Twilight s/t
Southern Lord Records SUNN47 - 2005
By Nathan Pearce
In case you are extremely misinformed, have never really paid attention to black metal, or are one of those tr00/kvlt/FAG black metal elitists from THE NORDLANDS, let me tell you about the current state of US black metal. It is among the most oppressive, progressive, and pertinent of all the countries currently producing black metal. To be even more specific, the bands leading the way in this full-on wave of USBM are Leviathan, Xasthur, Krieg, Nachtmystium, and Draugar. Furthermore, if you were wishing there existed a supergroup of these fine USBM masters of black chaos, youve come to the right review.
Twilight is indeed a band consisting of the following members: Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice), Malefic (Xasthur), Azentrius (Nachtmystium), Imperial (Krieg), and Hildolf (Draugar). While each of these bands has done an excellent job distinguishing themselves from the Norwegian bands that obviously influenced them, this supergroup has chosen to pay a little bit of a tribute to their forefathers. This isnt to say that Twilight is merely a tribute band. In fact, the casual black metal fan will have no clue as to what Im talking about. Twilight deliberately, I believe, has chosen to use song structures, grooves, and so on similar to bands like Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal, etc., mixed with their own brand of sonic terrorism. Imagine Mayhem with wickedly distorted vocals and drenched in heavy reverb, for example, or imagine Leviathan, Xasthur, Krieg, Nachtmystium, or Draugar with a little less experimentation.
For anybody that has tried to get interested in bands like Xasthur or Leviathan and has found the sonic manipulation a little too excessive, I urge you to give Twilight a listen. While each of the USBM bands involved in this project tends to favor very chaotic production on their individual bands releases, Twilight is sort of a compromise in sonic aesthetics. This isnt to say it will be as easy to swallow as latter-day Immortal, for example.
Twilight is simply a band of amazingly talented artists, creating music that both pays homage to the early 90s Norwegian black metal scene, and stays true to their extremely oppressive USBM roots. This is easily one of the best black metal albums of the year, and youd be a complete idiot to dismiss this on the grounds that it isnt anything but that.
9/10
Southern Lord Records Official Website
Southern Lord Records SUNN47 - 2005
By Nathan Pearce
In case you are extremely misinformed, have never really paid attention to black metal, or are one of those tr00/kvlt/FAG black metal elitists from THE NORDLANDS, let me tell you about the current state of US black metal. It is among the most oppressive, progressive, and pertinent of all the countries currently producing black metal. To be even more specific, the bands leading the way in this full-on wave of USBM are Leviathan, Xasthur, Krieg, Nachtmystium, and Draugar. Furthermore, if you were wishing there existed a supergroup of these fine USBM masters of black chaos, youve come to the right review.
Twilight is indeed a band consisting of the following members: Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice), Malefic (Xasthur), Azentrius (Nachtmystium), Imperial (Krieg), and Hildolf (Draugar). While each of these bands has done an excellent job distinguishing themselves from the Norwegian bands that obviously influenced them, this supergroup has chosen to pay a little bit of a tribute to their forefathers. This isnt to say that Twilight is merely a tribute band. In fact, the casual black metal fan will have no clue as to what Im talking about. Twilight deliberately, I believe, has chosen to use song structures, grooves, and so on similar to bands like Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal, etc., mixed with their own brand of sonic terrorism. Imagine Mayhem with wickedly distorted vocals and drenched in heavy reverb, for example, or imagine Leviathan, Xasthur, Krieg, Nachtmystium, or Draugar with a little less experimentation.
For anybody that has tried to get interested in bands like Xasthur or Leviathan and has found the sonic manipulation a little too excessive, I urge you to give Twilight a listen. While each of the USBM bands involved in this project tends to favor very chaotic production on their individual bands releases, Twilight is sort of a compromise in sonic aesthetics. This isnt to say it will be as easy to swallow as latter-day Immortal, for example.
Twilight is simply a band of amazingly talented artists, creating music that both pays homage to the early 90s Norwegian black metal scene, and stays true to their extremely oppressive USBM roots. This is easily one of the best black metal albums of the year, and youd be a complete idiot to dismiss this on the grounds that it isnt anything but that.
9/10
Southern Lord Records Official Website
