Blackend - The Black Metal Compilation Vol.1 (1995)

This 2-cd black metal compilation is a real work of art. A total of 22 tracks provide an excellent overview of what is generally referred to as the 'second wave' of black metal, very often from Skandinavia. This is the album that got me seriously interested in the genre, as I felt it definitely had something unique to offer. Radical though it may be ideologically and musically, it distinguishes itself from other extreme metal styles (such as thrash, death, gore) by fusing folk and classical influences into their music. Essentially black metal a Neo-Romantic art form, as it always tries to capture the sublime.

Blah blah anyway most tracks on this album are extremely heavy, fast-paced and intense, but here and there you get a slower, often very strange one. There's not a single bad track on this compilation. The only thing you always have to keep in mind if you really want to appreciate this music is how important your equaliser can be. I recommend decreasing the bass a little and increasing the mid-high frequencies. (I know this may seem odd to some, but try it out, it gets better the higher you put it!) If you're into heavy metal, you may come to love this compilation. I'm personally very much taken in by Fleurity, Sigh and Ved Buens Ende because they go to show just how inclusive and developed this genre of music can be.

Disc 1 (56')

1. Emperor - I Am the Black Wizard
2. Impaled Nazarene - Hate
3. Mayhem - Pagan Fears
4. Satyricon - Walk the Path of Sorrow
5. Throne of Ahaz - Nifelheim
6. Marduk - Those of the Unlight
7. Enslaved - Wotan
8. Dark Funeral - My Dark Desires
9. Samael - The Dark
10. Fleurety - Absence

Disc 2 (72')
1. Gorgoroth - Crushing the Scepter
2. Enslaved - Slaget I Skogen Brotenfor
3. Immortal - Pure Holocaust
4. Lord Belial - The Hymn of the Misanthropic Spirit of the Forest
5. Emperor - Cosmic Keys to my Creations and Times
6. Ved Buens Ende - The Carrier of Wounds
7. Dark Funeral - In the Sign of the Horn
8. Sigh - Ready for the Final War
9. Bestial Warlust - Satanic
10. Moonspell - Tenebrarum Oratorium
11. Unanimated - Silence Ends
12. Havohej - Spilling Holy Blood

Blackend_Vol_1_192_Part_1.rar
Blackend_Vol_1_192_Part_2.rar

posted by Paxjorge @ Friday, March 10, 2006