Review by Alex on August 26, 2018.

Arallu plays a very ethnic sounding form of black/death metal on this 2009 album re-release titled Desert Battles 2018. This is done by incorporating sitars, bongos, shake tambourines and conch shells (or what sounds to be conch shells). All this is used to conjure an ancient middle eastern sensation which in return helps the band in terms of their identity and also does a great service in avoiding musical monotony. The pace of the compositions featured on the record ranges from mid-tempoed to hyper-quick blasting. Accompanying the music is a strong sense of melody and lengthy thrash metal segments. The mixture of all this and more can be heard on Desert Battles. Though very skeptical at first of how it would be presented and would these elements hinder Arallu’s music, I was pleased to find that quite the contrary took place during the time attributed towards the listening of Desert Battles (though not without fault). This is the first black/death metal band I have encountered thus far that has shown a very large amount of diversity instrumentally. The unorthodox formula used in the creation of Desert Battles greatly helped in keeping the music interesting given it is 47 minutes long and for this genre, that’s quite a lengthy feat. 

With “Old Form of Evil” being the first song following the intro, I was a bit worried as to how the addition of such foreign musical instruments would affect it and the rest of the album. However, after about 1 minute into the track, It all began to glue together nicely. The slow mid paced sitar and bongo driven song suddenly transformed into a furious blast of guitar shredding and drumming. It is with this entry I fully understood what to expect from the following tracks. However progressing deeper into the album I found myself questioning the overall effectiveness of the music being played and the level of enjoyment I was experiencing on Desert Battles. I say this because for the first half there were just a very few moments that stood out even with the supplement of cultural instrumentation. The songs following “Old Form of Evil” did not successfully challenge the album opener. The following songs on the first half of the record, though barely decent, did not do enough to meet my expectations of what would be the final result after hearing “Old Form of Evil”. Even with “The Demon Curse” being one of the better tracks on the first half of the album, I still did not feel satisfied with what I had heard thus far as a collective. 

However, beginning with track 6, “The Union of Babylon”, I was immediately drawn in by the thrash metal riffing and drumming; even the vocals began to spring forth a display of diversity as they got deeper and louder on various segments. The aid of ethnic musical installments was used more effectively than on the 1st half of Desert Battles. It appeared to be a reintroduction to the record with a correction of musical structure in every department. Riffs seemed to be more aligned with the drumming and vice versa, the vocals stood out, and the sitar, tambourine and bongos were used more persuasively during this period. This momentum is sustained and could not have surfaced at a more critical time of the record following the 1st half of the album. On the the 2nd half of Desert Battles Arallu manages to execute much better song flow as each item during this portion feels to have a high level of attachment to the prior and following tracks. That middle eastern cultural atmosphere Arallu installed early on the record is also amplified successfully during this time span. The songs on the second half seem to have been constructed around the ethnic instruments rather than the opposite, thus making the album seem more comprehensive and united. The second half of Desert Battles struly saved the album and even provided the encouragement to give it repeated listens. 

Desert Battles though not perfect still gives the listener many enjoyable fragments of the Arallu’s talent. In spite of the production being cloudy to a degree, the audio is clean enough to grasp the shining moments presented during the 47 minutes of playing time. 

Highlights:

• The Union of Babylon


• The Keeper of Jerusalem


• Milchama


• Desert Genii Storm

Review by Alex on August 26, 2018.

Arallu plays a very ethnic sounding form of black/death metal on this 2009 album re-release titled Desert Battles 2018. This is done by incorporating sitars, bongos, shake tambourines and conch shells (or what sounds to be conch shells). All this is used to conjure an ancient middle eastern sensation which in return helps the band in terms of their identity and also does a great service in avoiding musical monotony. The pace of the compositions featured on the record ranges from mid-tempoed to hyper-quick blasting. Accompanying the music is a strong sense of melody and lengthy thrash metal segments. The mixture of all this and more can be heard on Desert Battles. Though very skeptical at first of how it would be presented and would these elements hinder Arallu’s music, I was pleased to find that quite the contrary took place during the time attributed towards the listening of Desert Battles (though not without fault). This is the first black/death metal band I have encountered thus far that has shown a very large amount of diversity instrumentally. The unorthodox formula used in the creation of Desert Battles greatly helped in keeping the music interesting given it is 47 minutes long and for this genre, that’s quite a lengthy feat. 

With “Old Form of Evil” being the first song following the intro, I was a bit worried as to how the addition of such foreign musical instruments would affect it and the rest of the album. However, after about 1 minute into the track, It all began to glue together nicely. The slow mid paced sitar and bongo driven song suddenly transformed into a furious blast of guitar shredding and drumming. It is with this entry I fully understood what to expect from the following tracks. However progressing deeper into the album I found myself questioning the overall effectiveness of the music being played and the level of enjoyment I was experiencing on Desert Battles. I say this because for the first half there were just a very few moments that stood out even with the supplement of cultural instrumentation. The songs following “Old Form of Evil” did not successfully challenge the album opener. The following songs on the first half of the record, though barely decent, did not do enough to meet my expectations of what would be the final result after hearing “Old Form of Evil”. Even with “The Demon Curse” being one of the better tracks on the first half of the album, I still did not feel satisfied with what I had heard thus far as a collective. 

However, beginning with track 6, “The Union of Babylon”, I was immediately drawn in by the thrash metal riffing and drumming; even the vocals began to spring forth a display of diversity as they got deeper and louder on various segments. The aid of ethnic musical installments was used more effectively than on the 1st half of Desert Battles. It appeared to be a reintroduction to the record with a correction of musical structure in every department. Riffs seemed to be more aligned with the drumming and vice versa, the vocals stood out, and the sitar, tambourine and bongos were used more persuasively during this period. This momentum is sustained and could not have surfaced at a more critical time of the record following the 1st half of the album. On the the 2nd half of Desert Battles Arallu manages to execute much better song flow as each item during this portion feels to have a high level of attachment to the prior and following tracks. That middle eastern cultural atmosphere Arallu installed early on the record is also amplified successfully during this time span. The songs on the second half seem to have been constructed around the ethnic instruments rather than the opposite, thus making the album seem more comprehensive and united. The second half of Desert Battles struly saved the album and even provided the encouragement to give it repeated listens. 

Desert Battles though not perfect still gives the listener many enjoyable fragments of the Arallu’s talent. In spite of the production being cloudy to a degree, the audio is clean enough to grasp the shining moments presented during the 47 minutes of playing time. 

Highlights:

• The Union of Babylon


• The Keeper of Jerusalem


• Milchama


• Desert Genii Storm

Review by Alex on September 2, 2019.

If you don’t mind mixing punk rock influences into your black metal then Byyrth’s 2019 EP Cold Autumn Shadows might be the record for you. Birthed in the United States, well...., Byyrth, emerged in 2016 with a demo which was then followed by 2 full length releases. The first being Saviors of Armageddon and Echoes from the Seven Cave of Blood; both of which received favorable reception upon availability. Their music on those 2 releases could be generally classed as a blend of raw, first and second wave back metal that leaned more toward the latter. A certain level of grooviness could be heard in their music along with heavy metal and rock influences. These elements gave Byyrth their own sound and painted an image that allowed them to stand out amongst the humongous raw black metal niche. Cold Autumn Shadows offers more of the same but more conspicuously done; in addition, you could say the production is also clearer on this lap. 

These bats generally sing about occultism, death and vampirism among other topics generally represented in the black metal scene, but their delivery is not quite the typical. Yes, the rawish production can be pointed out along with the loud screeching vocals that sound like they’re being fed through a television displaying static, but it's the way in which Byyrth puts together their compositions that makes each song stand on its own. What would usually begin on one note, whether it be 1st or 2nd wave black metal or even punk rock/doom, usually at some point along the line begins to open its arms welcomingly to incorporate a multitude of other elements. You can hear this on ‘Infernal Abomination’, ‘Cold Autumn Shades’ ‘Parasitic Twin’ and ‘Archaic Triumviate’ that either begin leaning on the side of punk rock or black metal then does a sort of magnetic blend as the tunes progress. 

Amidst the healthy variation is an overtone of melancholy that stretches throughout the playtime of Cold Autumn Shadows. Sort of menacing sometimes as it changes the shade or tone, especially given how much punk rock is utilized on most songs; hence the sorrow comes off as being ominous as if a bright blue sky slowly begins to turn grey and gather dark clouds like Summer making way for Autumn. Think that's a truly notable aspect about Byyrth’s music on Cold Autumn Shadows, their ability to fluently weave through their compositions and modify the character each exudes without sounding in-cohesive or rushed. After listening to Cold Autumn Shadows I can say that's what I admire the most about Byyrth, is that just when you get too comfortable with whatever direction the music is heading, without warning, they pull you off that path and onto another that is just as good or better. 

In comparison to Byyrth’s previous efforts, I think Cold Autumn Shadows is a greater representation of the band and how they truly intended to sound in my opinion; they're still raw to some degree hence the toned down "noise", but more detail is made available in their music with this production that I would imagine was used in regards to the punk rock mannerism. Supporters of Byyrth’s older material need not worry, Cold Autumn Shadows is just as strong if not stronger and is worth standing beside Echoes from the Seven Cave of Blood and Saviors of Armageddon. Thus said, I think going forward we will get more of this sort of production and musical approach for future installments into their blood drenched catalogue, or maybe we won't; perhaps Byrrth does something entirely unpredictable and still manages to gain approval; such remains to be seen. For now, enjoy the sounds of the darkness set in as the night season gains dominance over the earth. 

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 16, 2019.

Since roughly two decades, Azaghal are torturing successfully their surroundings. Their understanding of black metal has always brought nasty compositions to light. The Nine Circles of Hell, to use the English translation, houses more or less logically nine songs that reflect the misanthropic attitude of the Finnish brigade very well. Yet it cannot be overlooked that the here presented material remains on a rather average level. The production is one of the reasons why this album fails to enthuse me. Sharp but simultaneously thin guitars meet rattling drums and the vocals, equipped with an overdose of reverb, are very dominant. Vice versa, the bass guitar is notable for its absence. I am not speaking of a totally bad sound, yet there exist thousands of albums with a better production.

Despite a surprisingly high number of fairly unnecessary calm intermezzos, the record does not lack fury and anger. Azaghal catapult their raw hymns into the audience without mincing their words. We are entering a closed black metal cosmos where Azaghal operate. External influences are not identifiable. Pure blackness is mostly a good thing, but Azaghal have forgotten to write some memorable, concise riffs. Or to express it more generally, outstanding characteristics are missing more or less completely. One needs patience to find some parts that have the quality to pull the album on a higher level. The slowly growing beginning of "Kohti uuden aikakauden alkua" has the potential to give the album a certain kick, but compared with their later feats (Omega or Nemesis), the here reviewed work tastes vapid. Even the aforementioned track with its promising beginning lacks intensity and inter alia due to the missing compactness its impact is rather small. The furious ending indicates the strengths of the group, but the whole middle section of "Kohti uuden aikakauden alkua" appears pretty harmless.

What remains is a pretty good, partly blast beats driven shocker called "Hän joka on tuleval". To be honest, the song lasts a minute too long. Nevertheless, it mixes brutality and insanity in a fierce way. But too many sections are going nowhere. The band makes some noise that does not lack structure, but compositional excellence is missing. The result is that all songs somehow form a lump of black metal, an attack of half an hour which seems to bow down to the dogma "full dedication is more important than well-designed tracks". On the one hand, this mirrors a good mindset, on the other hand one might ask whether the Northern Europeans have set the right priorities. Despite the fact that I really like this band in general, I tend to the latter.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10