Vlad Tepes / Belketre
March to the Black Holocaust
[Embassy]
The only thing I've ever heard about this split CD is the hype around whether or not Belketre killed themselves or not...and that's a truly sad thing since this is the BEST raw black metal I've ever heard. The entire disc (both bands) are beyond amazing, the excellent usage of negative production and pure, unadulterated hatred bring forth the TRUE spirit of black metal. A spirit that has sadly been raped over the last few years by silly bands and even sillier labels. The Black Legions (comprising of various French black metal bands) make their hatred for the black metal trend very evident in a four page essay found within the CD booklet. It does an excellent job of explaining how whore bands have ruined the scene, brought in cap-heads and other morons, over-produced themselves, and made black metal "everyone's music". Something that is 100% true by my standards. They've even limited the CD, and hand-numbered it...another good idea if you ask me. The music of course must be examined as well, although I worry about doing this...simply because through the positive review, I may gather the interest of a 15-year old cap-head who thinks it will be "cool" to put down his CoF discs for a moment and check out some "real" black metal. But I shall go on anyways...
The disc starts with Vlad's section of the split, eight songs of PURE hatred, and PURE black metal. The production here (via an 8-track) is quite horrible...but it fits the music perfectly. Speed, amazing (yet sloppy) melodies, and sick vocals fill each and every portion of their tracks. I'm completely blown away by this band, each of the three albums of theirs that I've heard have a different style...this one being a tad more brutal, and containing some fairly melodic sections. But again, this is not WHORE black metal, it's evil, vile, sick, and horribly played/produced. NOT for the CoF/Dimmu Borgir/Satyricon lover that may be reading this. Jumping into the Belketre section of the disc, most will have heard of the groups apparent suicide. Whether this is true or not, I don't find it a very positive thing, since it creates a semi-"hero" worship among some people, the exact opposite idealogies they try to convey. Belketre anyways are fucking AMAZING. Somewhat like a rawer, meaner, more evil sounding OLD Emperor of sorts...the vocals are very similar at least. The recording here was created by 4-track (!!!) making in even rawer than Vlad's portion of the disc, but just as good. It simply blows me away how both of these bands create some of the best black metal I've ever heard, while continuing with the TRUE spirit of black metal, rather than simply hopping on the bandwagon and creating more pathetic tunes that appeal only to 15 year old morons. Track down this disc if you love REAL black metal, if you like vile, evil, horrible sounding music. But avoid this at ALL costs if you are new to the scene, like silly groupie bands, or simply wish to join another trend.
© 1997 brand
The disc starts with Vlad's section of the split, eight songs of PURE hatred, and PURE black metal. The production here (via an 8-track) is quite horrible...but it fits the music perfectly. Speed, amazing (yet sloppy) melodies, and sick vocals fill each and every portion of their tracks. I'm completely blown away by this band, each of the three albums of theirs that I've heard have a different style...this one being a tad more brutal, and containing some fairly melodic sections. But again, this is not WHORE black metal, it's evil, vile, sick, and horribly played/produced. NOT for the CoF/Dimmu Borgir/Satyricon lover that may be reading this. Jumping into the Belketre section of the disc, most will have heard of the groups apparent suicide. Whether this is true or not, I don't find it a very positive thing, since it creates a semi-"hero" worship among some people, the exact opposite idealogies they try to convey. Belketre anyways are fucking AMAZING. Somewhat like a rawer, meaner, more evil sounding OLD Emperor of sorts...the vocals are very similar at least. The recording here was created by 4-track (!!!) making in even rawer than Vlad's portion of the disc, but just as good. It simply blows me away how both of these bands create some of the best black metal I've ever heard, while continuing with the TRUE spirit of black metal, rather than simply hopping on the bandwagon and creating more pathetic tunes that appeal only to 15 year old morons. Track down this disc if you love REAL black metal, if you like vile, evil, horrible sounding music. But avoid this at ALL costs if you are new to the scene, like silly groupie bands, or simply wish to join another trend.
© 1997 brand