Of Celtic Blood & Satanic Pride

Having heard good things about Drowning The Light I decided to get a copy of "Of Celtic Blood & Satanic Pride". What a disappointment. This album is incredibly boring, pedestrian Black Metal that is influenced by Burzum and the Burzum inspired one-man project USBM contingent, but not done nearly as well.

Sometimes when you hear a record in this style, it has a tangible mood that emerges or great songs that shine through regardless of production quality. Sadly though, these songs are lifeless and have no distinct quality to them. It's not that they are bad, they are just mind-numbingly boring white noise, which may be worse.

In just 5 years, Azgorh has created over 20 recordings with this project. Perhaps he should slow down and concentrate on quality over quantity, because this is truly uninspired music. I am surprised I was inspired enough by it to even write a review.

If the only genre you listen to is droning Burzum inspired Black Metal and you need another record to sit along side the 250 others you have that sound exactly the same, then by all means jump on the Drowning the Light train and take a ride. If however you only want the best representatives of a genre, this is not it.

An absolute classic of the genre. After stumbling across Drowning the Light on the internet one day, I listened to them simply because they were Australian, not expecting much. I soon became addicted to the DtL and chased down several of Azgorh's (all instruments and vocals) releases.
This has to be one of my favourites. The production is excellent, low-fi, but with considerable clarity. The drums are sloppy, the guitar is a buzzsaw, the keys/synths are at a perfect volume, the vocals are incredibly intense and the songwriting skills exhibited are simply breathtaking.

Azgorh's songwriting really is unparalleled. The melodies are simply beautiful and everything is done in the right place. The synths appear at the most tasteful of times, the transitional sections of the music are done perfectly and the pure emotion and atmosphere successfully penetrates even the most heartless of listeners. The atmosphere is very cold and melancholic, yet the melodies remain catchy enough to stick in one's head.

The entire disc is brilliant, every track is good, bookended by two instrumentals, The Cry of the Wolf and Last Breath. Last Breath is simply amazing, its simplistic beauty powerful enough to be used in a movie, again showcasing Azgorh's excellent melodic touch and composition skill.

Recommended to all black metal fans, especially those into early Darkthrone, Sargeist, Satanic Warmaster and other such raw, yet melodic bands.

Given this artist’s voluminous output in the comparatively short period of time (4 years at the time of writing), the ire he incurs is analogous to that of Striborg. Striborg whilst very dissimilar musically is relevant here due to him being another prolific musician, who has been accused of the same thing – pulling most of it out of his ass. It is true that some degree of improvisation may have been involved in creating this music, but his critics can be said to suffer from simple human envy. Far removed (by distance or effort over self) from the entanglements of the local metal community, one would hopefully be able to judge this music purely for its musical merits.

And the album here is quite good my friends. I could focus on one or the other negative aspects of it all, like the murky production or the fact that some of the songs drag on a bit, but in the end the recording is clear enough for the instruments to be heard and the songs that bore me can be skipped. The reason I like it is because it is faithfully old-school and because it has spirit and atmosphere. Best of all, the artist is able to offer a few surprises for a reviewer who has heard a lot of Black Metal artists now that basically sounds like eachother.

The first of these is the introduction, which for a release on a label named “Slava Satan” has a curiously Slavonic feel about it through the use of a clear, resonant flute sound over a stirring synth piece. Maybe Nokturnal Mortum has coded the association in with 5 albums of those flutes blowing praise to Perun and Volos, maybe not, but that’s the feeling I received from it. The flute makes one very fitting comeback on track 6 and it really does make the song. The title track kicks in and the production quality drops abruptly deep into the dungeon, with damp, foamy guitars, boxy drums and oddly loud ride sounds. The vocals are Azgorh’s usual shrill blur, but is completely suitable for the recording. The song-writing formula here relies heavily on repetition and interchange of epic and depressive riffs, with this song winding into a long instrumental coda that reaches distant epic proportions as more and more melody flows in, like tributaries into a river. The next track, however breaks this discipline, propelled by an embellished punk beat and evil synth sounds develop the piece into an exciting dark song. The more depressive material follows and the album continues towards its eventual end in the track “Last Breath” – a sad acoustic piece with subdued synthesizers. In the end no blasts are used at all and this too somehow adds to the odd fucked-up atmosphere all black metal should possess.

Overall a comparatively short album and well to the point. I recommend this as a strong release by this band and a firm testament to AUBM’s endurance. Favourite songs on this: “My Honour is True” and “To the End of Time Part II.”