For the Glory of UR

The discography of Zemial – the mastermind of one Dimitrios Dorian – offers a history of extreme metal since the 1980s in three simple steps. From the primitive, murky beginnings, to the occult later translating into epic cinematic scores in the form of Viking metal, to a seamless marriage of old school blackened thrash with prog rock on the near immaculate ‘Nykta’ released in 2013. But delving all the way back to the debut LP in 1996, the cult classic ‘For the Glory of UR’, we meet a very different beast. The scant output from this artist has led to this album wallowing in relative obscurity, but it is nevertheless cherished by many scholars of the scene. Despite the evident musicianship showcased, the production is pretty rough, belonging to the mid 80s as opposed to 1996. Drums exhibit only a hint of the free jazz drums he would later explore on more recent work, but here they offer a tight performance that is a little under-serviced by the mix. Vocals are that excellent combination of high-pitched and manically aggressive, in the vein of Absu (no kidding), which perfectly fits the thrashier, occult metal that Zemial were working with.

The influence of ‘Under the Sign of the Black Mark’ is hard to gauge at this point, but from the get-go it’s clear that ‘For the Glory of UR’ is one of its most direct offspring. It’s that magical combination of the boisterous dirty thrash that made up the origins of black metal with remarkably ambitious song structures and theatrics. It’s a classic example – again found in the tradition of Bathory – of doing more with less. This is clearly an album born of limited means, but with care and attention applied to the song writing, along with liberal but tasteful use of keyboards, one can transcend these humble tools and create a work that resonates through time.

In many ways this album functions as the missing link between the Rotting Christ tradition and the first wave of black metal. There are many riffs that would have been at home on ‘Thy Might Contract’, in that they take a NWOBHM riff and apply palm-muted tremolo picking atop a mid-paced blast-beat. But Zemial connect up these riffs with melodic progressions that are very much of the 1990s, by repurposing Bathory’s ‘evil thrash’ of the mid 80s and the epic, Viking metal direction they were headed towards at the time. Despite this album being barely half an hour long, it achieves this impressive marriage of traditions without either sounding derivative, or a complete mess. It also affords us the chance to see how these different techniques played off each other, and how extreme metal was experimenting with different combinations to find the next direction, towards something more transcendental and permanent than the thrash and death metal that had preceded it. This album offers a fantastic marriage of occultist metal aspiring to modern forms of romanticism which makes up the essence of Greek black metal at this time, through the development of traditions well outside the remit of those further north.

This album offers a valuable insight into metal’s quest to transcend its own environment, it holds lessons which are still of great value today. At the same it is a rewarding listen in its own right. ‘For the Glory of UR’ succeeds as a classic example of occult metal; one found at the crossroads between the old and new, between the primal and refined, between Dionysus and Apollo. But despite this it feels unfinished in places, even taking into account the appeal of lo-fi albums of this nature, there is a sense that more could done. This is especially true when one considers what this project went on to achieve on both followups ‘In Monumentum’ (2006) and ‘Nykta’ (2013). Despite this is still comes highly recommended.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Due to their involvement in other black metal projects like the lauded Agatus, the brothers of Zemial have not exactly made a prolific show of this project. In fact, For the Glory of UR is one of only two full-length releases the band has manifest in well over 20 years of on and off existence, and even though they had struck relatively early with their Sleeping Under Tartarus EP in 1992, they sort of missed the train in the ensuing years, while peers Varathron, Rotting Christ and Necromantia were releasing their most vital albums and broaching an international appeal. Redemption would arrive to some extent with this 1996 debut, but even here the band do not exhibit the typical traits of the Greek scene, and For the Glory of UR has ultimately wallowed in obscurity.

But that's not because it's a bad record. It's simply not all that distinct when compared to what else was happening on the European map. Like Agatus, Zemial bore a predisposition towards the Northern European sound, so you can hear clear traces of Mayhem, Burzum, Bathory and Darkthrone playing out through the black metal tracks. The compositional elements to these tracks are far more simple than Agatus, with a predictable and primitive flow through "The Tears That Wet Gethsemane" or "Gathering Under the Red Moon". However, what I enjoy here is the slight surge of traditional heavy/speed metal you can hear through a number of the tracks, like the fist raging "Battle on the Norse Mountains", or the ripping Bathory tones inherent to "The Scourge of the Kingdom" (taken from the EP), or the bonus track "Nocturnal Witch". Actually, if you've got the edition with the bonus tracks, they even turn in a half-decent rendition of the track "Armageddon" from the self-titled Bathory in 1984.

One distinction between this and the 1992 EP is that the use of keyboards is not so prevalent in most of the metal compositions. They've got a pretty sweet ambient intro "The Blood Unbinds the Dragon" with some cute, synthesized flutes that surge into a dark, brooding pomp, and they also appear once more through the mystique of "Apophis - The Serpent Self", but this time out they've chosen to let most of the guitars tear along without the backing support. This lends the album a little credibility for fans of the total guitar approach, even if the riffs themselves are pretty stripped down. The vocals here are also really nice, channeling a little Varg or Quorthon with the relevant drizzle of malevolence. For the Glory of UR might be your stock black metal record at the middle of the 90s, admittedly all-too-brief and basic, with no subtlety involved whatsoever, and a few redundancies (the track "Sleeping Under Tartarus" is also re-recorded here), but it still sounds sinister and sincere 15 years later.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

What can really be said about this album? "It's greek black metal", pretty much sums it up right there. Oddly enough, these guys apparently moved to Australia for some reason or other from their native Helas. At any rate, this sounds very much Rotting Christ influenced, particularly in the ocasional use of atmosphere-bolstering synthesizers and the infrequent fast bits. There isn't the thrashiness that is clearly present in old RC's music though. Zemial go more for a straightly played approach, without all the palm muting and whatnot, and it works rather well. I guess this band no longer exists, and perhaps this is indicative of their lack of original ideas....but hell, this album is really short and manages to be enjoyable throughout. There is a certain intelligence present in greek black metal, coupled with constant reminders that metal is a musical style with a history and mythology, and did not begin with Scandinavia. The intro has a classy feel to it, reminding me, for some reason, of some of fellow Greek band Septic Flesh's neoclassical instrumentals. From this, one might be led to expect something a little more complex...but Zemial quickly get down to their simplistic but effective formula of black metal, with a guitar sawing between close chords in hypnotic yet sometimes powerful riffs. The only surprise among these short songs is the unexpected tribal drum and sitar (??) break in "Gathering Under the Red Moon", which is damn cool. Oh yes, and the guitar and drum sounds are great too....kind of thin in an 80s sort of way. The oldschool touches are what I think I like most about this album. "Nocturnal Witch" sounds like the first Bathory record (and they clearly love that album, as they also cover "Armageddon" on here) and my favourite song, "Sleeping Under Tartaros" starts with some midpaced, catchy metal riffing before leaping into some rapid single note picked melody. There is a genuine feeling to be tasted on this album, and its one that, should you be willing to explore it, reveals itself to be a musical exploration of something occult, mysterious and ancient....adjectives that are no doubt overused in black metal and its reviews, but which one shouldn't be able to help but apply with reference to Zemial's music. Fans of Rotting Christ and Varathron in particular should be interested in this. It's not the best greek BM release out there, but it is a fine addition to anyone who has been impressed with the work of the Helenic hordes.