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Rating:
The underground market is so crowded with constant releases that it still seems like a mirage to be able to navigate such a jumble of splits, EPs, promotional mini-CDs, LPs, vinyl, demos, and cassettes: when you hear that the latest from Darkthrone, despite its shortcomings, surpasses 90% of today's releases, you must always keep in mind the crowded world of MySpace, where thousands of bands and side projects with limited potential try to emerge from the mud of anonymity. The sadness is that I came across this CD absolutely by chance, since I had never read anything about the two bands, Vidharr and Sturmkaiser, neither online nor in magazines. Not knowing that such bands exist in the world (and like those I've noted at the bottom of the page) is sad, but ultimately understandable, but ignoring that they are in our own backyard is truly worrisome.
The album is equally divided between the two mentioned bands, with a brief instrumental moment, with an epic-martial flavor (by Emanuele "Vastitas"Telli): if the piece is not particularly striking, thinking of the greatness of Spite Extreme Wing's instrumentals, Vastitas and his Consummatum Est should be noted down jealously among the bands in the Italian Funeral Doom scene to keep an eye on (like Urna and Arcana Coelestia).
The Sturmkaiser side opens with the resounding "Algiz", which manages to engage right away thanks to the clashing combination between a high and harsh scream (à la Ishan or Torog from Behexen) and the tight rhythms that owe much to the openness and solemnity of martial Thrash. What strikes is the epic nature of the solutions, often more pronounced than in other War Black Metal bands, where there's a sterile focus on the speed effect.
The peak of their quartet of songs (re-recorded for the split but already appeared in the band's previous releases) is represented by the self-referential "Sturmkaiser", where this stylistic formula manifests itself in its peculiarities, among choruses, blastbeat outbursts, and always different nuances. I won't elaborate further since their LP has already been reviewed elsewhere.
The style of the Romans Vidharr is completely different, testing the waters after the release of their debut EP "Rising From The Abyss": the shift towards more melodic sounds is clear, the technical improvement is evident, and the move towards a more careful and meticulous production is decisive. Vidharr have the merit of having absorbed the lessons of Scandinavian black metal without depending on a particular model (as was previously the case with Carpathain Forest): the twilight melancholy that hovers between the grooves of the record reminds of the Swedish band Dawn, while the chill draws directly from the Norwegian sound, always however reinterpreted in a "melodic" key. Three medium-length songs in which the various components stand out one by one (monstrous Thyranos on vocals and Fo on drums): if in the future they manage to bring out the bass more and channel the rhythm into a style less hybrid between raw sound and melody, the band will have resolved all its problems. Among those proposed (and written so far), my favorite is certainly "Decay Till Extinction", the concluding track.
I know many who pass through here will certainly not agree, but we must be clear from the start: the section entrusted to the Romans Vidharr is certainly better than that of the even more famous Sturmkaiser. War Black Metal is an instinctive and muscular genre, epic and martial but also difficult to interpret: certainly, Sturmkaiser have an extraordinary personality compared to other Italian bands of the same genre (and the adjacent area of National-Socialist Black Metal), relying less on politically extreme gimmicks and focusing more on the "exalting" aspect of their sound: but it is also true that it is still too soon to place the band at the same level as a major band like the French Crystalium. The present is promising, the future is yet to be written.
What is certain is that while Sturmkaiser will become, for better or worse, a "cult" group, Vidharr will hardly follow the same path: they will either become a great band, making the leap in sales and joining Handful Of Hate, Spite Extreme Wing, and Aborym, or they will remain in that entirely Italian limbo where valid groups that are neither stubbornly "true" nor stubbornly "avant-garde" dwell.
A definitely recommended purchase even though, as usual, I recommend listening to the tracks in streaming first (sites below). As much importance as it may have, the 4/5 you see above is not meant to be either encouraging or celebratory: it is simply a fact. The purchase is instead mandatory for all those who appreciate or support Italian underground music.
http://www.myspace.com/malfeitor666 (Malfeitor)
http://www.myspace.com/consummatumest (Consummatum Est)
http://www.myspace.com/vidharrlegion (Vidharr)
http://www.myspace.com/sturmkaiser (Sturmkaiser)
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