album review : Everything Remains as It Never Was (2010) – Eluveitie

album : Everything Remains as It Never Was

artist : Eluveitie

genre : Folk/Melodic Death Metal

year : 2010

As compared to the other ‘major’ folk acts around Eluveitie is one band that was formed pretty late. Nevertheless they knew their music very well and that was something that could not be taken away from them. Having eight members, defining each of their parts, knowing how to play innumerable instruments – all of this isn’t child’s play and Eluveitie do a mighty good job of all this. Their fourth full-length album named Everything Remains as It Never Was released in February this year and I am late in writing about this album.

They’ve got thirteen tracks with such folk melody that will make many other mediocre folk bands think twice before continuing. Heavy usage of mandolin, tin, low whistles, bagpipes, fiddle with softness of the clean parts and brutality of screeches makes this one varied set of tracks being put together. And if acoustic bits, chorus and chants have not been mentioned then be assured the album has all of that in abundance. There is nothing that seems out of place and at the same time picking favorites would not be required.

Eluveitie has always been promising and strong, and on Everything Remains as It Never Was they have just been themselves with a better music sense. The album is a pleasant ride that is not even tedious considering the number of tracks and it just makes me yell a folk you.

Rating : 4.5/5

documentary review : Until The Light Takes Us (2009)

Rejoice black metalheads! Not many are interested in taking up the black metal scene as a subject on which a documentary/movie can be made, but Until The Light Takes Us is another valuable addition to the short list of black metal documentaries. Released in late-2009, the movie is based in Norway. It has musicians who lived through the early-nineties Norwegian period telling us exactly what happened then. I always repent the fact that I was not present at the right place at the right time. The movie has answered most of the prickly questions that I had accumulated in my mind concerning the scene. And the sources of my answers could not get more authentic.

The opening sequence has Gylve Fenriz (Darkthrone) preparing himself for a shot. And the best part of it is I can already feel the right vibes. The movie traces the entire journey from the roots of Norwegian black metal through the controversies that brought Norway to everyone’s attention back in the early nineties, the reason behind arson, and the truth behind the murder of Euronymous (Mayhem).

from the docu : fenriz

Why this documentary is different from the other documentaries out there? – the movement that we know today as the True Norwegian Black Metal includes a couple of events that we have always been reading about. If I have to summarize the events it would include the church burnings and hatred towards the protectors of cross, Euronymous (Mayhem) opening a records store called Helvete, Dead (Mayhem) committing suicide, the killing of a homosexual man by Faust (Emperor), and Varg murdering Euronymous. Until The Light Takes Us makes the protagonists recall the events. The featured artists are Varg Vikernes (Burzum), Fenriz (Darkthrone), Hellhammer (Mayhem), Abbath (Immortal), Demonaz (Immortal), Garm (Ulver), Frost (Satyricon), Bjarne Melgaard (visual artist).

from the docu : varg

For me this movie is special for a simple reason that Burzum has got maximum footage. We are taken inside the maximum security prison where Varg had been kept until he was released this year. I would want to thank the makers for bringing out the real Varg and most of all his sense of humor. A very pleasant personality his wit makes you want more of him. Moments when you get a chilling doze for your senses include the part where Burzum tells you how it is to stay confined for so long and ofcourse the uncanny silence when he confronts stabbing Euronymous in the skull.

the makers : aaron aites and audrey ewell

The documentary has been well directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell and has a personal touch to it. The production has also been handled by the duo. Norway has been depicted as we know it to be, absolutely enchanting. Background score has to be fine as we are talking black metal here. The song that appears to be the theme track of the movie is The Ballad of the Broken Birdie Records by Múm. I remember looking for the track after the movie. Enough said, too much of praise tends to spoil the watch. Buy the movie, download it or just steal but it needs to be watched. Well if black metal is your thing then I bet you already have watched this one.

Rating : 4/5

Check out this article on the Flaming Skull E-Zine here : The Flaming Skull E-Zine : August 2010 issue

Also read :

category : Recommendation

category : Diverse Articles

category : Polls

category : Album Reviews

GIR XIII 2009 – Bangalore review.

GIR XIII Bangalore leg – bands, crowd and everything in between.

GIR has become one of those very few yearly gigs which i look forward to, and this year’s edition has already left me wanting for more. Thanks to Mr. Amit Sehgal for getting Enslaved, Satyricon and Sahg to perform for us. Respect.

Attending a gig with ur mind fvcked over personal issues takes away the really-looked-forward-to feel but nevertheless i started off from this place where I’ve forcefully put up myself in Bangalore to the mother of all venues – Palace Grounds. It brought back memories of Maiden gigs but when I entered the venue the memories blacked out coz I saw only close to 50 people around me as opposed to what I’ve seen at this venue. Maybe i was early or the gig wasn’t publicised well.

Anyways i saw some of the organisers smoking inside the venue whereas the bouncers hired by them were personally going to each one smoking inside and trying to be loyal (read violent). Even I was a victim but then it was fun.

The gig was supposed to begin at 5 pm but on 25th October exactly at 5 pm the drummer of the opening band – Parachute XVI is late. This was bound to happen?? They opened the gig with their blend of psychedelic rock which did please my ear. It was ok till the last track which was a 2-part song abt media and it was long and boring enough to allow me do everything I usually do when Sceptre is playing live, by which i mean take a leak, smoke, drink, stroll, basically do everything to discourage the band. The dead-song ended and on came the same old – You are the best fvcking crowd ever – comment. Comeon. Not the best way to end their set.

I went around checking the stalls when the next band – Inner Sanctum was gearing up. After watching them at this year’s iRock, I wanted to see them again thanks to them sounding so metal. They came, they conquered – the stage, crowd, bitches, air, trees and everything in the vicinity. There was also some crazy moshing during their set with some damn-i-need-facial-hair school kids ready to kill each other. The band had a monstrous presence and complete control over the crowd. Does playing at home help..? YES IT DOES. Tight band.

Everyone was recovering from the Inner Sanctum-syndrome and warming themselves for my favourite Indian band – Kryptos. I envied Nolan’s Celtic Frost tee but the moment they began it was all behind me. The set list included a mix of songs from both the albums with 1 new track – The Mask of Anubis. This track was new to me and i can safely say I am buying their 3rd album too. They ended with the crowd favourite – Descension.

By this time the best was over and the crowd had steadily increased from 50 to 400-500 maybe.

Now it was time for the last 2 international bands and so they obviously (wtf?!) need time to setup so i strolled around and picked up a copy of Inner Sanctum’s Ep Provenance. I could hear Motherjane playing ‘Chasing The Sun’ at the adjacent venue where Kingfisher October Fest was on.

Next up were Solstate from New Zealand and i didn’t like them. I couldn’t relate to what they played. They also did a NIN-cover and without much noise made an exit.

Benea Reach from Norway was the last band for the day and they were a big band i suppose, what with the band taking around 45 mins for the setup. Huh fvck ! They were tight and had everything in place. They did make an impact. I liked them. I do like progressive metalcore sometimes. But not always.

And thus the curtains were drawn. This year’s editon of Great Indian Metal came to an end. Yes it was Metal up everyone’s arse. I happened to interact with some so-called Bangalore metalheads and all seems to be well. Being from the Bombay scene it was a pleasant experience. And considering Bombay was not even a venue for GIR, i wouldn’t have wanted to be there.

So in the end, you get some, you lose some and you tag along.