metal sounds harsh in every way, and this is what Rübezahl bring us here. This is their full album release but they did put out an EP “Tempering of Northern Iron” in 2019.
It all points to bombast and pomp. Power and authority pack their punch. The vocals are deep and growly. But what I like most is the sheer expanse, majesty and heaviness of the sound. Even better I reckon if I was in a cosy concert hall having all this weight bouncing off the walls and through the floors underneath me. Suffice then to say that “Thunder and Oak” is a cracker. I sense a number of influencing styles here – black metal, death metal and doom but also hints of folky melody – not too many of those, I guess. The gloriously titled “Alas, Phoenician, Despair!” starts in doomy and deathly fashion. For me it had a little of old Omnium Gatherum about it. For sure I am getting old as I saw this was released as a single. In my day singles were catchy hoppy things for teenagers. “Alas Phoenician, Despair!” will weigh you down and blow your brains out. I didn’t realise that desolation gets you to the top of the hit parade but maybe that’s just in Alaska.
“Ether and Steel” has a certain majesty. The heavy drums vary their tempo and pick up the pace but all the time it’s amid a dark and harsh climate of despair. By contrast, “Accursed Victory” is out and out black metal. The drumming has rawness. The progress is heavy, bordering on violent, and relentless. Ferocity is king. Mid-way the tempo drops to something more funereal but the intensity remains and we cannot escape as the metal maelstrom surges forward. It’s brutal. Each track is a statement. While “Meditations of a Tyrant” was the sort of slab which left me cold, “Echoes of a Mighty Hall” has sheer majesty. “Bloodlines of Scorched Earth” almost bursts into melody and somehow gets its lines crossed – a baffling slab of metal, but full marks to Rübezahl for trying to inject variety of a very heavy metal kind. By this stage of the assault, Truth to tell, I was beginning to find this 50 minute album a bit wearing, as the message is clear just as the terrain is harsh and the music is heavy. But I appreciated the intensity and musicianship. I had high hopes for the final track “Anvil of the East”. It’s 5 minutes of being hammered into the ground. Odd moments of this album are uplifting but the wonder is in the sheer weightiness.
“Remnants of Grief and Glory” is an appropriate title for this album which is like a systematic exercise in deconstruction. It’s a good album if you’re up for 50 minutes of unrelenting harshness.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
Leave a Reply