Tuesday, April 28, 2015

review: BLUT AUS NORD "The Mystical Beast of Rebellion " :review



Blut Aus Nord "The Mystical Beast of Rebellion"
Originally released in 2001.  Re-released in 2011 (the print I have).

1.  The Fall: Chapter I
2.  The Fall: Chapter II
3.  The Fall: Chapter III
4.  The Fall: Chapter IV
5.  The Fall: Chapter V
6.  The Fall: Chapter VI

Second disc of new material added in with re-release:

1 . The Fall:  Chapter 7
2.  The Fall:  Chapter 7.7
3.  The Fall:  Chapter 7.77

It's no secret that I love this band.  Back when I was collecting their older works, I was really bummed out.  This album for quite awhile was out of print and the only copies floating about were expensive.  I love collecting music but I'm not going to pay out the ass for a standard release album.  To my delight, I randomly looked up the album around 2011 and it came up with a different cover and an affordable price on Amazon.  Lo and behold, it's finally been re-released!  On top of being re-released, there's a second disc of more material and it's in a nice digipak setup.  I rushed to buy the album and was stoked when it finally came in, I finally have the long out of print album with MORE!  Did it delight the ears, since it was a blind purchase because of my love for BAN?  Fuck.  Yes.

Before this album, BAN was a band known for melodic passages, and a very "black metal feel" with a perfectly done tinny, lo-fi sound and the usual atmosphere of icy plains or lush, green forests.  This album though, really switched it up.  A more refined production, and an emphasis on industrial tinges here and there.  The drums this time around were programmed drums, and the production was more fuller, sludgier and more alien sounding.  While a track or two switched up the drumming style, most of the album is blast beat Armageddon and break-neck. 

The first track starts blistering fast right from the first second.  Expertly played tremolo picking assaults the ears and doesn't let go.    It's more or less this speed and ferocity until track 5 where the speed takes a break and goes for a more slower, creepy-as-fuck vibe that has perfect atmosphere with it.  The speed picks back up for the last track, and ends the hellish journey.  

This album has a huge card up it's sleeve though to keep it from being standard BM fare in my opinion.  Production and Atmosphere take this formula above and beyond.  The production is ridiculously suffocating.  It's a wall of sound that surrounds you and adds to the riffs and songwriting PERFECTLY.  Vindsvall's shrieks echo, and sound like he himself is locked in the mental institution of hell.  I could imagine him scratching at the walls, bellowing in agony trying to get ANYONE to hear him while hallucinations haunt his every second.  But it's not just the production, it's the riffs as well.  I think they really shine in this release.  They sound depressing, scared and somber.  They do not convey any ounce of happiness at all and carry a sense of absolute dread.  It all wraps up into a perfect sound that match the track names very well.  I could totally see this working as background music for one's "fall".  A descent into hell?  A never ending fall into insanity?  Overall, it astonishes me every listen and reminds me of why I love this band so much.

It all adds up to a scary, somber sounding album that loves to suffocate it's listener with it's speed and fear of what "The Fall" will bring to the mind.  It's absolutely chilling, and a incredible work of music in my opinion.  Sure, it can be seen as maybe a lower point in BAN's career but I still see shit tons of worth in this release.  The atmosphere and riff's that work brilliantly with said atmosphere take this album to some of the best of what BM has to offer.  If you are interested in quite the unnerving ride, check this out ASAP.  

But there's more!  The second disc is a very nice addition.  Very different production (a lot more dryer, if that makes sense) from the album and definitely is from the recent era of BAN.  It's slower and more drenched in atmosphere.  The riffs lull along in a hypnotizing fashion and quiet the listeners nerves down after the first disc.  Still somber, suffocating and depressing in atmosphere but relaxing.  It's a welcome cool down from the hell-ish descent into madness the original release drags it's listener down into.  Plenty of greatness to be found and a welcome addition to the original release.

At the end of this review, to sum up this album I guess its:  A descent into insanity with somber riffing, break-neck speed, a wall of sound, finished with a hypnotizing coming to terms with the soul-destroying end for the listener.  BAN, you never fail to impress me you magnificent bastards!

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