Adragard - "From the Burning Mist" (Depressive Illusions Records/Perkun Records, 2018)

Band: Adragard
Title: From the Burning Mist
Genre: Black Metal with Doomish tunes
Time: 33 min
Year: 17th February 2018 (Depressive Illusions Rec) on tape
          18th May 2018 (Perkun Rec) on CD
Rating: 74/100











"As ravens on the ruins, we gaze upon an eternal plague." (from the last page of the booklet of this album)

WARNING FOR THE TRENDYHEADS:

this review is about a band that brings completely you in the golden (dark) period of black metal in which this music terrorized the world also through a freezing series of crime activities, so no complaints about the non-originality of Adragard are accepted in any fukken way!

Actually, the Italians Adragard have every right to play old-school black metal since its leader and singer Lord Adragard founded them in 1997. But the nicer thing is that they are so remained in the isolationist mentality of the '90s black metal that they have no Facebook nor similar sites, so the only way to contact them is through e-mail (see below, at the end of the review). Instead, the bad thing is that their story is a bit tormented because they tend to disappear for many years among their few releases (in total, only two demos and two albums) and, in addition, the here reviewed sophomore album "From the Burning Mist" is the first release that see Adragard with a complete line-up including a real drummer (before that, they used a drum-machine). But now it's time to talk about the music, that's surely the most important thing here!

Released on tape by the Ukrainian Depressive Illusions Records and on CD by the Polish Perkun Records (I have this last version - complete of a sticker of the label - in physical format thanks to the same Lord Adragard), "From the Burning Mist" contains 7 tracks in which there is a raw black metal with doomish tempos clearly influenced by the Norwegian and French masters. The riffing is simple and sometimes melancholic with arpeggios while, obviously, the guitar solos are completely absent. The vocals of Lord Adragard are classic but very expressive also because of some really tortured and sick performances in a way that reminds me a lot of the infamous LLN. Instead, the pace of the songs are very focused on the slow tempos, as you'll see soon in a more specific manner. But, above all, this album, despite its black metal primitivism, is surprisingly various.

In this sense, there is need to say that the album can be divided into two parts. The first one (until "Desolate Woods and Infinite Darkness") is faster, as especially expressed through "Cold Necro Ritual", that, strong of some Hellhammer-ish vibes (including an ultra-classic "UGH!" by the singer!), is surely the most violent song. At the contrary, the second part, ranging from "The Seventh Scar" to "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi", is slower, as especially expressed through "The Seventh Scar", a total doom with Black Sabbath haunting tunes from start to finish. Finally, the last song, "Eremo" ("hermitage" in Italian), is special because it's not only acoustic but sang in Italian. It ends the album in a very effective way thanks to verses full of tangible malice like "there's no any hope/so be cursed the day we born/and be cursed God that created us".

The pics (sent me along with the CD) of

the band are so incomprehensible that

they seem to be taken from an obscure

 black metal fanzine!

 

In conclusion, not all the tracks are really effective, especially "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi", that's a bit long and static but, fortunately, it's better during its last 2 minutes because of a more vivacity. Additionally, I think that the song before "Eremo" needed to be faster in order to increase better the intensity of the album because, after a while, the slow tempos are too much, and this is another reason why I don't like "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" in its entirety. Anyway, probably approved by Satan in person, Adragard have released a primitivist but various album totally devoted to the pure roots of black metal and whose my favorite tracks are just the aforementioned "Cold Necro Ritual", "The Seventh Scar" and the frightening "Eremo". Now, you have to succumb to temptation so start to listen to "From the Burning Mist" because Hell...is waiting for your eternal damnation!

Tracklist:

1 - Buried in Misery
2 - Cold Necro Ritual
3 - Desolate Woods and Infinite Darkness
4 - The Seventh Scar
5 - Morbid Black Chaos
6 - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
7 - Eremo

Line-up:

Lord Adragard - vocals
Gemini - guitars
NifèroN - bass
Church Destroyer - drums

Adragard contact: adragard666@gmail.com
Depressive Illusions Rec: http://depressiveillusions.com/
Perkun Rec: http://perkunrecords.8merch.com/