|
 |
ALBUM REVIEW
- Orcrist - We Come in War
- Painkiller Records
-
- Some crazy fool once told me that
Italy doesn’t do black metal. I never heard such bullshit. Unsurprisingly, folks
within spitting distance of the ‘Holy’ See have a fundamental affinity with the
most blackened and hateful of musical expressions. Like any nation, the Italians do it
every which way – atmospheric, industrial and experimental with Mystical Fullmoon,
overpoweringly bleak with Locus Mortis (not to mention MZ’s other projects),
expressive and gloomy with Frostmoon Eclipse… And then there’s Orcrist, sitting
in a spiteful corner of the scene since 2000, nursing a frozen cup of deliciously
old-school misanthropy and rawness.
-
- "We Come in War" is
the prolific act’s fourth full-length, and marks a change for them, in that the pace
has been noticeably slowed on many of the tracks, whilst infectious, rolling rhythms liven
things up, injecting a spark independent from the recreation of vintage Norwegian
structures. The title track was a great choice of opener, all low and mean and raw and
classic, exuding contempt, and intoxicating with its repetitiveness. The guitar sound is a
bitter, Arctic howl; thin, primitive and pure, plugging straight into the part of your
brain that wishes keyboards never happened. Each track growls and rasps its way towards an
inevitable but glorious switch in tempo or rhythm, with "Ode to the Wolf’s
Torment", particularly, pulling off some wicked reversals and swerves.
-
- Given that Orcrist apparently regard
the Norwegian progenitors as some kind of Darwinian super-organism, needless of evolution,
it’s easy to sniff at the ‘changes’ they’ve made, but if this type of
raw, true purity appeals to you, you’ll know to consider the art within its context,
rather than guffawing at the tight little box into which black metal sometimes manages to
manoeuvre itself. The slowing down, the taking time to build in atmospherics, whether they
be the weighty sadness in the melody of layered "Mother of Infernal Night"
or evocative, high lead that colours "The Silence", are real developments
for Orcrist, and while there’s no denying they’re a primitive and purposefully
orthodox act, they have matured greatly with this collection of tracks.
-
- So what have we learned? Sometimes,
for all our excitement about what’s new, and experimental, and boundary-pushing, we,
whether intentionally or not, denigrate those that prefer to stay rooted in the magic that
hooked us all in to begin with. The combination of feral tone and simple, shiver-inducing
riff. The piercing, exhilarating, rasping scream. The structures that shamble between one
moment of clever re-invention and the next. All of this can still be remarkably
satisfying, when a band such as Orcrist – unpretentious and truly passionate –
presents it well. Also, Italy and black metal go together like pasta and pesto. Stick with
me, kids – I’ve got all the conclusions.
- 71/100
- Ellen Simpson
-
- www.myspace.com/orcristhorde
- www.orcrist-horde.com
|
|
|
|