Christian Termination

Problems persisted with Grief of Emerald's ability to stand out among a very crowded crowd, but one has to give them a little credit for at least settling down on a few things here, not the least of which are the choice of logo (and a decent one) and more vicious production values of their third and final record in the Listenable deal: Christian Termination. I grant you, the label might have been glad to wash their hands of such a decidedly average black metal execution for the time, but the Swedes did end on their highest note yet and if nothing else, I cannot challenge the level of aggression and persistence here, or the fact that they so boldly wore their sacrilege on their sleeves in a ploy that might have worked to attract more brutal/occult death metal fans into their fold.

The death metal component here is of course understated; you could classify a few of the slower chugging riffs in that category, but this is still keyboard-induced orchestration with a lot of predictable Scandinavian black metal riff progressions which veer between mid-paced simplicity and sinuous, serpentine melodies which sadly are just never that great. I actually dug the ruddy sewage of that rhythm guitar tone, it stands out far more than on the prior albums and made the vocals by comparison seem a lot more grisly and fucked up. Drums were still a power storm of blasts and double-bass, void of subtlety or dynamic range outside of the tempo alone, but they definitely bludgeon away like a lot of the faster Floridian evil death metal via Deicide or Diabolic. If Christian Termination has one notable aesthetic departure from its predecessors, I would label that the more chaotic songwriting...tunes like "The Almighty is Rising" feel like they take more random turns in pacing, and while this is occasionally obnoxious, it does at least reveal a mild sense of misdirection. Grief of Emerald were trying to break out of their box here, just not really succeeding so well...

The cover art was still insidiously lame, with some strange orgy of giant snakes and skull-faced nuns, but you could at least laugh at this one where the others were just too awkward to stare at for more than a second. It's all dowsed in fire and evil with crucifixes and stained-glassed windows for background, and that sort of showiness permeates the music itself, and the constant nagging organ tones being run off in the background but heavily crushed by the volume of the riffing force and vocals. Once in a while they'll fire off an exotic level of escapism like that melodic intro to "Those Who Bear the Mark" which hinges on some actual quality music, but for the most part Christian Termination tends to thrive off its cliched blasphemies and genre alone. That said, of the band's first phase (prior to the ensuing hiatus), this is hands down the strongest of the three full-lengths and might possess some limited appeal to fans who number mid-list Swedish black metal albums amidst their collections of Deicide, Krisiun and Vital Remains.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The further one dwells into Black Metal the more shit one is likely to find. However, there are exceptions. The problem is such that when one particular Black Metal band becomes famous or good; their early fans start bitching about how they aren't "troo" anymore. In which case, here is one band that all you satan worshipers can quite calling troo! Grief of Emerald.

The best overall accomplishment of "Christian Termination" is the (perfect) blend of Death Metal that they have included to their sound. While their vocalist sounds like (Dimmu Borgir's) Shagrath while wasted (please note that that does not necessarily mean that he is incoherent), he knows that there is nothing worse than an over played Black Metal vocalist. The type that sounds like a Peacock being sodomized by a cat (in other words; Danny Filth), therefore, the producer had rendered his vocals lower in volume. Now, he is (for the most part) overwhelmed by the other remaining elements of the band.

There are few bands signed to Listenable records that I would deem as being bad (with the exception of Divine Rapture, a shitty band with cool album art), and Grief of Emerald only adds to their (Listenable's) astounding credability! Due to their label, it is predictable what their production quality is like. If you [the reader] have any other albums that are signed to Listenable, that isn't Divine Rapture, the production is most likely to be similar. The quality is slightly better than standard (my interpretation of standard is the production done for Cryptopsy), however it does not embody the masterful effort of say Fredrik Nordstrom.

G. O. E. has it's ups and downs (refering to guitar performance) but over all the musicianship is again standard. What sets them apart, however, is how well written they are. Several times the guitar's riffs for the choruses will remain the same, while the Drummer is constantly changing his outlook on where the song should be taken (which is especially cool, due to his machine-gun like Double kick). The guitars are rarely fast, yet this is no call for distress. The riffs are often changing, as they sport a moderatly paced grinding sound. Johnny (their singer/guitarist) has a style whereas one could relate them to Mortician, slow (and nothing special), but still just fucking cool!

Another fact that differentiates them from many Black/Death bands is the solos (provided by their guitarist) that are directionless yet acceptable due to how well they fit. However, one specific thing that they do are the bizarre intros to some of their songs. For some derranged reason, their acoustic intros, that on average last for about 40 seconds, are Bluesy. strange, no? Well, in all honesty I can only applaud them for this little insertion. It's unexpected, and with all respects, it keeps fans listening in otherwise weak segments of the album (even though there are only a few)!

perhaps this was done to keep close minded Black Metal fans rom bitching about the fact that they are supposed to remain troo. Because, chronologically speaking, you don't get too much more "in touch with your roots" (with Rock, and therefore Metal) than the Blues!

To summerize, the efforts to which Grief of Emerald had put into Christian Termination is impressive, original, and unexpected (at least from a Black Metal band). If all you are looking for is just a good fuckin' Head bang, look no further. just as long you are not anticipating speed, G. O. E. will give you such a hard Head bangin' session you'll have short term memory loss!

This record will blast your head with it's Blackened Death Metal brutality.
The riffs are realtivelly simple, but very effective (also great riff variety). Some riffs are fast in the BM way, some other have very good groove too. They will crush you like the hammer of satan. Some guitar solos here and there too. Great drumming, full of blastbeats but also good detail. Great drummer (he recorded the album with great precision and skill, in spite of his injured shoulder).
The voice is fat, fills the sound perfectly and gets insane some times. But we can note that special swedish tone in the voice. Just great.
The keyboards have a very special function in this record. They are subtil but they fill the sound perfectly and give the sound the needed atmosphere. Not gothical keyboards, this is something different. Something to create a stranger atmosphere, and more modern in some way. Simple but very effective keyboards (like the guitars). Again, the bass does his functions and I have no complains.
This some powerfull and modern Blackened Death Metal album that will be great to listen in a good and loud stereo system. I heard this band totally rules when playing live. And i'm sure it does, it's really crushing shit this one. \m/