Spekter

When the first burst of under-produced, treble over drive riffs appear, the initial reaction might be to press eject and write the disc off as merely another fractured cliff in the monstrous mountain that is black metal bullshit. Given a few more minutes, the terrain Spektr cover starts to become extremely intriguing; the piercing blasts and malicious tremolo verses are but a facet of a deceivingly lawless land. They experiment with static and noise, unafraid of flirting with disorder while commanding delirium with a resourcefulness and penchant for meticulous detail that comes as a shock considering the clichéd beginning. They texture a variety of different sounds and interweave them with their take on Bathory, bridging the gap between space age, static noise and the scratched reels of audiocassettes. The raw, traditional black metal production can be aggravating at points, if only because it completely eliminates all lower frequencies. Ultimately these moments work in favour of their sonic oddities, simultaneously conveying a sense of anxiety and fearlessness. This record takes a lot of patience but if you can muster the courage to face nearly 50 minutes of borderline experimental racket, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.