RATTENFÄNGER

Geisslerlieder DARK ESSENCE

Drudkh members train their sights on old-school death metal

The esteemed Ukrainian black metal act, Drudkh, adopt a dismal guise in Rattenfänger, their OSDM side-band. Behind the windswept folk-infused voyages of their primary artistic endeavour lurks doomy death in the scabrous vein of Grave, Asphyx or even Winter, and it raises its festering form here for the second time. These four seasoned musicians know their history, whether it be black or death metal, and so the riffs and rhythms sutured together like a necrotic body suit on their new LP (their first in seven years) expectedly land with a Bolt Thrower-esque, syncopated thud. There is little to fault here, and the Latin lyrics add an air of mystique to what is ostensibly a bloodied and raw-boned roar from a collective of musicians best known for the cerebral rather than the primal that they display here with full force. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Bolt

Thrower, Grave, Asphyx DEAN BROWN songs, you’re witness to lumbering yet subtle crescendos; for every cold, bleak nod to Cult Of Luna’s hypnotic post-metal, you’ll have something like A Dog In The Oven. Grim as the title suggests, its tight-throated screams and chunky riffs echo the feral doom/ hardcore hybrid of Conjurer, whereas breezeblocks of feedback and percussion evoke Swans’ early 80s noise rock, if fleetingly. Bludgeoning aside, the record’s centrepiece, Like Forest Fire, is the sole moment for which ‘clarity’ could be described as its dense, bass-laden peaks and troughs arch their backs for clean guitars and a genuinely sublime dénouement. It’s Better This Way rarely strays far from the path, but if your Cult Of Luna receptacles require a rub, dive in. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Cult Of Luna, LLNN, Conjurer

ALEC CHILLINGWORTH sounding like some ancient force tunnelling its way up through the earth towards sunlight. It sways, flows and surges with fluid grace and, occasionally, an odd sense of beauty that almost allows you to forget how damn heavy it all is. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Breach, Black Cilice, Will Haven

ALEX DELLER