NAER MATARON
Discipline Manifesto
(Black Lotus Records)
59:13min

Hellenic Black Metal is usually referred to as rather slow and epic like bands as Varathron, Zemial or early Rotting Christ have established it. But although they’re heading from Greece, NAER MATARON seem to be much more influenced by the northern way of Black Metal. They even went to Norway to have “Discipline Manifesto” mastered at the Strype Audio Studios. And once you went the whole long way to Oslo, why not get some wrecked Black Metal – legends like Vicotnik or Apollyon off the street and into the studio to achieve some extra selling points… ehhm, creative input? And as if that wasn’t enough namedropping, even the infamous Nordvargr of Swedish Black Industrial ultra-posers MZ 412 donated some noise samples and got rewarded with a membership in the band. Unfortunately all of that doesn’t save “Discipline Manifesto” from falling into mediocrity. The fast paced straight-forward Black Metal may make for some decent fist-banging-mania in a live situation but tends to get pretty boring after a short time. It’s just been heard too often in the past and simply lacks the possession and intensity it takes to make this kind of music exciting. “Discipline Manifesto” is by no means weaker than the stuff that bands like Gorgoroth or Gehenna released lately but just like their idols nowadays, NAER MATARON aren’t able to catch the majestic feeling the term “True Norwegian Black Metal” once stood for. They’ve their strongest moments when they decide to slow things down, like the cool opening of ‘The Day Is Breaking’ or the middle-section of ‘Land Of Dreams’. But most of the time the music just rushes by with faceless, unoriginal riffing and a monotonous voice. Maybe they should just leave the decaying Norwegian scene for dead and create something more focused on their own roots. www.naermataron.com

Torsten GrĂ¼ndig

Torsten GrĂ¼ndig

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