SHADES OF BLACK: ROTTING CHRIST, CHARUN, SATANIC NORTH, DODENKROCHT, FRAGMENTUM, CANTIQUE LÉPREUX, BEDRÄNGNIS

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Mar 312024
 

It is a good thing to be tolerant of people who are different from you, including people who believe things you think are ridiculous. But tolerance is sorely tested by people who are hypocrites and con-men, whose professions of faith are a cover for corruption, hatefulness, and abuse of others.

Having those people in mind today, and all the people who have fought back against them (with a kind thought also for the sweet people who humbly try to follow the precepts of such passages as Matthew 7:12 and 25:35-40), I picked the following five songs from forthcoming records and two complete releases to recommend to you on this Easter Sunday.

ROTTING CHRIST (Greece)

Rotting Christ, but of course I’m starting with them today. Their new album ΠΡΟ ΧΡΙΣΤΟU (Pro Xristou) — “Before Christ” — “serves as a fervent tribute to the last Pagan kings who resisted the onslaught of Christianity, guarding their ancient values and knowledge”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CHARUN — “MENVRA”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 072018
 

 

The song we’re about to present is “Menvra“, from the album Mundus Cereris. The musicians are a spellcasting quartet from Sardinia, Italy, who go by the name Charun. They have no vocalist; I have a feeling that if they did, the vocals would interfere with the mesmerizing effect of the music, unless perhaps the vocals consisted of nothing more than the whispering of ghosts.

“Menvra” lasts for about nine minutes. The immediate temptation is to cycle back through it again as soon as it stops. It’s so easy to get lost in the sound, to be transported into realms of the imagination — and so difficult to shake yourself and return to the here and now. The effect isn’t exactly hypnotic, because there’s granitic weight in the music and head-moving rhythms, too. The body wants to respond while the mind is moving away; it’s a trance that works on two levels. Continue reading »