Send "Blut Aus Nord " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 One of the year's biggest threads in heavy music has centered on the loose enclave of American metal bands reshaping black metal and, in turn, introducing it to fresh faces. From Liturgy and Locrian to Horseback and Atlas Moth, they've each manipulated the decades-old, forever-infamous strain in their own identifiable ways. Whatever your views on Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's verbosity or Krallice's kinetic cascades, it's inarguable that they've all passed the sounds of corpsepaint and battle axes to bigger, more generalized crowds not overly concerned with someone's respective KVLT credentials. One reason for this, of course, is that these bands generally look and talk mostly like your average rock dudes; they give interviews, tour, and generally wear band T-shirts and tattered jeans. They're not the first North Americans to mutate black metal, neither by a long shot nor by a decade, but they are distinctly identifiable people manipulating a sound that, compared to the indie mainstream, feels exotic and perhaps a tad dangerous.For the last 15 years, Blut Aus Nord-- the one-man band French musician Vindsval-- has twisted the idea and essence of black metal into new shapes. He's added the crushing reverberations of prime Godflesh and the militant pacing of Ministry, saturating some of his best moments with relentless drones and splintering noise. Several Blut Aus Nord albums are not only incontrovertible classics but also compelling evidence of the obvious-- that all this talk of metal's experimental interests is accurate, if just very overdue. Vindsval hasn't done himself any favors, either: He doesn't tour, doesn't issue album lyrics, and doesn't say much in public. In press photos, he is often hooded and shrouded in darkness. The same hermetic mystique that's helped push artists like Jandek, Burial, and MF DOOM into an ironic spotlight has mostly kept Blut Aus Nord in, well, the shadows. But audiences historically love a trilogy, a supposition that, combined with black metal's recent widespread notice, might deservedly help lift Blut Aus Nord out of relative obscurity. After all, the first two installations of the band's three-part 777 are two of this year's best-built records. 777 Sect(s), released in April, is an obliterative march through rigorous black metal, apocalyptic post-rock, and speaker-rattling industrial tangents. "Epitome 4" encapsulated that approach with vocals that sounded as if Vindsval were being strangled by the battery of drums and guitars marching around him with Teutonic precision. Through its 12 minutes, the song took unpredictable turns-- dissonant counter-melodies here, a choir of ghouls there, even almost-pretty tones suggesting some relief in the distance. Unapologetically heavy, Sect(s) was the trilogy's breathless start....full text |
| Angrymetalguy |
| Oh I love French black metal. They do it differently there. You won’t get the same kind of innovation or mystery from any other country in the world these days. Forget all the nonsense that comes with the Norwegian scene. This is purely about the music, the essence of black metal… what it should be. Of course just like any other scene in the world, not everyone is doing the same thing. Here we have the likes of Antaeus, Aosoth or Haemoth providing the raw and ferocious side, while bands like Epheles and Anorexia Nervosa deliver grandiose soundscapes of symphonic majesty. Then of course there’s the avant-garde, enigmatic workings of bands like Deathspell Omega, Glorior Belli and Blut Aus Nord. Since 1995 these very unique and discreet individuals have released albums to test the boundaries of what can be classed as black metal. From their earlier outputs Ultima Thulee and the masterful Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Age to the post-black metal The Work Which Transforms God and bizarre Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars. Every single release has taken a fresh and thought-provoking leap towards evolution. Incorporating ambient and industrial elements into a very dark, all-encompassing sound. You never quite know what to expect from a Blut Aus Nord release....full text |
| Metalreview |
| It's no secret that Blut Aus Nord has been on an absolute creative tear over the the past few years. After Odinist's baby steps, Memoria Vetusta II marked a glorious emergence from the filth-caked depths of MoRT. That album saw Vindsval re-embrace Blut Aus Nord's inverse identity, unleashing a hyper-melodic fury that many thought had been lost forever. A scant two years later, Blut Aus Nord dropped news of a planned trilogy, prefixed 777. Now, trilogies (or even sequels) in heavy metal are typically just window dressing. No disrespect to Absu, but the only tangible thematic connection between the first two entries in their ongoing "self-titled trilogy" is the cover art. Exodus' Atrocity Exhibitions sound like typical modern Exodus albums, with only their titles tying them together as unified works. Instead of self-contained satellites, they're merely continuations of the norm. While it's certainly tough for an artist to keep a true sense of continuity from work to work, it's even tougher to live up to the expectations of a three-album announcement. The final sputters of The Devin Townsend Project proved that advance promises can lead to letdowns, especially when an anxious fanbase is left in a prolonged limbo. Decay can occur in transit, making a telegraphed announcement something of a risk. Blut Aus Nord takes risks. They pay off. The Desanctification comes hot on the heels of the acclaimed Sect(s), which was released eariler this year. This rapid succession of releases not only quells any unrest on the part of devotees, but it keeps the narrative fresh. That narrative is what makes 777 such a startling anomaly; upon listening to The Desanctification, it's quickly apparent that this is a true trilogy in every sense--it picks up exactly where Sect(s) left off and acts as a vessel to transport to the story to its conclusion. Not lyrically, though; nothing Blut Aus Nord does is that direct. Much like the first installment, the vocals are minimal, but the stylistic transition is seamless. For a band that that is famously amorphous, The Desantification is oddly cumulative. Sect(s) brought the wrath of The Work Which Transforms God into a robust arena fortified with their strongest, most massive production to date. The Desanctification still hangs here, while toning down the "traditional" blinding blasts and backwards riffing in favor of more expansive exploration. Where Sect(s) shattered concrete with crushing grooves ("Epitome IV" and "Epitome VI"), The Desanctification hurls those grooves into the ether, ramping up that colossal Godflesh swing and splaying it skyward with Memoria Vetusta's soulful cries. The mounful leads that punctuate the roiling "Epitome VIII" and cool-to-the-touch "Epitome X" serve as a phenomenal counterpoint to the band's trademark dissonance....full text |
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