The overall approach seems to be to build a thick wall of sound, and in that, both the songwriting and the mixing succeed. The guitar work consists of multiple layers, and there are plenty of piano parts thrown in for good measure, always utilized in an effective way to enhance the overall feeling. The record definitely leans towards a melodic, post-black direction.
With Karst Relict, I feel like there is a progress to Ovfrost as a songwriter, with an even stronger emphasis on melodies and atmosphere. To Mantle the Rising Sun was almost there, with an overall quite melodic approach to black metal but spiced up with some dirty and slightly aggressive riffs. One-man black metal projects are a dime a dozen these days, and while some of them are quite good, rarely does one really amaze me. Ovfrost is already back with a new full-length, called Karst Relict. I first stumbled upon it last year, with the quite impressive release To Mantle the Rising Sun, and now one year later Mr. Woe Unto Me wears their influences on their sleeve, making it easy to dissect them, but is also very clear about their intent to take their sound elsewhere, and makes distinct use of dynamics said influences wouldn’t want to be caught with.Malist is a one-man black metal project from Moscow, Russia, founded by Ovfrost. About halfway in, they guitars weave in more modern prog metal influences, and in the end lets the melodic death/doom aside take over. On the titular single-track, a very Renkse-inspired vocals meet acoustic guitars, piano, horns a drum performance that most clearly betrays the band’s metallic origin (as do the arrangements, really), these moments are interspersed with emotional solos and heavier moments, in which the riffs seem to recall the band’s past and further explore the Katatonia fascination. On the second half of their sophomore album A mong the Lightened Skies the Voidness Flashed, Woe Unto Me experimented with somber sad boy metal, while this new EP seems to be reaching the distance between that and it’s first half, a more funeral death/doom affair. Woe unto Me – Spiral-Shaped Hopewreck (Badmoodman Music) Moody, earthy, nature-inspired black metal.
Musically, what’s available so far is maybe a bit slower than the previous record, but still full of the peculiar atmosphere created by the inclusion of traditional folk instruments and clean singing (and, no doubt, the location where the music was created, although that’s probably the kinda thing you only imagine noticing when you know about it). Varmia – Bal Lada (M-Theory Audio) įrom somewhere in Poland comes Varmia’s new record, and while I don’t usually go for all the esoteric stuff that black metal bands are wont to come up with for how they record, I think the approach of playing the songs live in an old manor house and partly recording the vocals out in the woods is somehow really cool.
Give their recommendations a listen and hit that list below. Hans and Karhu have filtered out the chaff and grabbed a couple releases you might want to check out, but there’s certainly more this week offers. Toilet Tuesday means new music, and we’ve got it all here for you in one convenient package.