Empire of Blood

In my youth, I'll admit to partaking in some questionable musical meanderings (almost all of which I shed in favor of a proper metallic outer skin). And even nowadays I'll take a gander at equally questionable antics due to an at-times overt curiousity. Such a mindset led me to buy this album, mostly due to its accused "cultness" and, according to a few people I no longer associate myself with, this is a good proper piece of USBM that deserves/d attention.

There's a good album in there...somewhere...amidst the morass of swampy recording fog.

The biggest thing this album succeeds in doing is creating a disturbing atmosphere that most black metal, especially USBM, fail at doing, so that's where most of the score goes to. Black metal is supposed to be disturbing, evil music, and while the glitzy end has a number of talented acts worth plentiful listens, sometimes you just want to be enveloped by malevolent darkness so dense the call of the grave is a welcome respite. The rest comes from the well-put-together artwork, which harkens the dark, dreary, middle-ages mentality black metal bands long for. And I'm sure I can detect some slick riffs and epic-style arrangements in there, but the production is so thick and gelatinous in approach that it makes a good, hard listen a chore. Akin to detecting ghost speak in the white noise of a staticy TV (hence the title), the listener would have to pay close attention to detect musicality, and maybe it's me, but that's not why I'm big on music; I take it as good escapism, wherein you can lose yourself in the music. But if it's too much of a burdon to get through it comes off more as background noise, which strips the music of what it could be. You'll be able to sit through tracks like ":Der Werewolf" and "Bathory Incarnate" easily, but after a while, though appreciation is afoot, you'll find yourself instead clamoring for something else to listen to. Something cleaner, something liess nihilistic and venomous.

So is this a bad album? Probably not. It takes a keen ear to appreciate, I'll admit, but casual listeners will be put-off by its noisiness and causticicty. But it's at least worth a listen when you need something bitter to help clear the mental cobwebs. This just might do the trick.

Empire of Blood is 35 minutes of same ole shit by just another me-too black metal band. It carves out every cliché from the coven of Carpathia, every riff from the wrath of Ragnarok (try saying that twice!) but brings back nothing from the netherworld not covered by Xasthur. It's got atmosphere galore but if black metal was a mansion full of empty rooms, this would be just another guest quarters for some dude to play, you guessed it, bedroom black metal. That way, every lodger in the manor can be his own baron! Since it seems like every guy behind a project like this brings some sense of megamaniacal sense of importance as if he was being original, it could be like that movie Westworld where every paying customer can feast and bed like a King ov Kvlt. We can only hope Nocturno Culto can be the Yul Brynner gunslinger gone berserk so he can shoot these pompous posers down.

As I listen to this album, I must break out my handy dandy black candle and light one more flame over the Black Funeral. This is yet another 'Hail Satan!' themed black metal record. Sure, none of the lyrics say it in so many words(at least I don't think) but you get the picture. But that type of rite worship and celebration of Lucifer Almighty was cool back when Slayer and Venom did it. Hell, at least the Norse black metallers kept it in the margins. Granted, I never like to unfairly judge a band by its origin but I couldn't help to notice that Black Funeral hails from Indiana. Infernal hails to Indiana black metal! Uh, no. It matters not. These types of bands hail Satan!! As if hailing the Almighty Fallen Angel empowers them to create such evil metal. But there is one fallacy with that: They're hailing the wrong guy! Memo to Baron Drakkonian, Earl ov Black Funeral: 1. Learn to spell Draconian or at least attach a [sic} to it or else I'll sick those wolves that howl on whatever song that is on the album on you. 2. I'm stripping you of your self-given title of 'Abaddon'. Sorry, that moniker is reserved already. Once you have drummed on a certain 1982 seminal release, you can have it back. 3. Satan is not your Daddy! So then who's your Daddy? Fenriz, Quorthon, Euronymous and Cronos, that's who! Hoosier black metal has much to learn about the land of what's what and who's who. I'm done bitching like an owl, on to the songs...

I've blown the candle out and I'm ready to admit that despite drawing my ire for the unoriginal, there are some aspects on here that I give points for. Somehow, I really dug the song titles. Now, I'm not being facetious or trying to make an underhanded comment in any way. However cosmetic it may be, how can one go wrong with titles like Opferblut, Der Werewolf or Knight's Blood? Even for an album titled Empire of Blood, that's a hell of alot of plasma juice in the shade. Unfortunately, only one of those three songs are any good. Opferblut is a rapture of DMDS reverence but failed to keep my interest for very long. Its slowdown midway through doesn't pay off much. Knight's Blood fulfills a federal law that mandates every atmospheric black metal album must contain an ambiant track with winds blowing through the woods and wolves howling for a slice of that big pizza pie. And if the themes are satanic like in this one, it shoukd also contain an old pipe organ. So, that leaves Der Werewolf; probably the best song on the album. It utilizes a pretty decent Burzum riff as well as in the vocals. Kudos to the bass guitar made audible where I would have expected it to be omited in this kind of album. Land of Phantoms is passable with its tremolo riffs but I was beginning to lose patience with it's predictable sound. The other songs aren't worth mentioning too much but they have some moments before they let you down.

It seems I have been pretty harsh on this album more than I should have. After all, there are thousands of other black metal bands of equal unoriginality who are far worse than Black Funeral. Yes, all these things are true. And what's more, I will also add that-as far as satanic black metal bands go- I do like this album way better than anything Dark Funeral has put out despite the all too closeness and unoriginality of such a name that this band rips from them. So what gives? For one, as good as a few of the songs may be, I was put off by its by-the-numbers vocal grating. I was able to actually decipher some of the satanic lyrics in the songs and they just rang out with annoyance. In the song, Opferblut, Anton Szandor LeVay is quoted in German. But why? It's that kind of misplaced sentiment and falseness that irks me more than anything musically on the album. Especially if it has been done countless times. And finally, Empire of Blood cost me way more money than it was worth. If I pay import prices for a domestic piece that is supposed to bring import quality, I will hold the album to that standard regardless of how early a USBM band it is. Empire of Blood does not hold a candle and is not up to snuff. For how much I paid for the album, may Billy Idol croon White Wedding at this wake.

Black Funeral - one of the first, and maybe the most important US black metal band. Also the one that probably has influenced other US bands the most. At least I can definitely see where bands like Krieg and Xasthur, although in a totally different way, have drawn inspiration from.

The music itself has everything you would hope for in a black metal release. The sound is faithful to old school as the production is somewhat harsh. The guitars buzz like the blade of a circular saw and the drumming is fast, yet somehow in the background but that's mainly because of the production: the vocals seem to be the main "instrument." They're aggressive and hateful and sound like the vocalist is shrieking from the bottom of an abyss.

The album is pretty balanced in quality but some highlight songs emerge: "Der Werewolf" , "Opferblut" and "Bathory Incarnate" are great achievements by any standards. The man behind the band, Michael Ford Nachttoter, keeps his songs short and simple and the sheer amount of totally breathtaking riffs on this album is amazing to me.

To me this album represents the great emotions of Black Metal and the 100 per cent devotion of Michael Ford - the guy is Black Metal, heart and soul. This is not just music - this is like a ritual. A ritual of purification from the unnecessarities and impurities of this world and a monument of the spiritual process in which man steps away from the light into the utter darkness.