Eerie

...that is sadly marred by some questionable artistic decisions.

"Eerie" is Barathrum's second album and it's fantastic for the most part. While not as refined as "Infernal", which in my opinion is their magnum opus, it's still great and Barathrum fans shouldn't be wary when checking out older Barathrum material, at least this era. The majority of the songs are very well done with extremely dark, catchy riffs and a plodding pace which creates a very immersive atmosphere that the name of the album perfectly describes.

"Eerie" is an old school black metal album that is slow to mid tempo for the most part. The song structures and riffs are all extremely simple. It's just a couple of power chords. None of that modern tremolo picking stuff. Barathrum are known for repeating a simple riff over and over again, each time introducing a new subtle layer to it. This always increases the atmosphere and helps build up a very awesome climax.

The production is crisp and clear. The bass is audible (!!!) with a nice chunky sound to it. The drums have a powerful kick to them. The guitars are a bit low in the mix (the bass is higher) but they're not overshadowed by any other instruments and are always audible.

Some of the tracks segue into each other (ex, the church bells of "Vampire" lead into "Nocturnal Dance") and this is really well done albeit used sparingly.

Demonos Sova's vocals are as recognizable as ever, however, in about half of the tracks he opts to have his voice processed which doesn't come out very well. The result is a very compressed, restrained, colorless sound that masks Sova's usual great range and powerful delivery. The best comparison would be the Countess album "Spawn of Steel". This is one of the several questionable artistic decisions.

More come to follow.

The opening track, "Sähttan Juoiggus", has a two minute long intro. The problem is the first minute of it isn't even audible. Not exactly a great way to start the album. I don't mind intros but when I put in a metal CD to listen to I expect to rock out shortly after hitting the play button and not having to wait a whole minute before some audio finally comes on.

The title track is an almost excellent song. Note the term almost. If you heard "Deadmarch" from their next album, then this would be a precursor to it. "Eerie" is a lengthy (8:21) mostly instrumental song with some extremely catchy mid-tempo thrash riffs. However, there is some ridiculously cheesy 70's synth screeching every now and again that just seems so out of place. It gets worse however. Halfway through the song they decided to sample a baby crying. I don't know about you but to me personally the sound of an infant crying is one of the most annoying, ear-piercing sounds in the world. Now if it was for only 15 to 20 seconds long, I wouldn't have a problem with it. It would have been easily forgettable since the song is so long. However, it lasts for almost 2 minutes and once it's finally gone, the cheesy synth comes back in. These two elements kill an otherwise awesome song and makes it an unfortunate skip in my book when it comes to listening to the album again.

"The Twilight" suffers from more of the same. Not only does it have the odd poor quality processed vocals, but they also decided to include a sample of a werewolf. Just like "Eerie", the riffs are great and catchy, but the werewolf sample is simply out of place. The sound quality of it doesn't even match the rest of the album in the production. It's far too clean and very high pitched. It's also not a very good sample. Once again, if this was only in the song for a little bit I wouldn't have a problem with it. Sure, it would have still been cheesy and out-of-place but it would have been entirely forgettable and not damaging to the whole song.

"Black Goat" repeats the same trend. Extremely powerful and catchy riffs with good, catchy vocal delivery that simply get destroyed by a piercing, ear-grating sound of a goat. I'm sorry but I find headbanging to a goat bleating to be rather difficult.

Don't let this deter from checking the album out though. It's 65 minutes long and these 4 tracks (out of 13) are the only ones with problems. If only these cheesy samples were removed and Sova did his traditional vocals, then this album would really be perfect. Thankfully, it appears that Barathrum learned from their mistakes as we can see with their next release, "Infernal", being an absolutely stellar, perfect album.

All in all, "Eerie" is a very solid album. If you're a Barathrum fan or simply into old school black metal, then I recommend checking it out.

Barathrum's second full length is a murky deliverance, a catchy ensemble and an output that creates an atmosphere likened to dying wide-eyed and fully aware. The band braces themselves with thickly tuned guitars, just-as-loud-dirt-stained distorted bass and vocals, and drums that are there to make sure that the band produces music instead of saying screw it all together and performing virgin sacrifices or steaming up piping hot cauldrons with some kind of tart witches' brew.

"Eerie" is black metal with primarily a mid and slower pace. Where some faster bm bands use tremolo riffs, meshed chords and possibly some melody, Barathrum distance themselves from all three, creating impossibly deep notes typically centered with a one-strum-at-a-time focus; though two bassists and a guitarist are accredited here and it sounds like some songs might just have two bass lines going and no guitar in ear range. The way the songs are set up can create an overall brooding mood and lingering aura, something that grabs hold of your attention and doesn't let go till the last note is struck. At times, a repeated structure is initiated to create song writing that is ritualistic in form. The band has the ability to transfix your contemplation when need be, either with music that drifts its momentum, or just by repeating a certain structure with coming-and-going subtleties, such as layered guitar and bass tracks during some areas, or at other particular portions they might indulge you with a deluge of mind-altering backing vocal tracks if that wasn't enough. Then right when your brain gets synced with its dark-aura, they'll bring about an abundance of areas that give a captivating bob from that head of yours from an inclination to heaviness. In either mode the song writing is simplistic in nature, and in doing so, Barathrum are able to blend back and forth between the two factions naturally without a noticeable switch.

The production here is savage: piled high with effects, especially distortion, which is added on each driving instrument, save the drums. This can create an overall grimy effect, especially with the vocals hissing and growling their filth along side. There are some clean vocals that shed the murk in some areas, but instead sound like they're lifted from oppressive evil and dropped into the embracing tentacles of desperation. The snare drum isn't anywhere hidden, having a good amount of reverb on it. It projects a good amount of "umph" when hit and gives the tempo a certain amount of following-along power. The toms get the same treatment and prove a force when struck with the heavy hitting power of the drummer. Some of the effects can range anywhere from wind to bells placed during the band playing, as if it's coming from around the next corner, instead of being hidden in between the slithering crevices of the actual instruments playing. There's a pretty neat effect on the title track "Eerie," which uses a kind of '70's synthesizer siren during a few areas as the guitars pluck away at these building catchy lines underneath; since it's so high in nature and unguessable in scope, it comes off as a kind of climatic culmination to something potentially ominous that's about to come.

Barathrum's sophomore full length, placed right after "Hailstorm," is even more developed. The band decided to concentrate more so on hooking riffs, honed their particular use of layered guitar tracks, separated the production a little further, and essentially gravitated towards being a tad more musically oriented instead of producing amass of abstract sounds to contend with. There is a seemingly endless stream of catchy moments that still manage to simultaneously create a hampering evil tone in just over an hour's time frame. And what makes this release so great is the capability of pulling off both sides effectively; as their last release demonstrates, it isn't always an easy task to accomplish, even when playing their instruments simplistically. "Eerie" is black metal that is justifiably unique in the genre and genuinely dark. This isn't a one-go-listening concept, but a release that can beckon repeat come-backs as well.