Like with so many others, my first introduction to Black Crucifixion was through the Beherit- connection. Just like Beherit, Black Crucifixion are from Finland’s Rovaniemi and the first Black Crucifixion line-up also included members of Beherit. The Fallen One of Flames was also co-produced by Holocausto Vengeance, who also contributed intro/outro and lyrics.
This is a double album featuring Black Crucifixion’s legendary The Fallen One of Flames (1992) demo and a live recording from the band’s birth-year 1991, entitled Satanic Zeitgeist.
Now, how do you review a “classic”?! These songs could only have been written in this place in time, during the arrival of the second wave in freezing Lapland, under the hating eye of Norwegian elitist Black Metal. Young Lappish youngsters, undoubtedly influenced by one of the greatest BM bands of all time (Beherit), looking to do it themselves. It reminds one of what Schizo was to Hellhammer (though I have no idea if the comparison is valid!).
The three tracks on the demo are ‘Flowing Downwards’, ‘Master Spirit’ and Goddess of Doom,’ all Black Metal classics. Maybe not tightly played, but damn it adds to the charm. The vocals are all unique claustrophobic whispers from beyond, instead of screaming, giving the whole demo and immensely dark aura- a great example of Finnish Black Metal of the second wave: Great song-writing, cold low-fi sound and brilliant minimalistic riffing. Adding to all of this is a clearly fucked-up master tape causing the sound to drown in and out from time to time.
Despite the creative core of this band being separate from Beherit, their influence is ever present – only BC’s approach is of more sombre doomish nature rather than the straight-in-your-face of Beherit. However, when all is said and done this in a unique, only one of its kind, demo and an essential release in second wave Finnish Black Metal.
The recently released Satanic Zeitgeist live-album starts with a promising haunting intro. I cannot wait to hear this early material. Then the music kicks in... and then the confusion kicks in… and then there’s that deep sigh again… These kids have no idea how to play their instruments… nor do they know how to play in a band. Have they even rehearsed? What’s wrong with the vocalist. Drugs? Alcohol? He’s nuts?! Sounds like Hellhammer all over again (minus that drugs bit). Why on earth did they release this? And then put it on a compilation album following a classic BM demo? It doesn’t make sense. There are covers of ‘In League with Satan’ and Sarcofago’s ‘Nightmare’ too, which really show the lack of musicianship….ultimately it doesn’t matter though. An old school cult performance, that’s existence might be worth more historically than musically. Killer!
I must admit that I approached the Hope Of Retaliation album with a very unprofessional stereo-side-manner. A band, using the ‘Black Crucifixion’ moniker almost twenty years from their hay-day in the early 1990s (having been inactive for most of it)! I see images of the short-haired main-man Forn with a trendy long-sleeve and just sigh: “Oh dear what are the Laps up to now?!”
Luckily enough I soon gather myself and remind yours-truly of his status as a cunt-reviewer, which of course makes it totally ok.
Anyhow, I guess we can start by saying that this album has nothing to do with Black Crucifixion whatsoever and frankly would have done itself a favour by dropping the name altogether. The only resemblances here are some whisper-bits in-between songs. I commence to completely erase any links to Black Crucifixion and actually listen to the damn thing.
So, the thing consists of four studio-songs (one of them an interlude) and five album-quality live-tracks. The studio tracks here are ‘Retaliation’, ‘Night Birds Sing Your Demise’, ‘Blood Soaked Snow’ and ‘Bitten by the Long Frost of Life’, songs that represent the ‘new’ Black Crucifixion – a Black/Dark Metal with a clean sound – with some sweet groovy Celtic Frostish elements) . As mentioned, the whispers are gone… and frankly that probably wasn’t such a good idea as Forn really isn’t the strongest vocalist there is (despite clear improvement). Sadly, despite the fact that the BC-boys have become extremely confident and pro-musicians, there isn’t much here to get excited about. Even though it’s good for what it is, one cannot escape the fact that it’s just all dreadfully average…
A live-“cover” of ‘Master Spirit’ (from the demo) is also featured along with other older material – they’re all pretty damn far off the original and frankly completely superfluous. What they play now has nothing to do with those olden days – you might just as well have had Soulfly cover the damn thing. The live section of the album then continues with further redundant live-versions of old tracks (‘Promethean Gift, Serpent Of Your Holy Garden) and I start getting bored. These songs worked in the time and place they were recorded in. Despite this, the old songs are clearly the strongest material here.
Now this isn’t exactly down my street this ‘dark metal’ shenanigans, but frankly I cannot but praise how solid, well written and played most of this record is. On other hand, however, metal has progressed faster than Black Crucifixion. The riffs and arrangements simply do not cut it in this day and age and it all feels very much like “heard that before’ –NEXT!”.
As mentioned above, the Black Crucifixion moniker is being abused here to the max. It is a classic example when something dead should have been left buried. As far as I’m concerned the band should have spent some more time writing new original songs instead of playing old classics in a completely unfitting sound. Adding to this is the inconsistency leading from the studio/live recording split, making this feel more like a compilation. Definitely would expect given that this ‘album’ took five years to write’. Whilst this album consists of some really vaguely promising new material, it is questionable how much attention would have been paid to this release if it wasn’t for the Black Crucifixion-branding.
Yeah… but no.
http://www.paasto.com/bc
Miika Virtanen
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