Stige - "The Wasteland" (Xenoglossy Productions, 2017)

Band: Stige

Title: The Wastelands

Genre: Black Metal

Year: 8th December 2017

Time: 12 min

Rating: 75/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to problems involving with my job and other fucks, today finally I had the possibility to write this new review. Today I will write a review about this EP “The Wasteland” by Stige.

First of all, this work will isn’t to be confused with another project with the same name because this is in PURE and FUCKING BLACK METAL!

Let’s look at it more in detail. Stige is an Italian black metal project coming from Tuscany, precisely from the small town Sesto Fiorentino near Florence where was born in 2013. As many other black metal projects, behind this as well hides only one person. He is named Warrior, that plays all the instruments and write all the songs. In spite of his young age, this man is very active and is involved in various projects since 2011. At present times he started another project as one man band named Aisna (ex-Februus), particularly concerning in Etruscan paganism.

After the release of the debut demo "Where Darkness Prevails" in early 2014, the infernal river Stige continued to flow and in the end of 2017 brought us this new creation, “ The Wastelands”, a two songs EP by Xenoglossy Productions, an interesting and enterprising Italian label specialized on extreme metal.

Both the songs of the EP, the titletrack “The Wasteland” as well “The Hollow Men”, are inspired by the well known poems by T.S. Elliot.

Since the beginning, this mid-paced riff Ep shows marked influences that links it to the flow of the old-school black metal from Bathory to Celtic Frost, just to quote someones specially in the guitar line. Although it is intensely facing the Norwegian black metal school of the first half of the ‘90s, in particular the first works by Gorgoroth.

In the first song a raging and piercing vocals is accompanied by a cold and claustrophobic tune with a melodic insert and a powerful reprise to the end. Instead, the second song opens with a furious and intense theme with some Immortalesque guitar riffs (especially at the beginning), always supported by Warrior’s piercing vocals and closes with a melodic guitar riff on waters flowing (the waters of the river Stige?).

The production is good and is very convincing even is not excellent but it is suitable to give back the sinister atmospheres of this EP.

In the end, this work is still rather academic and scarcely independent from the reference models. However, this is not to be considered as a limit because Stige is only at the second release and also because the cues of interest are certainly not lacking. For now, waiting for a new and more demanding work to emerge from the murky waters of the River of Hatred, let’s enjoy the listening of this fierce and purely underground black metal craft.

HAIL!

 

L.L.

 

Tracklist:

 

1 - The Wastelands

2 - The Hollow Men

 

Line-up:

 

Warrior - vocals/guitars/bass/drums

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/stigeblackmetal?fref=ts
BandCamp: https://stigebm.bandcamp.com/releases
Xenoglossy Productions: https://www.facebook.com/XenoglossyProductions/