TAINT
Secrets and Lies
(Candlelight)

RIP KC
Spinguolf
(Alone / Influx)

CLERIC
Cumberbund
(Sound Devastation)

ZODIAK
Sermons
(Translation Loss)

ACHENAR
All Will Change
(Earthen)

HELRUNAR
Baldr Ok Iss 

(Lupus Lounge)

YOG
Years of Nowhere

(Get a Life!)

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I don’t even know what to expect of black metal bands anymore. Or let me say that in another way. I totally know what to expect of black metal bands. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad. And quite frankly; sometimes that’s exciting and others, it is a terribly boring ass time. Germany’s Helrunar aren’t out there to reinvent the wheel, or shall I say repaint the pentagram? But they are good. Donut good. I can’t Believe It’s Not Butter good. Spam good. Helrunar deliver good stuff in all fronts. All safely and within the confines of today’s bedroom black metal standards their latest (third) production could be tagged as elitist because of it’s aonic ambition.  And even when they tread on waters that I wish would remain uncharted they somehow manage to convince me of their convictions of black metal. 

Yeah. Bladr Ok Iss has something for almost all lovers of all kinds of black metal. Except those that just wish the sub genre could stay lo fi, zero aural quality and marred by no skill zeroes. And for a record that was recorded in a meager five days it sounds fucking giant. The production of Markus Stock is pure and crisp. Stock (who did time with an obscure doom gothic band cheesily called Blazing Eternity) has not taken away any of the punch, he’s just squeezed out all the rawness and has worked in delivering professionalism. This by no means diminishes the effect of Helrunar, whose gothic and orchestral music deserves such grand treatment.

There are three clearly defined elements to the music of Helrunar, one is the full-on no frills black metal one, where the band goes for a head on collision via sheer speed, buzzsaw riffs and necro vocals. Then, there are those deep gothic vocals in the front and at times in the back (“Hunta and Boga”), which give this band a very sophisticated flair. At times, this trio displays such skills, I just wish they could venture into less black metal territories. The spectrum of a riff that opens “Til Jaroar” is an example; truly affecting stuff that could fit a shoegaze song. And then of course, we have our clean guitar passages, moments that segue from and into the two aspects mentioned above. Bladr Ok Iss is very good work. Provided I spend more time with it, especially with the second half of the record, I’d give it another half sparrow.

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