The album’s six tracks, while drenched in bleak, obscure tones with heavy emphasis on the rhythm, not the melody, is a cathartic experience.
Review: Charnel House – Black Blood
National Music Reviews
Charnel House
Black Blood
SYGIL
Street: 05.23
Charnel House = Blut Aus Nord + Godflesh + Khanate
It may seem without structure—almost free form improvised music—but everything that noise/drone/black metal duo Charnel House do is for a reason. With a few releases under their belts, Black Blood, although with a darker title than some past releases, doesn’t feel as visceral as their The Leprosy of Unreality. The album’s six tracks, while drenched in bleak, obscure tones with heavy emphasis on the rhythm, not the melody, is a cathartic experience. The strength in the album is its duality. It can be a drone/noise album, or it can be a multi-instrumental sort of—I hate to use the term—“post” black metal. But, folks might get their panties in a knot if I called it full-on “black metal” because there are no screeched or screamed vocals. Hellfire seems to sing her incantations to some unknown deity or force. There are lyrics, but her method of delivery obscures them as they mix in with the noise and rhythms to create a unique atmosphere. The mastering of the album from James Plotkin helps solidify the strength of the sound delivered here, making for some damn fine obscurity in audio form. –Bryer Wharton
Black Blood
SYGIL
Street: 05.23
Charnel House = Blut Aus Nord + Godflesh + Khanate
It may seem without structure—almost free form improvised music—but everything that noise/drone/black metal duo Charnel House do is for a reason. With a few releases under their belts, Black Blood, although with a darker title than some past releases, doesn’t feel as visceral as their The Leprosy of Unreality. The album’s six tracks, while drenched in bleak, obscure tones with heavy emphasis on the rhythm, not the melody, is a cathartic experience. The strength in the album is its duality. It can be a drone/noise album, or it can be a multi-instrumental sort of—I hate to use the term—“post” black metal. But, folks might get their panties in a knot if I called it full-on “black metal” because there are no screeched or screamed vocals. Hellfire seems to sing her incantations to some unknown deity or force. There are lyrics, but her method of delivery obscures them as they mix in with the noise and rhythms to create a unique atmosphere. The mastering of the album from James Plotkin helps solidify the strength of the sound delivered here, making for some damn fine obscurity in audio form. –Bryer Wharton
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