Asaru
From the Chasms Of Oblivion ()
Wydane przez Schwarzdorn Productions/Soul Food Music Distribution/SureShotRok wydania Kraj GermanyNapisał Wouter6
Usually when bands are overlooked the first time around, it doesn’t take a whole lot of deduction or analytical power to see why this happened. Case in point is German combo Asaru. Who? Exactly. Asaru was one of the second wave non-Scandinavian black metal acts that formed in Darmstadt, Germany in 1995 and recorded two demos plus an EP before eventually splitting up in 2007. In 2007 mainman Frank Nordmann moved to Oslo, Norway and after a two-year layoff resurrected Asaru. For those who keep track of such things, Nordmann also was part of Agathodaimon (yeah, that god-awful symfo/gothic black metal act that was popular for all of two minutes in the late ‘90s) which probably explains why there wasn’t much activity post-2000. At least Agathodaimon wasn’t as utterly and entirely terrible as Italy’s Graveworm. Not that Asaru is in any way bad, just very placemeal and, well, unremarkable. "From the Chasms Of Oblivion" is as stereotypical as its title, no really. Take any Scandinavian second/third-tier keyboard-less black metal band and you are fairly close to how this band sounds. Sure, it is competent, it ticks all the right boxes and it does exactly what you think it will - but is that good enough for you? I like to think that labels sign bands on the basis of that they have something unique to offer, or at least stand out enough within an established formula or sound - Asaru does neither. Not that I hate this record with a passion, in the right mindset it can be very enjoyable. It’s just that. This record is enjoyable, but it doesn’t instill me to seek out their other releases. By Odin, I used to remember a time when black metal was new and exciting. This is just so very... mundane, and not the least bit terrifying. So, yeah. At least it’s not Mystic Circle bad, but merely Ragnarok (the Norwegian band) levels of tolerable. Asaru fans will probably like this no matter what. Everybody else is advised to listen before picking up this record.
www.schwarzdorn.de
