A Darker Shade of Evil

Fleurety's debut album "Min Tid Skall Komme" positioned them as one of the best avant-garde, folk-ish black metal bands out there. It is an album that stands the test of time through depth and quality, with no cheap gimmicks. It was one of the earliest and most successful attempts to deconstruct the Norwegian black metal style. They retained the sense of bitterness and evil, but the posturing had been subverted into introspection.

Before they released that album, Fleurety sounded, well... different. This EP ("A Darker Shade of Evil") is one of the strangest records you're likely to hear. Recorded back in 1993 (released in 1994), this is a rawer and simpler form of black metal. It conforms to many of the basic elements of the genre. Many of the riffs are based on the basic Hellhammer/Bathory template. The songs thrive on those harsh, atonal, repetitive chords which sound like Darkthrone or Beherit. There is a punk influence, but it doesn't sound like punk. The song structures are denser than you might imagine for a young black metal band. Fleurety were interested in experimenting beyond the confines of the genre, even at this stage.

The two (full) songs here are shorter and less ambitious than the songs on their debut album. There are none of the subtleties that would make "Min Tid Skall Komme" special. There are none of the deep, mellow bass breaks or dream-pop sections. Occasionally the band slow things down to play some melodies, such as the moody middle section of "Profanations Beneath the Bleeding Stars". The guitarist even attempts to play some solos. These are strange solos. They are out of time with the rest of the music, but such details don't matter because Fleurety isn't interested in convention. This interplay between melody and harshness is the basis for that debut album. The short instrumental piece ("...and the Choirs Behind Him") sounds more musical but has none of the atmosphere of their later stuff.

I've not mentioned the ‘elephant in the room’, the facet that gives "A Darker Shade of Evil" more fame and notoriety than it deserves. The vocals, apparently made by a human (Alexander Nordgaren), are the strangest and most extreme I have ever heard. Imagine high-pitched painful shrieks that make Diamanda Galas sound like Chris Barnes. This is an avant-garde approach to vocals if ever there was. They also don't correspond with the music in any way, being seemingly timed at random over the riffs. I appreciate these vocals for their extremity, but they sound terrible. For that reason it is better to think of this as being instrumental music, the vocals are an odd distraction.

The problem is that people never forgot about Fleurety’s vocals here. For many, the vocals on this EP are Fleurety. They are the main talking point for this band, sometimes obscuring the band's subsequent (excellent) contribution to black metal. "A Darker Shade of Evil" is worth listening to. Those who like the old Norwegian black metal style will find something in this. Fleurety were positioning themselves apart from the more famous names in the genre with their song-structures, not just with their vocals. Of course, most people will want to check this out to hear the most extreme (and ridiculous) vocal performance in metal history.

At this point in their career, Fleurety hadn't yet developed into the avant-garde style that would make them famous on Min Tid Skal Komme. This early EP is an example of bog-standard black metal of the Mayhem/Darkthrone school, with extremely minor traces of their later progressive sound, and one extremely bizarre standout feature, the vocals. They sound like one of these weirdos captured an eagle, set it loose in the recording studio, and laid it's screeches over the music. It's actually ex-singer Alexander Nordgarden obliterating his vocal cords to create an ultra-high screech. So much so, that he never did vocal work for Fleurety ever again. He fucked his voice up THAT badly doing this. However, when you get past the vocals, there really isn't much to talk about when discussing A Darker Shade of Evil.

There isn't much here that's strange, unorthodox, or even unique here. Most of the guitar pieces consist of normal black metal tremolos that don't feel special in any way. It works in a "basic black metal" sort of way, but doesn't do much else. There are some hints of their later progressive sound, such as the manic solo on "Profanations Beneath the Bleeding Stars" and the sparse acoustic guitar pieces sprinkled on the closing track that really do sound haunting and alien while the rest of these songs just sort of exist. The middle track, "And the Choirs Behind Him" is a nice hint at something a bit more psychedelic and strange with it's atmosphere, but it's VERY instrumentally simple with one pattern of notes repeating for a minute and a half. It feels like filler that could have been made into something more. In a way, Fleurety do black metal just competently with a twist, but don't do anything of note with it. Nordgarden's eagle screeches do add a bit of a chill to the music, but I don't find it unnerving or scary at all, it just sounds weird and the novelty of it wears off as they're just "there". Everything on here works in a basic sense, but the most I can say about it is it's black metal with weird vocals.

A Darker Shade of Evil works just fine, it's competent, but nothing here sticks, nothing amps you up, nothing envelops you, nothing unnerves much except for the vocals. It's basic, tolerable stuff with a chilling gimmick. Fleurety would make better stuff when they made their first full-length album, actually putting the winding solos and haunting acoustic bits to work, rather than just sprinkling them in while the music itself stays as regular as you can get for black metal. It's a real shame Nordgarden messed his throat up so badly he couldn't sing anymore, he could have made Fleurety's later work even stranger.

Fleurety, Norway’s wonderfully bizarre harbingers of all things odd in black metal, first hit the scene with their murky and unique ‘93 demo 'Black Snow' followed shortly after by this weird and fantastic EP, 'A Darker Shade of Evil', in 1994. This EP showcases some of Fleurety’s best work from their early period and acts as a sort of precursor to what would follow it. However, if you’re only familiar with their brilliant debut full-length, the material found here may come as a wee shock to the system.

Rather unfortunately, the main draw card and the very thing that this EP is known for is Alexander Nordgaren’s inhuman, voice-box-obliterating shrieks, which have more or less become legend in the realms of black metal. I won’t hide that that’s what first attracted me to the release (after all, who wouldn’t be interested in hearing a vocal performance that permanently damaged the vocalist’s ability sing?). However, after spending quite a bit of time first coming to terms with this release and then learning to love it, it seems like this EP is getting sold quite a large bit short by people only recognizing it for its most superficial (albeit certainly important) element.

The musicianship on display here is wonderful. Not necessarily in terms of its technicality - although, as 'Mid Tid Skal Komme' proved, the band members are more than proficient in their instrumentation - but rather in terms of the song writing. The guitars are a magnificent blend of the belligerent, the beautiful and the bizarre; combining just enough of each element to keep the riffs and songs both interesting and completely original and unique. ‘Profanations beneath the Bleeding Stars’ is clearly the eminent song here and puts forth a number of fantastic, creative riffing passages; with its opening riffs emerging out of the virtually non-existent intro slathered in aggression and contempt before continuing on into its beautiful arpeggio-driven middle-section, all the time underneath the constant tortured wails of Nordgaren’s voice. The second track, ‘...And the Choirs behind Him’, is an utterly peculiar little interlude, with its classically influenced clean guitar line seeming somewhat out of place after the previous song. Definitely not something you hear on every black metal release. The last track, ‘My Resurrection in Eternal Hate’, is probably the most experimental on here, bearing a great number of hallmarks of what would later be used on their debut LP, with odd, at times almost jaunty, riffing and acoustic guitars mixed in amongst more traditional tremolo-picking. The drumming is extremely creative for such an early release, making full-use of tom-based beats and non-standard timing mixed in with the usual blasting. And while it isn’t quite as accomplished as on their later works, it definitely gives the EP an instantly recognisable style along with the brilliant guitar work.

Now, usually when something is hyped up as much as the vocal performance on this release as being totally bat-shit fucking insane, it usually falls quite a ways short (RE Silencer). However, this is one occasion where the rumours are true. Alexander Nordgaren’s vocals on this album really do have to be heard to be believed. It is almost impossible to think that a human being actually has the capacity (and the will) to produce the kind of performance that Nordgaren does here. Usually, you will hear his vocals described as sounding like a ragingly pissed off eagle, but that doesn’t really do it justice. On the Fleurety site, they actually described it as being close to the sound of someone sliding on squeaky floorboards in shoes. That’s getting closer, but I like to think the best description you could give of his performance would be to say that he sounds most akin to someone entering an underground car park far too quickly, realising they’re about to hit an old woman carrying some shopping, slamming on the breaks and then going into a forty-metre skid. These are without doubt, the most inhuman, terrifying, glass-shattering, neighbour-annoying and downright insane vocals I have ever heard. And I love every second that they’re on. When I first heard them, I couldn’t help but laugh. I mean, I’d heard and loved Varg’s screeching. I’d found enjoyment in Skjeld’s tortured wailing on Nyktalgia’s self-titled. Hell, I even enjoyed various moments of Nattramn’s affected yodelling. But hearing this, I couldn’t believe it was actually a person producing the sounds coming out of my speakers. After you acclimatise to them though, this really is an inspired vocal performance; giving the already unique music an almost supernatural feeling which I haven’t heard repeated anywhere, except of course on 'Black Snow'.

This album, unsurprisingly, isn’t quite up to the same lofty standards as 'Mid Tid Skal Komme' - very few albums are. Actually, even with the quality of this release, it’s quite amazing just how far they progressed between the release of this album and their debut. However, this short but underrated and totally unique EP has some brilliant music on it, some of Fleurety’s best in fact; music, for once, which goes beyond the hype.