The Earth King
Cycling Between Sun and Moon ()
Wydane przez Kristallblut RecordsRok wydania Kraj BelgiumNapisał Wouter7
Ah, yes. Belgium. The country with an eternally brimming underground scene that constantly underestimates and second-guesses itself, the place were bands hardly go places or become important beyond the local youth centre or divebar. The Earth King isn’t another of these cuddly folk metal bands that you want to take home and put in a warm bath, neither it is one of those god-awful death metal bands that hand you their demo, but you secretly pray that they would just go away. Thankfully, it isn’t one of those blink-and-they-are-gone one-man grind acts either. Instead, this is something more Nordic. Awkward album title aside (Belgium is big on cycling), this is actually some very interesting Scandinavian black metal, heavily influenced by Norway’s second wave bands, particularly the earlier work of Burzum. The vocals are interesting in that they go out of their way to mimick that most craziest and depraved Hungarian of all, Attila Czishar (Mayhem, Tormentor) in tone, delivery and melody. Not that Belgium ever had a shortage of potent black metal acts. We all know and love greater and less gods as Ancient Rites, Aguynguerran, Enthroned, Gorath, Theudho and Lugubrum. Other than that the cover artwork (depicting a moon-shrouded forest) is a strain on the eyes and the golden typesetting is painful to make out, this is a worthy record for the fanatic of the genre.
www.kristallblutrecords.com
