Two black metal acts of the underground scene share a CD here on the Southern Lord label. The first one, Nortt, from Denmark, have four tracks on this release, and these songs are perhaps the doomiest and slowest black metal pieces you will ever hear. With massive, distorted guitar riffs that endlessly drone on and on, melancholy piano, and tortured vocals that are way low in the mix, this is easily music to slit your wrists too. There's not much variety with these guys unfortunately, and their music comes across as a soundtrack to some really cheesy horror movie (I can picture slow moving zombies coming out of the ground in a cemetery for instance) more than anything else. A little kick-starting of the tempo might do them a little bit of good, in fact, their drummer is practically non-existent throughout. One look at the photo of Xasthur, from the USA, in the CD booklet, might be enough to warrant a chuckle, as he is all clad in spiked gear and make-up like the bastard child of Tom G. Warrior and King Diamond. Yet, his stuff is the best of the two here, as his doomy yet well thought out instrumental soundscapes seem to work better than the dreary postmortem mess that is Nortt. Xasthur uses guitars, keyboards, and various percussion, to create an intense apocalyptic and satanic tone, which reaches a zenith on the epic 10-minute tune "Blood From the Roots of the Forest."
In summary, this might be more of a casual listen for black metal fans to be able to check out some truly underground sounds. However, the music of Xasthur is intriguing enough to give this a spin. Although he has apparently released numerous albums over the last few years, these instrumental songs might be a sign of a direction he might want to take in the future.
Track Listing
Nortt
1) Hedengangen (Intro)
2) Glemt
3) Dod og Borte
4) Dystert Sind (Outro)
Xasthur
5)A Curse for the Lifeless
6) Blood From the Roots of the Forest
7) Lurking in Silence
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