When a pagan black metal band is described as owing a lot to early Rotting Christ, Necromantia, thrash metal and even hardcore influences, then I’m interested. This is Corax B.M. from Greece. “Pagana” is the band’s first full length album. Seven of the songs here feature two bass guitars and a four string, so dark sound is at the core.
The air is indeed filled with darkness as “Angelos Eksodios” treads a menacing path. Progressing persistently, the standard growls are supplemented by a high-pitch haunting, so-called “whisper” vocal, spoken parts and at one piece a piercing scream before the thumping monolith returns. The monotone rhythm of “Mythos” strongly recalls Rotting Christ and works like the “Sleep of the Angels” album. The riff is deliberately withering. The lady’s overarching vocal appears but this song is most noteworthy for its dogged, bleak progress in black metal style. “Apostatis” suggests no let-up of the harshness. From a slow beginning, it cranks up. The growler rants, backed up by the grotesque female voice which has a distorted operatic air. Meanwhile, the pain goes on and once again the pace picks up, dropping back again into threatening territory and inciting the spoken word and a volley of rapid-fire drums.
As the album developed, it occurred to me that the insistent growly melody reminded me very much of the Norwegian black metal band Khold in its hostile and defiant style. The title song was very much in this category. The exception is those strange whisperings from the female voice. This thought was very much in my head, and it carried on with the aggressive “Taphos”. This is the musical equivalent of ploughing through a crowd and setting fire to everything. It sees more about ambience than subtlety. “Antara” is another three minutes of fiery venom-spitting. There is a nice distorted breakdown, always handy when you’re getting too comfortable. And so “Antara” ends on a funereal note before the hammering returns with the final song “Zophos”. Diving into the world of menace, a deathly tune accompanied the darkly spoken word before Corax B.M come back for a final merciless assault on our ears and senses.
Well it’s black metal alright. Corax B.M. most certainly do justice to the genre. “Pagana” is raw, hostile and fiery. It’s not going to be placed in the innovation category but it’s as dark, menacing and malevolent as you could wish for.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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