Imperial Triumphant - Inceste (EP)

Mmm butts.

One would be forgiven for thinking avant-garde black metallers Imperial Triumphant were European, what with all the French and them being, y'know, avant-garde black metallers, but nope turns out they're from NYC. At the cutting edge of the extreme music scene, these guys bring a 3-and-a-half song EP that manages to be quite a breath of fresh air in an often stale genre, something that's not so easy to do these days. Their unhinged and probably-not-in-tune style of riffing and frenetic drumming takes Deathspell Omega's discordant cacophony out to even further extremes. Upon hearing the cartoonishly drunken opening riff of 'Kaleidoscopic Orgies' I have to admit I was afraid that the band had taken it to the wrong kind of extreme, coming out with something like the much-maligned 'circuscore', but they promptly dial it back a bit to something a little more tame, yet no less ferocious. 'Oblivion in Morsels' has the kind of arpeggiated riffing that Mgla favors, and seems popular with the kids these days. Finally, 'Breath of Innocence' rounds out this short EP with a little breakdown featuring some commendable percussion work.

If you're a person who's in to experimental and extreme music, and you're not some plebeian who's turned off by the hedonism themes, I'd say this is a band to watch. I look forward to their next full-length.

4/5

Rotting Christ - Rituals

Veteran Greek black metallers Rotting Christ have been around for pushing three decades now, and while they've never (in my humble opinion) quite re-grasped the quality of their first full-length, Thy Mighty Contract, they've put out a steady stream of respectable releases. Rituals is a bit of a change of pace - its uninspiring title belies a remarkably coherent thematic concept. Each song here does indeed take the form of some kind of Satanic prayer or ritual chant, and while it's not the most exciting release, it makes for some unexpected study music.

The tempos here alternate between pretty slow and plodding, pretty slow and plodding on top of double bass, and blastbeats. Production is pretty uniformly crisp; in fact it's so crisp it gives me a Thorns-esque industrial vibe. The nature of the music means the tracks have an unfortunate tendency to run in to each other, but there are some standouts: 'Apage Satana' probably takes the 'ritual' idea to its most obvious extreme, 'For a Voice Like Thunder' most resembles a normal black metal song after its spoken-word intro ends, and 'Devadevam' is like some kind of kvlt yoga chant, which is pretty cool I guess. 'The Four Horsemen' is a worthy album closer, most resembling a kind of hymn my American self would be familiar with. Mainman Sakis Tolis's vocal range is impressive, but, naturally, he mostly sticks to a kind of chant. Themes are predictably and suitably Satan-centric; the quadrilingual lyrics feel a little hacky, but I guess they've earned it.

While this album can indeed lull you in to a kind of trance, making it some surprisingly good study music as I mentioned before, I find it pretty hard to feel strongly about it. If you're a Rotting Christ fan I won't have to tell you to listen; if you're a fan of black metal in general, I would say give it a spin if you're looking for something to listen to. HAIL SATAN and all that.

3/5

Ihsahn - Arktis.

Everyone likes Ihsahn, right? The guy is indisputably a hell of a musician, and is responsible for some black metal classics. That said, his solo material isn't always everyone's speed, and Arktis. (don't forget the .) is not going to change any minds.

Let's get this out of the way - this is some cheesy shit. The cheesiest of Ihsahn's catalog, I do believe. He embraces all the gooiest elements of prog on this record, and while his musicianship continues to be phenomenal, the pieces don't always click for me. I think the worst offender in this respect might be the EDM-influenced track 'South Winds'. While electronic elements are used pretty tastefully throughout the album, the pulsing beat on this track feels like I should be at a 90s goth rave. Which isn't a bad thing I suppose... but it's jarring in a bad way, and makes me think of other artists (Peste Noire) who have incorporated EDM elements in to metal music in a much more convincing way. There's a couple other cringe-worthy ones - I think 'Frail' is supposed to be unsettling in parts but just comes across as goofy, and the fucking sax on 'Crooked Red Line' is just a bit much.

Of course, there are tracks where the prog elements are effective. I love the sweet organ solo on 'My Heart is of the North', for example. 'If I Too Dissolve' probably makes the best use of goofy prog influences; it helps that it lubes you up with that intro riff which, yes, is indeed a Van Halen riff. And all musicianship here is solid. Ihsahn's vocal range, in particular, is really impressive. 'Celestial Violence' really shows it off, and while I've heard people criticizing that track for being 'pussy' or 'whiny' or something in the vocal delivery I don't really think that's fair (then again, full disclosure: I love Coheed and Cambria.). If there's something cringey about this album, it's just the earnestness with which some of the progressive and experimental elements are introduced. While there's probably not enough heavy here to satisfy the trve (although he does through in a blastbeat on 'Pressure'), if you're a prog fan I'll think you'll love this. Just don't fall asleep listening to the kvlt Norwegian spoken word on the last track, as it's punctuated with a sudden screech that actually gave me a start.

Giving this a score is hard, and runs in to a lot of the problems I have with giving albums scores, and why I don't like doing it. After all, your mileage will almost certainly vary, depending on your cheese threshold and whether or not you're a prog guy(ette).

3/5 personally, probably a 4/5 if you're a prog fan.