Worm Gear

Choosing raw Black Metal that recalls Von and Hellhammer, (with just a hint of early Darkthrone) can be an exercise in limitation, unless a band clearly sees an avenue to direct their own voice through the maelstrom. Canada’s Burialkult understands this, and with A Call from Beyond the Grave, have pieced together an album that both proudly pledges its allegiances and forges it own path. More than a Bone Awl brainmelt, Burialkult eschew nothin’-but-blasts for a blend of First Wave slow/mid/fast-paced homages to darkness. A primal guitar tone screeches along on a wire, but is reigned in perfectly with welcome, limb sawing-assaults of down-picked depravity, certain to force headnods amongst even the most hardened hellspawn. This is not to say Burialkult are incapable of a snare-smashing attack; look to ‘I Am Torment’ for a prime example of that, a track that unbelievably manages to remain haunting amidst drummer Krieg’s percussive chaos. What holds this Hades-machine together, however (aside from the previously described rapid-fire Black Thrash riffing/drumming and Phlegathon’s bleeding-Csihar-throat vocal), is Funeral Aggressor’s smooth and audible bass attack. Focusing exclusively on the four-string ravaging,Varg Vikernes session playing of bass lines on Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas comes to mind, as each performance shares an evil warble/space-filling tonality that grounds A Call from Beyond the Grave’s intentionally trebly freneticism.

In the end, consider Burialkult kvlt and proud of it, and consider the overall effect of this, their first full-length, a rage-filled confirmation of that status. With A Call from Beyond the Grave’s unforgiving, no-frills onslaught, Burialkult have vomited forth twelve tracks of straight BM/Thrash that will steamroll any overly-symphonic, overproduced slop it comes across. -Jim

Blood Harvest

~ by cliftonium on April 17, 2013.

Posted in ALL REVIEWS, B-reviews
Tags: Black Metal, Blood Harvest, Brainkult, Canada