Yskelgroth

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Band(s): Yskelgroth
Label(s): Xtreem Music
Release Format(s): CD
Release Year: 2023
Review Date: April 10, 2023
Author(s): FelixS

Dave Rotten’s influence and contribution to the (extreme) metal scene is huge, especially in his homeland Spain, his importance is almost without equal. Especially with his label Xtreem Music (and its predecessors, Drowned Productions and Repulse Records), he has boosted a pretty impressing slew of bands, while keeping an eye on the “true” underground. About his own musical career, we will have to be a bit more modest; apart from the occasional Avulsed record (with the ‘Altar Of Disembowelment’ 10″ EP as possibly the most recent highlight), many of his bands are hardly able to really impress.

Black metal band Yskelgroth is one of those other musical by-products of Dave Rotten, on this project he teamed up with two other Spanish scene veterans and takes a musical direction that is normally not necessarily in his nature. The band was formed back in the mid-00’s but didn’t release its debut album, ‘Unholy Primitive Nihilism’, until 2010, but it took even longer, until April of 2023 for this successor, encased in beautiful artwork, to see the light of day. The debut album did not cause much controversy at the time of its release and it completely passed me by. It’s hard to say whether the album was a bit premature or whether too little attention was paid to it, but musically it didn’t come out very well either. How different is that with ‘Bleeding Of The Hideous’?

To put it short, this is by far the most musical diverse product Dave Rotten has ever laid his vocals to. The band’s brand of Black Metal is anything but regressive or conservative in nature. Seemingly effortlessly it blends in some Death Metal as well as progressive and symphonic elements, yet it stays true to a solid Black Metal foundation. One of the most remarkable things of the album is that its dynamics is found in both the wild drum changing rhythms, the contrarian and technical riffs as well as the aforementioned diverse vocal delivery of Dave Rotten. Usually Dave Rotten’s vocals are quite recognizable and, frankly, a bit on the dull side, but this time he blends in high pitched screams as well as his trademark deep grunts. Those vocals go hand in hand with the versatility of the music, not one of the songs follows the well-trodden paths, so there is plenty to discover each time. Even after several listens, the songs remain captivating, although it must also be said that it does not work equally well everywhere, however, the spontaneity the songs convey makes up for it for the most part. Especially the Heavy Metal vibe of the songs, mostly felt in the song structures and some of the guitar leads, give it a distinctly fresh sound.

Not everything comes off completely great and not all songs benefit from the band’s wild creativity, but ‘Bleeding Of The Hideous’ is certainly an interesting album worth listening to. It is therefore to be hoped that things will be further refined and streamlined a bit more on the next album, though that does not have to take another 13 years from me.

VM-UNDERGROUND

Extreme Metal Fanzine est. 2012

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Yskelgroth – Bleeding Of The Hideous

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