With the name of the band, album title and plainly stated ''Black Metal'' tag, you would think that you knew what this would sound like from the start. But to my and many other peoples opposition, Hellvetron was much more than straightforward black metal which has already been repeatedly performed in the last five-six years. Instead, I found myself admidst a dark, dense and wholly swallowing blackened death/doom album, with an incrdibly dark and cryptic atmosphere. This sight is not seen very frequently, so I tried to enjoy this album that simply fused Cianide and Incantation with Blasphemy and other black/death monsters and thus relentlessly distorted the production to deliver an eerie, blasphemous and callous ambience drenched in unholiness.
So, a listen which started off as a simply boring trip into the dephts of yet another black metal act turned out to be much more, because the feel of the album is almost the complete opposite of an aformentined sound. The riffs are always doomy and maintain their stance with the utterly blasphemous vocals barfing the lyrics out in a totally throat-splitting way. The density and intensity of the music is one to be compared with ''Charon'', with such consuming instrumentation and muffled production, it won't be a shock if one needs to take in a deep breath when the album is over. That fortunately, and unfortunately for others, is something that doesen't linger around so long with such short tracks. There are seven tracks on the album, all containing a ton of atmosphere and dark ambience but all seven are also short meaning that the album may come to an end without even wholly satisfying some. On the other hand this may seem actually healthier people who do not favour death/black are thought of.
The vocals are, atleast for me, an almost perfect reflection of a demonic and diablically twisted and evil voice turned even more evil with the riffs and production. Naturally on an album like this, one wouldn't try to explore varied styles, since the sound that is present is one that cannot be manipulated easily. The album is simply an arsenal of blasphemous doom riffs with a tinge of black metal and a large dose of death metal heaviness. The death metal influence shows its presence on the vocals aswel, allowing them to stop shreiking and start wasting the gut. In such moments, when the satanic feeling is in its climax and the brutalized vocals are overheard, the album reaches perfection in its own style. The album is haunted by doomy passages with frequnet synthsizers accompanying the listener as the music progresses, slowly and painfully. There is no repetition on the album simply becuase the listener has very few breathing space on the album and has already been immersed in the dense, diabolic liquid altered by the vocals and painfully mangled riffs.
Though once we think of the riffs, it is clear that they do not earn much praise, especially considering the dark atmosphere of the album is the only reason why it gained such quality. As I mentined before, ''Death Scrolls'' will be an utter shock for the ones who are new to war or doom metal and might severely suffocate the listener during impact. Not only that, but the album does take time to grow on one or atleast become mellow enough for someone to take breaths perpetually throughout. I was not struck with a sword of dissapointment, instead I was quite content with what ''Death Scrolls'' delivered. Death/doon reeking of deep, dark black metal is what this is, although for many it is a gaöe of hit or miss, for me it attained a part in the better sections of the middle-ground, wavering in the slightly over the line of decency.
Highlights:
Abaddon - Wings Of Perdition
| Gehinnom - Hellwomb Of The Impure Hag Queens | |||
| Bar Shasketh - Fathomless Pit of Destruction Rating: 82% | |||
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