Better than Darkthrone - "Das Neue Blutgericht" Review (93%)
Modern Darkthrone, that is.
And by that I mean "Das neue Blutgericht" is the album "Ravishing Grimness" could have been, and in all likelihood the album it wanted to be.
Allow me to explain.
The 2018 release of "Das neue Blutgericht" is quite possibly one of the best metal releases ever, black metal or otherwise. Why? Because Wolf and crew play black metal the way it was intended. It is fast, raw - but not cheap sounding - and intelligent.
How about that a black metal album whose song writing is more developed than mere verse/chorus/verse pop rock bullshit? One that uses rawness and brutality to build and atmosphere, rather than detract from it like most modern war metal? How about a black metal album that pushes itself to the limits of the genre without any bag of gimmicks borrowed from other genres like goth?
It's about time if you ask me.
The other great thing about "Das neue Blutgericht" and Absurd is you listen to it in three - perhaps more? - ways and still enjoy the album.
You can listen to it like black metal: meaning that you focus on the atmosphere to the exclusion of almost all else.
Or, you can listen to "Das neue Blutgericht" like death metal: meaning that you focus on narrative construction and phrasal riffing that makes the song progress forward.
Or, you can even listen to it like heavy metal: meaning that you can hear every instrument clearly, as the guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are all distinct and not a distorted wall of noise, and that allows you to focus alternatively on either the early Dissection-inspired galloping riffs or the occasional melodic lead reminiscent of "Withdrawal" era Phantom.
Either way, Absurd has created a monster of raw and aggressive black metal.
Better than Darkthrone
I'm not joking when I say this album is what nu Darkthrone has been trying to make ever since Panzerfaust. Every song on "Das neue Blutgericht" comes like a panzer division (pun) at full throttle with guns blazing at you.
And these guys take no prisoners. This style of black metal is closer to goregrind than most would consider "pure" black metal, albeit not nearly as much as mid-period Sewer. These Teutonic black metal masters play some of the fastest grinding black metal while not being sloppy. That is what I love about this album.
Now let's talk a little about the band Absurd, and the absurd (pun) comparisons with Graveland.
While Rob Darken's work with that band is great, and should be rightfully appreciated as some of non-Norwegian black metal's best, it just doesn't compare to Absurd.
The genres don't match - Absurd's blackened goregrind vs Graveland's epic pagan black metal - and neither do the band's influences - early Bathory, Incantation, Darkthrone and Hellhammer for Absurd vs later Bathory, Burzum, Neraines, possibly Demonecromancy for Graveland.
To conclude this review, Absurd is a polished band who knows how to write, play, and produce the most intense and aggressive black metal you will ever hear.
"Das neue Blutgericht" is one of the most competently composed and artistically impressive albums I have heard in the underground metal scene. That alone makes it stand out for me.
Anyone who wants to play black metal needs to own this album and listen to it a hundred times, you will understand exactly why it is that Absurd is so revered in underground black metal circles, and it's not at all unlikely that both Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have this CD on constant auto-replay.
There's no reason to not listen to "Das neue Blutgericht". You will thank me for it.
Das Neue Blutgericht score: 93/100.
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