Рецензии
Aquarius Records "Mysticism"
2009.06.07
KHORS Mysticism (Paragon)
As we've mentioned in a few other black metal reviews, at first glance, it's easy to be knocked out by these incredible scenes in places like Russia and the Ukraine, but upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious, that it's the same 5 or 6 guys in each scene making up all of those different bands. Sometimes it's even the exact same members, with just a new name and a different sound. Still pretty impressive for sure, just in a different way.
So here we have Ukrainian black metallers Khors, who among their ranks, include various members of other Ukrainian groups you most likely recognize, like Nokturnal Mortum, Astrofaes and Hate Forest.
And while Khors' sound invariably shares some similarities with the various members' other outfits, as well as fellow Ukrainian black metal horde Drudkh, the sound here is definitely unique, taking midtempo black buzz, and mixing it with some seriously melodic more straight forward rock, lots of space-y atmosphere, and super tripped out almost Pink Floyd-like keyboards. It's that melodic aspect, and the keyboards, that give Khors a definitely whatthefuck vibe.
The record begins with a two minute intro, all shimmery keyboards, and super tight, almost jazzy drumming, even when the guitars come in, the sound is weirdly poppy, with some almost bluesy leads, before slipping into the first track, a lurching black metal pound, with churning riffs, and howled vokills, wild guitar trills, but also sparkling sheets of tinkling keyboards, rife with folky melodies, the whole thing epic and majestic, especially when the band lock into the instrumental jam parts, guitar leads evoke some eighties movie montage, before slipping back into something more black or in the case of the next track something even more, um, cheesy? But not in a bad way. Skittery drums beneath soft synths, whispered vox, and some almost Chariots Of Fire sounding piano. Seconds later, the band is blasting through a frosty field of buzzing guitars wrapped around furious blast beats, and we're back in serious black metal territory, but hold up, Khors shift gears again, and slip into something a bit more Journey. Or Europe even. Super slick sounding studio hard rock from the eighties, which on its own might sound unappealing, but then drape some super distorted buzzy guitars and growled hellish vocals over the top and we're into something definitely bizarre and WAY unexpected.
The PURE metal parts here will definitely appeal to folks into the Ukrainian sound (Nokturnal Mortum, Hate Forest, Drudkh), but it's pretty twisted, and weird mix, and least for the grim and troo, and at times, not even remotely metal, which might make this more appropriate for the aQ metalheads who tend to be up for the stranger stuff. Although to be fair, there's nothing truly fucked up and weird here, it's just the combination of black buzz and smooth jam that makes this so strange, and thus, so awesome!
As we've mentioned in a few other black metal reviews, at first glance, it's easy to be knocked out by these incredible scenes in places like Russia and the Ukraine, but upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious, that it's the same 5 or 6 guys in each scene making up all of those different bands. Sometimes it's even the exact same members, with just a new name and a different sound. Still pretty impressive for sure, just in a different way.
So here we have Ukrainian black metallers Khors, who among their ranks, include various members of other Ukrainian groups you most likely recognize, like Nokturnal Mortum, Astrofaes and Hate Forest.
And while Khors' sound invariably shares some similarities with the various members' other outfits, as well as fellow Ukrainian black metal horde Drudkh, the sound here is definitely unique, taking midtempo black buzz, and mixing it with some seriously melodic more straight forward rock, lots of space-y atmosphere, and super tripped out almost Pink Floyd-like keyboards. It's that melodic aspect, and the keyboards, that give Khors a definitely whatthefuck vibe.
The record begins with a two minute intro, all shimmery keyboards, and super tight, almost jazzy drumming, even when the guitars come in, the sound is weirdly poppy, with some almost bluesy leads, before slipping into the first track, a lurching black metal pound, with churning riffs, and howled vokills, wild guitar trills, but also sparkling sheets of tinkling keyboards, rife with folky melodies, the whole thing epic and majestic, especially when the band lock into the instrumental jam parts, guitar leads evoke some eighties movie montage, before slipping back into something more black or in the case of the next track something even more, um, cheesy? But not in a bad way. Skittery drums beneath soft synths, whispered vox, and some almost Chariots Of Fire sounding piano. Seconds later, the band is blasting through a frosty field of buzzing guitars wrapped around furious blast beats, and we're back in serious black metal territory, but hold up, Khors shift gears again, and slip into something a bit more Journey. Or Europe even. Super slick sounding studio hard rock from the eighties, which on its own might sound unappealing, but then drape some super distorted buzzy guitars and growled hellish vocals over the top and we're into something definitely bizarre and WAY unexpected.
The PURE metal parts here will definitely appeal to folks into the Ukrainian sound (Nokturnal Mortum, Hate Forest, Drudkh), but it's pretty twisted, and weird mix, and least for the grim and troo, and at times, not even remotely metal, which might make this more appropriate for the aQ metalheads who tend to be up for the stranger stuff. Although to be fair, there's nothing truly fucked up and weird here, it's just the combination of black buzz and smooth jam that makes this so strange, and thus, so awesome!