Bölzer - Aura

What do you know about Switzerland ?
Geneva ? Banks ? Overpriced (and overrated) chocolate ? Some Metal bands maybe ?

Yeah, Switzerland has bred numerous great bands during the past 30 years, like Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Coroner, Samael, Borgne, Darkspace, Tardigrada, Paysage d'Hiver, and countless others... I can hear some of you screaming "ELUVEITIIIIIIIIIIIIIE" through my computer screen, but no. For fuck's sake, NO, NO and NO.
This sounds like shit, and if someone pronounce the name of that shitty band again, I will stab him / her in the heart with a rusty fork.
Understood ?
So, what were we talking about...? Oh, yes, GREAT bands.
Well, I think we can add another one to this already substantial list.
You may not know them, but you will love them, that's for sure.

Beware my minions, here comes Bölzer.

Bölzer is a two-man Black / Death Metal project from Zurich, and the first thing you should know about them is... that there is no bassist in the band.
Yup, no bass in their songs, but surprisingly, they manage to be as loud and massive as nearly any other band of the genre.
How do they do ? It's a fucking mystery, but honestly, I don't give a shit about that, because Aura, their latest EP, is a fucking BEAST.

After listening to it countless times, I'd say that Bölzer could be the illegitimate son of Dismember and Blut Aus Nord. Sounds cool, right ? Keep reading, keep reading...
What comes out of this hypothetical unholy alliance is a combination of putrid, fast distorted riffs coming right from the mouth of Hell with the oppressive atmosphere and heaviness of Old School Swedish Death Metal.
Add some crazy vocals to this already pretty fucked-up mixture, and you get one of the very best 2013 Black / Death Metal releases along with Abyssal's Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius.
In other words, a depraved, filthy, gigantic monument raised in the name of Satan. FUCK YEAH.

There's just one little thing that bothers me : THIS EP IS TOO FUCKING SHORT !
Ok, I KNOW that an EP is not supposed to be as long as a full-length album.
That's why a full-lenght is called a full-length after all, but Aura sounds so great that listening to it just make the wait of the real album HARDER...
Don't know when these guys will release it, but it will be day-one for me.

Now, you know one more thing about Switzerland.
Click on the links below, and enjoy the music, or else, I'll KILL you, just like the Eluveitie fans.
YEAH.



Grab it here on LP (12€ +shipping - 2nd press) while it's still available !
According to the band, a CD version is on its way, too.

Abyssal - Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius

What happens when you mix Death Metal and Black Metal ? You get Black / Death Metal.
Yeah. How creative...
Still, when it's well done (and I mean well-balanced between those two genres), it sounds great, don't you think ? Now, add some Doom metal to slow things down and you get the most heaviest, depraved, tortured sound ever made. Looks cool, right ? You betcha.

The band we're going to talk about is one of the very best example of this sacrilegious combination (along with Necrite, but I'll talk about these guys later).

Welcome in Hell, fuckers, and welcome to Abyssal.

Released on Bandcamp on January and officially released by Profound Lore a few months ago (on CD version, but there was also a handmade tape version directly sold by the band), Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius (which means "For the Lord knew those that are His own") is the second album of Abyssal (UK), and unholy fuckin' fuck, THIS.THING.IS.AWESOME.

This is some top-notch Extreme stuff, and I've been listening to this since it first came out.
We got dissonant guitars, bruuuuutal drumming alterning slow-paced mid-tempo parts and fierce blast-beats, ungodly HEAVY bass sound, and some of the deepest vocals ever, for around an hour of contemplative, yet extremely aggressive music.
Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius is the kind of album that sticks you to the ground from the first to the last minute of it, and don't bother resisting, it would be like trying to lift up a fucking mountain. No matter what you do, it won't move a bit, unless your name is Atlas.
Abyssal also knows how to create some good atmospheres, with Droning Noise-like interludes ("Elegy of Ruin" and "Elegy of Staves"), filled with screams, buzzing sounds and shit, that fits very well on this monumental corrupted and demoniac piece of art.
In other words, Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius is a must-have. No more, no less.

Now, if you think you're strong enough to take a ride without being crushed to death, you know what you have to do...



Grab it there for 10.49$ +shipping