Haemoth Kontamination
Southern Lord Recordings SUL 47.5 November 29th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Like all black metal bands in existence, Haemoth have been birthing splits and demos for years, and their full-lengths have been limited releases. For instance, the presses only rolled out 500 kopies of Satanick Terrorism, 1000 of Vice, Suffering and Destruction, and 2000 of this MCD. Kontamination is komprised of six new songs, three previously unreleased demo tracks, and klocks in at forty-five minutes. Though all French BM may be overshadowed by the mighty Deathspell Omega and the indomitable Blut Aus Nord, there are several mobs worthy of the spotlight, and this duo is surely one of them.
Haemoth (Spektr, Demonium), ahem, is the driving force behind this two-piece. At times Im komfortable komparing these guys to Gorgoroth, and they would klosely resemble each other if the latter were more vicious, arousing, entertaining, and less mainstream. But if youre one of those people who demands high quality production, then Id suggest checking your qualms at the door, or not even bothering with Haemoth cause the production sucks. All instrumentation swirls in one dissonant pot, but the inspiration is unmistakable and easily identifiable. Famished, while it mostly adheres to the same tempo throughout its miserable life, kontains admirable transitions as Syht moves from simple drumming to a more intricate, double-bass onslaught. The song though repetitious to a certain degree works. After the introduction known as Soiled departs, When the Blood Turns Black komes on full-speed ahead with dissonance aplomb. Similar to a few of their minions, Haemoth occasionally inject riffs thatll grab you, and immediately tighten their grip. The 1:55 minute mark of When the Blood Turns Black is a prime example of this phenomenon. The things that dont prove successful, however, are the ambient interludes. Everyone sort of expects an introduction of that nature, but when Kontamination features atmospheric effects at the beginning of songs or when theyre sandwiched between black metal offensives I found myself skipping them. The demos arent that different, in any case, although theyre easier on the ears because the recordings sound muffled and subdued. Haemoth keeps the vocals more low-key on the demos, too.
Since Haemoth are worthy of glorification you decide how much in the end Im kurious about Spektr and Demonium. Kontamination, though raw in a number of ways, is definitely worth hunting down if youre into French black metal that is distinguishable from the pack. The ambient sections dont exactly fit in with the sadistic BM, but thats a minor issue when one ponders upon what kouldve gone wrong. Either way, give this a go. K?
8/10
Official Southern Lord Recordings Website
Southern Lord Recordings SUL 47.5 November 29th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Like all black metal bands in existence, Haemoth have been birthing splits and demos for years, and their full-lengths have been limited releases. For instance, the presses only rolled out 500 kopies of Satanick Terrorism, 1000 of Vice, Suffering and Destruction, and 2000 of this MCD. Kontamination is komprised of six new songs, three previously unreleased demo tracks, and klocks in at forty-five minutes. Though all French BM may be overshadowed by the mighty Deathspell Omega and the indomitable Blut Aus Nord, there are several mobs worthy of the spotlight, and this duo is surely one of them.
Haemoth (Spektr, Demonium), ahem, is the driving force behind this two-piece. At times Im komfortable komparing these guys to Gorgoroth, and they would klosely resemble each other if the latter were more vicious, arousing, entertaining, and less mainstream. But if youre one of those people who demands high quality production, then Id suggest checking your qualms at the door, or not even bothering with Haemoth cause the production sucks. All instrumentation swirls in one dissonant pot, but the inspiration is unmistakable and easily identifiable. Famished, while it mostly adheres to the same tempo throughout its miserable life, kontains admirable transitions as Syht moves from simple drumming to a more intricate, double-bass onslaught. The song though repetitious to a certain degree works. After the introduction known as Soiled departs, When the Blood Turns Black komes on full-speed ahead with dissonance aplomb. Similar to a few of their minions, Haemoth occasionally inject riffs thatll grab you, and immediately tighten their grip. The 1:55 minute mark of When the Blood Turns Black is a prime example of this phenomenon. The things that dont prove successful, however, are the ambient interludes. Everyone sort of expects an introduction of that nature, but when Kontamination features atmospheric effects at the beginning of songs or when theyre sandwiched between black metal offensives I found myself skipping them. The demos arent that different, in any case, although theyre easier on the ears because the recordings sound muffled and subdued. Haemoth keeps the vocals more low-key on the demos, too.
Since Haemoth are worthy of glorification you decide how much in the end Im kurious about Spektr and Demonium. Kontamination, though raw in a number of ways, is definitely worth hunting down if youre into French black metal that is distinguishable from the pack. The ambient sections dont exactly fit in with the sadistic BM, but thats a minor issue when one ponders upon what kouldve gone wrong. Either way, give this a go. K?
8/10
Official Southern Lord Recordings Website
