Liber Compendium Diabolicum (The Genesis of Enki)

I think the first time I heard of Zahrim was when the "Ultu muxxischa" demo was released, but I never checked them out, I just heard of them. And the first time I actually heard anything of theirs was the "Ia zagasthenu" 10”. I really liked what I heard, but for some reason I never ordered a copy of it. So what better way to catch up on the band than a compilation of both releases mentioned, plus an even older demo.

I guess it’s really a one-man band, but with session members to fill in the blanks. And it’s quite evident that it’s done by people who know how to play metal, considering the man behind it is known from acts such as Iniquity, Usipian, Corpus Mortale and Exmortem. Add to that session keyboards by Ynleborgaz, whom we all know from Angantyr, Make a Change... Kill Yourself, Holmgang etc. So if the affiliated acts are clues to the quality of Zahrim you know it’ll be good. But of course, as I had already heard the previously mentioned 10” I knew at least that one kicked ass, and the four tracks of "Ia zagasthenu" is also what starts the discography off.

Grim lyrics dealing with death, suicide and how the plague reached Scandinavia is delivered by an extremely raspy and gruesome voice, which at times sound so gurgling I get the feeling they’ve been dazzling with some effects afterwards. It’s like a black metal version of goregrind gurgles, basically. Tempo-wise it’s fairly mid to fast mid (if you catch my drift), with the occasional slower sections. At times it’s even slow enough to hint of some doom metal influences. Despite the somewhat raw approach in sound it remains very melodic due to the keyboard. The latter part is usually what deters me from some acts, as I can’t stand overly used keys, drenching the sound in melody. But Zahrim uses it very effectively, as it’s backing up the riffing, enhancing the melody instead of taking over the whole charade. And with the already great riffing and guitar lines it makes for some very rememberable melodies. It all feels simple, but not too simple, and highly effective. Somewhat crude, but extremely enjoyable.

And that’s the summary of the "Ia zagasthenu" tracks, followed by the "Ultu muxxischa" demo from 2003. Production-wise it’s pretty much the same harsh and murky, yet very audible sound. It gives the tunes a very stark touch, and it almost feels like it’s recorded way out in the woods somewhere, under a full moon and with wolves howling in the background (of course you don’t hear any wolves in the background, in case anyone misinterprets me). The material is somewhat faster, but otherwise still the effective, catchy and haunting black metal with keyboard melodies. What really differ are the lyrics, as these ones deal with Scandinavian history and Norse mythology rather than death. But I guess if you don’t understand Danish you wouldn’t know the difference. Anyway, this is just as great as the first four tracks, so it bugs me that I never bothered checking them out in the first place.

To put an end to the CD is the material from the band’s first demo; "Mashshagarannu" from 1996. So there’s quite a gap in between demos, and the development is very noticeable. This stuff is more to the point, raw old school black metal. The sound quality is also much cruder and weaker, but certainly not to the point of making it unlistenable; quite far from it. While still very good, it’s not as distinguishable as the rest of the material, and it sounds fairly alike many other acts out there doing the same thing. But there’s that keyboard action going on, albeit much more seldom, so it’s still Zahrim, so to speak.

More than one hour of eerie, cold, dark and haunting black metal that doesn’t sound like just another clone deluding the genre; but rather a strong remark as to how you can create wicked tunes with just a little imagination. I’d recommend "Liber compendium diabolicum" to anyone into raw, yet melodic, black metal. I hope they’ll come out with some new material soon, ‘cause it’s been some years now. But until then I’ll just have to ease my eagerness with this.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net