Ara - Gurre (2022)

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Channeling the same austerity and heft as was circling around the fjords of Norway in the 90’s black metal sound, Ara (meaning “Era” in German) ride under those same black banners—Evincing a similar raw power through a bottom of the barrel production and a flurry of icy tremolo picking.

It’s form over function and it sounds PRIMITIVE! A thousand other bands released albums in 2022 that tried to do the same thing, but few captured Gurre’s ability to do more with less. This has been flying under the banner of most from what I can tell… I think it's a great black metal album with a grimy punk tinge to it. Recommended for fans of Okkultokrati, Bone Awl, Raspberry Bulbs, etc.

Ara - Gurre (bandcamp)

Kringa - Feast Upon The Gleam (2019)

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I've posted Kringa on here before and I'll continue to do so so long as they keep making forward thinking second-wave black metal like this. Severely underrated, underrepresented, understand? Probably not, but that's okay, because you're here now reading this and within a few choice and overused adjectives I'll force your hand into looking into Austria's underbelly gemstone, Kringa and their debut LP Feast Upon The Gleam.

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Okay so now for those choice adjectives. Cold as a witch tit.
That's one.

Secondly, despite each chord, snare pop, and shrill bellowed being coated in Austrian frost, the overall feeling is one of ennui and pandemonium which is only in emphasis by the raw way in which this was recorded and mastered, which we (I) here appreciate accordingly. It's raw but not at all flat in its dynamics, I don't know man, I didn't goto music class, but it sounds like a rock n' roll gas station! Listen to the middle of the track 'Eroding Passage' for the summated experience, riffs haphazardly clanging together while the most simple drum pattern somehow is more fitting than a typical blast beat, and Kringa knew that and so did Neil Young. The split vocal deliveries from Spectres and Teeth standout in that they run the gamut from a frail and flimsy howl to orator of an underground sewer cult. This album is full breadth and creativity within the arena of black metal.

Go forth and listen.

Kringa - Feast Upon The Gleam (bandcamp)