It seems a bit weird listening to a band from the land down under that deals in blackened death metal with Viking touches lyrically, since Scandinavia is the real true land of this style since its inception a couple of decades ago. Quite whether this band will be taken seriously I’m not quite sure but suffice to say Norse certainly know how to beat the shit out of you.
Unexpectedly the album has no intro to set the scene emotionally as its straight into the title track and you immediately recognise the effort that has gone into obtaining a crystal production that defines each instrument equally and demonstrates the tight musicianship on display. Musically the track has all the characteristics of blasting double bass kick death metal as the band infuse all the songs with blackened rabidity. Most of the tracks veer into technical realms similar to Swedish death metal acts like At The Gates as Norse also try their hand at modernistic death metal using chop change riffing with blistering snare blasts. At times the lead work is stifled by ferocious drums and bass but is a small whinge on my part.
“Flesh Abyss” has predominantly black metal riffs set to an assailing death metal melody and has a great vicious riff half way in or so. I thought the short interlude, “V”, would have been better at the start as an intro, as predictable as that would make the start of the album. More Swedish riffing pops up on “Father Of The Norns” and with some black metal vocal roaring that is clear and distinct the song comes across as anthemic and similar to a newer band like Survivors Zero. I didn’t quite understand the change in mix on “Spewing Forth Arachnids” and “Devour The Serpents Flame” which have a monophonic sound similar to raw retro black thrash.
“Hellstorm” is neither a ground breaking album nor is it bargain bin fodder but sits comfortably between the two as tracks like “Frozen Deserts Of Time” and “War And Her Bastard Sons” are accomplished assaults but with so much blackened death metal around the band risks being lost in a muddy metallic battlefield despite the obvious talent on offer.
http://www.myspace.com/norsehellstorm
http://www.myspace.com/propainspace
