The last time I deployed the phrase ‘sub-Darkthronia’, the band in question were being decidedly ironic; Greece’s Aasgard…less so. In fact, not at all; they are deadly serious about enacting their mission statement of ‘war against nowadays BM’ by dragging us all back to the dark and dreary days of 1992, whether we’re willing to go or not. Second release ‘Nyx’ (a self-released full-length called ‘Behold’ precedes) is all fuzzy, linear guitars, drunken drumming and throat-shredding raven impressions that is simultaneously very special for its genuine love of the simplistic and true, and devastatingly tiring in its avoidance of any form of invention.
Raw Black Metal can be a potent combination of the visceral and the sublime, and in their rotten hearts all fans must get a little thrill out of repetitive, buzz-saw guitars which pay lip-service to song-structure via twisty little proto-developments and place all emphasis on tone and soul and absolutely none on technical ability. In so far as that’s true, ‘Nyx’ contains within it something instantly recognisable that we will all feel at home with; fraught, uni-layered atmosphere created from the simplest elements, that summons the words ‘grim’ and ‘evil’ effortlessly; especially on the track ‘Obliterated From All Passions’.
What I object to is the fact that Aasgard use the word ‘strange’ in describing what they do, when in fact it is massively orthodox. Were it to incorporate the strange, as many modern raw Black Metal bands do, it would be a damn sight more interesting. As it stands, we’re even told ‘Aasgard don’t spread out their ideology and philosophy, or make politics through music’. So, a dearth of thought as well as originality. If you yearn mindlessly for the raw old school Black Metal sound then by all means immerse yourself here; for myself, I can think of better ways to counter the ‘nowadays’ (i.e. the past fifteen years) than by pretending they didn’t happen.
