Begrav is a one-man Black Metal act from Gävle, Sweden and released something under his ‘own’ name of Äbaddohn already, but this ‘Black Art & Magick’ is the first offering under the moniker of ‘Begrav’, which translates to ‘Funeral’. So, you already get an impression without having heard a single note…
After an ambient intro of some three minutes, Äbaddohn takes off with its nice and primitive, simple Black Metal. Simple punk-like riffs, staccato rattling drums but with a very prominent bass. Everything is cast in a ditto swampy production that certainly benefits the atmosphere of this EP. Most remarkable is that these recordings do not contain any vocals, something I only noticed after the first full listen of this EP. This certainly is a compliment to Äbaddohn, who apparently writes music that is exciting enough to not let the absence of vocals to be experienced as a lack.
As the EP began, so it ends, with an ambient track serving as an outro. It may not be an EP that gets high on the lists of most promising acts, but it is nonetheless an all-around good first release from an act that I will definitely be keeping an eye on.
