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Akerbeltz > Tabellae Defixionum > Reviews
Akerbeltz - Tabellae Defixionum

Akerbeltz - Tabellae Defixionum review - 85%

lordnausea, November 17th, 2007

Akerbeltz is one of the rawest black metal horde in Spain. Their members aren’t new in this, because they had another black metal bands as Xharathorn and Beheaded lamb.

Before their first really good full length “A wave of darkness” appeared this album “Tabellae Defixionum”. Using the same formula they reach more solidity in their songs. The whole is a very good album with drums and cymbals on high speed in the most of time as a infernal war machine (for example one of my favourites songs “Nocturnal ride”), some times more calmed (in the beginning of the song “The green eyes”), guitars drawing evil, dark, corrosive and dissonant riffs and a great voice spreading their message, absolutely dark and morbid.

“Tabellae Defixionum” is a great album in the old Darkthrone`s style, but is not a clone or a bored copy. The music of Akerbeltz has their own personality: evilness, sickness, rawness…primal satanic black metal.

LORD NAUSEA

Nothing groundbreaking - 60%

CountFistula, March 18th, 2007

Akerbeltz' 'Tabellae Defixionum' falls short in pretty much every category for a raw black metal album.

Here, you have six tracks (three of them clocking over seven minutes) of the same formula. Basic guitars which drone ceaselessly, bass that has been choked out of the mix, and drumming that does little to stray from midtempo double-bass runs to sloppy 'blast beats'. On occasion, synth is present, but really serves to only double the drone of the tremelo picked fifth chords which serve as the backbone for most of the song writing.

After several listens it's difficult to pick any track, or even one specific part of any track that provides something memorable, or most importantly, something worth returning to.

The first two tracks, 'The Guardian Tightly Rooted' and 'Nocturnal Ride' aren't particularly strong songs, showing signs of weakness in intensity and songwriting capability, hindered even further by lackluster drumming and brittle riffs. Things pick up slightly on 'The Forest is My Haunt', which opens with a pretty cool riff reminiscent of Quorthon's guitar work on later Bathory releases. But after these first three songs, there's absolutely nothing new, different or attention getting. 'The Green Eyes', 'Tabellae Defixionum' and 'Akerhell' all lethargically plod their course and take their sweet time in doing so. Repetition in a seven minute song is comparable to shooting yourself in the foot, and serves as a curse that very few bands wear well.

The production on 'Tabellae Defixionum' is average if you compare it some of the more 'kvlt' releases out there, the guitars shine through quite well but lack the body and the crunch, opting to sit and occupy the midrange more then anything. The mix on the drums is below average. Blast-beats seem to 'break open' at higher speeds, with the bass and snare drums molding together to create a thin, linear hammering, and in some cases, such as the track 'Akerhell', the drums almost lose their hold altogether, not able to keep up with the guitars and background effects already crowding a packed frequency.

The vocals are pretty decent, which is one of the only things worth praising on this album. The delivery is straight to the point, with no added wankery. It's a little characterless, but...that kind of fits the feel of the album...

Overall, Tabellae Defixionum is by no means a terrible album, but it’s lacking substance, character and power. With dime a dozen black metal albums coming out of every country, it's going to take a little more then this to separate yourself from the pack.