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°  ÛÛ    ÛÛ     Artist: Asgrauw                                ÛÛ    ÛÛ
   ²   Û°° þÛ       Album: Schijngestalten                         Ûþ °°Û
   þ    Û²ß Û        Year: 2014                                    Û ß²Û   °
         Û  ²   Rel. Date: 2015-10-10                              ²  Û
        ±   ±       Genre: Black Metal                             ±   ±
         ÛÜ °       Label: self-released                           ° ÜÛ
      °   ÛÜ  °    Source: CD                                    °  ÜÛ
      °      Û²      Type: Album                                 ²Û        °
      ²       Û   Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo            Û   °     ²
      ²       Û                                                  Û   °     ²
      Ü       þ                                                  þ   ²     þ
            °Û                                                    Û° ß
            Û  Hailing from the Netherlands three piece black      Û
            Û  metal act Asgrauw has seen fit to hit the           Û
            Û  unsuspecting global black metal hordes with a       Û
            Û  furious debut after a single promo in 2012          Û
            Û  released after forming in late 2010. Their chosen   Û
            Û  band name translates well with the ethos            Û
            Û  surrounding the bands dark ashen music within the   Û
            Û  context of traditional black metal that many old    Û
            Û  school fans yearn for in these days of over         Û
            Û  produced synthetic mediocrity.                      Û
            Û  Beginning with a drawling sombre piece in the       Û
            Û  guise of 'De Ondergang' the rasping vocals are      Û
            Û  morose and the conjoining music is equally          Û
            Û  melancholic and delivered at a slow but grinding    Û
            Û  pace which morphs gradually to intermittent         Û
            Û  blasting. As with most traditional black metal      Û
            Û  bands, returning to the folds of the 90s the drum   Û
            Û  sound is minimalistic, but packs sufficient punch   Û
            Û  to be indelibly engraved into the songs. Into the   Û
            Û  excellent 'Ira' and the opening riff is rancorous   Û
            Û  and reminds of acts like The Abyss, Vargavinter     Û
            Û  and debut Enthroned with that primal unfettered     Û
            Û  violence but harnessing deluges of melody much      Û
            Û  like Bathory's early work in the 80s in some        Û
            Û  respect as well.  There is a black fluidity about   Û
            Û  tunes like 'Schimmenwereld' and 'Luxuria', the      Û
            Û  intermingling of power and melody with a crisp but  Û
            Û  desolate production is authentic, primitive and     Û
            Û  exquisitely sadistic.                               Û
            Û  I've always liked this style of black metal above   Û
            Û  and beyond the war mongering battle cruising        Û
            Û  cacophony of bands preferring to detonate their     Û
            Û  songs with aural nuclear devastation. Tempo         Û
            Û  changes are inextricably locked into a vast         Û
            Û  tapestry of blackened nuances and indeed virtually  Û
            Û  all black metal was played like this in its         Û
            Û  hedonistic and self destructive days of the late    Û
            Û  80s and 90s and that philosophy is held true here   Û
            Û  on 'Avaritia', with blazing brimstone fury being    Û
            Û  doused with iced shards of embittered melody yet    Û
            Û  Asgrauw has the ability to pierce the soul much     Û
            Û  like their compatriots Sammath with hellish speed   Û
            Û  and emotive black revulsion.                        Û
            Û  You'd be hard pressed to find a more genuine        Û
            Û  demonstration of how black metal used to be and     Û
            Û  should still be played, blending tunefulness and    Û
            Û  outright soul destroying terror Asgrauw's debut is  Û
            Û  a real find.                                        Û
            ²                                                      ²
            ±                                                      ±
            °  1.  De Ondergang                              3:57  °
            °  2.  Ira                                       4:04  °
            °  3.  Maan Boven de Heuvels                     6:21  °
            °  4.  Schimmenwereld                            5:07  °
            °  5.  Luxuria                                   4:37  °
            °  6.  Uit Grauwe as Ontstaan                    6:35  °
            °  7.  Avaritia                                  4:32  °
            °  8.  Wanneer de Schemering Valt                4:16  °
            °                                               39:29  °
         °  ±