Reviewed - 05/30/05
Obsidian
Torment
[Antinomian/BlackMetal.com]
BlackMetal.com is still in business? Man, I haven't heard of anyone even mentioning they've placed an order with them lately let alone that they were still releasing albums. Well they are it seems, at least on a demo label deal called the Antinomian Demo Series. This is the label you'll find the US Black Metal band Uvall proudly signed to. I'm kind of scratching my head on this one as the one lone member of Uvall named Stormlord owns his own label, God Is Myth Records. I don't know why he just didn't release this album through his own label, but it's no big deal really. We're here to talk about the music right?
Uvall is extremely raw Black Metal that gives the listener no compromises when it comes to their brand of brutal and pulverizing music. The music found on "Obsidian Torment" is sort of in the same vein as the bands found on God Is Myth Records. In other words Black and grim as hell Metal, but with some melody and atmosphere to it. I absolutely hate raw Black Metal that sounds like little kids banging on tin cans and old Kiss guitars, but if there's a sense of melody to be found there, I'm good to go. While Uvall doesn't sound as good to me as say Hellveto or Damnation Army which are on Stormlord's label, the band is decent enough, especially when you consider that this is indeed a demo album. It didn't hit me until just now as I heard this album for the third time while I review it, but the slower and more trudging parts of this album are amazingly similar to Primordial's new album "The Gathering Wilderness". The first track sounds like a lost track off the newest Primordial album in fact.
Stormlord's vocals are insanely raw and can be a bit too much for me at times, but I think that's just the production on the album. Every so often he'll use a lower register guttural vocal effect that makes him sound like the possessed demons from the first two Evil Dead movies. The lyrics I can't comment on much as they aren't included with the booklet, but it's safe to say from the song titles that they are anti-Christian in nature.
The production on "Obsidian Torment" is the one real big downfall of the album. It is extremely raw and unforgiving in sound and while I know a lot of people look for that in their Black Metal, I'm more of a fan of keeping the music raw but giving it as good of a production as possible. But hey, like I said, this is a demo. You can't expect great sound quality from a demo I guess.
The layout and packaging of the album is okay, but it could have been spruced up a bit. The cover art shows a dark and dreary image of a cemetery which is okay, but half the cover art is obscured from view because it is blacked completely out. I like the Uvall logo because it is perfectly symmetrical and looks the same frontwards and backwards. Unfortunately the lyrics are not printed in the booklet, but in their place there is an excellent two page photo of a castle. I think this image would have looked better on the cover!
"Obsidian Torment" I can only recommend to the most die hard of Black Metal fans, but of course that's who this album is made for. To those of you that like the low-fi sound some Black Metal albums have, you would probably love this album. As for me, I like the music quite a bit but the production kept it from being anything great. If they could keep the same songwriting style for their next album and raise the production value a bit I think it would absolutely rule!
Finally...
I'm In Hell!
[Antinomian/BlackMetal.com]
BlackMetal.com is still in business? Man, I haven't heard of anyone even mentioning they've placed an order with them lately let alone that they were still releasing albums. Well they are it seems, at least on a demo label deal called the Antinomian Demo Series. This is the label you'll find the US Black Metal band Uvall proudly signed to. I'm kind of scratching my head on this one as the one lone member of Uvall named Stormlord owns his own label, God Is Myth Records. I don't know why he just didn't release this album through his own label, but it's no big deal really. We're here to talk about the music right?
Uvall is extremely raw Black Metal that gives the listener no compromises when it comes to their brand of brutal and pulverizing music. The music found on "Obsidian Torment" is sort of in the same vein as the bands found on God Is Myth Records. In other words Black and grim as hell Metal, but with some melody and atmosphere to it. I absolutely hate raw Black Metal that sounds like little kids banging on tin cans and old Kiss guitars, but if there's a sense of melody to be found there, I'm good to go. While Uvall doesn't sound as good to me as say Hellveto or Damnation Army which are on Stormlord's label, the band is decent enough, especially when you consider that this is indeed a demo album. It didn't hit me until just now as I heard this album for the third time while I review it, but the slower and more trudging parts of this album are amazingly similar to Primordial's new album "The Gathering Wilderness". The first track sounds like a lost track off the newest Primordial album in fact.
Stormlord's vocals are insanely raw and can be a bit too much for me at times, but I think that's just the production on the album. Every so often he'll use a lower register guttural vocal effect that makes him sound like the possessed demons from the first two Evil Dead movies. The lyrics I can't comment on much as they aren't included with the booklet, but it's safe to say from the song titles that they are anti-Christian in nature.
The production on "Obsidian Torment" is the one real big downfall of the album. It is extremely raw and unforgiving in sound and while I know a lot of people look for that in their Black Metal, I'm more of a fan of keeping the music raw but giving it as good of a production as possible. But hey, like I said, this is a demo. You can't expect great sound quality from a demo I guess.
The layout and packaging of the album is okay, but it could have been spruced up a bit. The cover art shows a dark and dreary image of a cemetery which is okay, but half the cover art is obscured from view because it is blacked completely out. I like the Uvall logo because it is perfectly symmetrical and looks the same frontwards and backwards. Unfortunately the lyrics are not printed in the booklet, but in their place there is an excellent two page photo of a castle. I think this image would have looked better on the cover!
"Obsidian Torment" I can only recommend to the most die hard of Black Metal fans, but of course that's who this album is made for. To those of you that like the low-fi sound some Black Metal albums have, you would probably love this album. As for me, I like the music quite a bit but the production kept it from being anything great. If they could keep the same songwriting style for their next album and raise the production value a bit I think it would absolutely rule!
Finally...
I'm In Hell!
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Tracklist:
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| Rating: 7/10 | |
| Release Date: 2005 | |
| Length: 53:40 | |
| Review By: Britton Dicks | |
| Total Reviews: (1) | |
| Bands Website: Go Here | |
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