Imperial Crystalline Entombment? They released an album back in 2004 it seems (thank Metal Archives) and promptly disbanded and members concentrated on such projects as Aurora Borealis, House By The Cemetery, Azure Emote and Hypoxia. Now there’s a little clue in there as to where the sound is coming from as despite being labelled black metal, there is a whole lot of death metal around in this album to my ears. But equally exactly who is in the band is up for debate…
But to digress for a moment: I listen to a lot of ..well…gnarly lo-fi stuff as well as more ‘professionally’ recorded things and aside from the sound one thing I like about the raw end is the punk attitude of ‘just do it’. No meticulously considered high concept to the look, no cultivated or finessed aesthetics, just “Bleugh! Black metal!” Now of course there is room for the opposite but sometimes the opposite can come across as a little too considered. I could name some better known names (but won’t) but despite looking at the cover and thinking “Cool different look…” (yeah, I know, bad pun but I did) it did seem a little on point somehow. But it does look cool so I was kinda excited!
‘Into A Frigid Bleak Infinity’ launches with no fucking about. A snowstorm of fast riffing and drum battery very, very much looking back at the tempestuous parts of ‘Anthems To The Welkin…’ but with sadly one of my pet hates. The drumming sounds massively triggered in a very tech death style – no, not saying it is, I’m saying that is the sound. Machine gun hammering on deadened skins. The vocals are pretty good, nice and varied, ravenous in style and there are some guitar melodies played neatly here and there. The problem is when they go into the blast that is all there is: Blast. It kind of reminds me of Blizzard Beasts, not my favourite Immortal album, but recorded in a sanitised operating theatre. ‘Eternal Subzero Torment’ pretty much does the same to be honest, same style and sadly like the first track there are precious few hooks and by the end the drumming is really turning me off. We get again that Emperor style guitar work from back in the day with the tempest and the slowed down bits with a dark melody and then the sudden change back up in tempo to the maelstrom. Indeed, the general style here is very late nineties and a lot of the kind of thing I heard back then. Not bad in itself but with no real hooks or, by the time I’m halfway through this album still nothing that stays with me I’m floundering.
OK the good stuff. Whether this is done by one, two or four people I have no idea but they clearly know their way around their instruments and drumming aside they have recorded this well. This is not sloppy in the slightest. It sounds tight and precise. Maybe that’s half the problem. I guess they might have decided this precise, clinical sound makes it seem icy and blizzard like but to me it simply sounds technical. And that was when I looked back at the aesthetics and wondered if it wasn’t all a little too clinical.
So I tried again. I have listened to all of this album more than four times. There are brief passages that almost latch onto me, particularly the dark melodic moments when the drums cease their endless clatter but not a whole song. The pace of every song is pretty similar too; tempest riffing, chattering drums and neat and precise tempo changes for atmosphere and a little melodic flourish. Rinse and repeat.
I’m really sorry, I genuinely don’t like getting albums that have this lack of effect on me. It’s not even really fair on the band who I am sure are hard-working, committed gents. But there is nothing here that sticks, or even chills me. Simply it is what it is and it is not for me. If clean, technical black metal with constant machine gun drumming is your thing, you may well go a bundle on it. I do actually think there will be many who will love their fast, blizzard like approach, will not be bothered by the drum sound and will find more than enough to chill them to the bone.
Me, I’m off back to the warmth…
(4/10 Gizmo)
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