I had good references from SPELLCRAFT, a band from Aragon that features one ex-member of OUIJA, as I had read positive reviews of them, so my expectations were partly positive, even if one negative one could be that I’m not a big fan of OUIJA and the most typical Swedish Black Metal. But the best is to forget all those expectations and to listen to the music, before anything else. So I took the album heading to see what these five Black Metal warriors could offer to us. I must say I found something quite different than what I expected. I had made an image in my mind that their sound would be more influenced by the Swedish scene, and I see less, and slighter, influences of that kind, more because of the dark melody, worthy of DISSECTION or SACRAMENTUM (fifth and sixth tracks and the only ones purely on that path, and the ones I liked the less of the CD), as well as some WATAIN remnants. But from that on their sound it’s not that easy to define their sound basing it on precise similarities, which is good. To start with it, it is raw and sharp, even if the production is not dirty, but at the same time it has quite a proper sound. It combines the rawness and melody with a not negligible power. Even if they have a nordic Black Metal base (I think as much from Norway as Sweden), there’s an eighties base in their sound too, where some specters of Thrash and even Heavy Metal appear, not for the resources they use but for the ideas and ways of writing the songs; they know how to find the rage with simplicity. On another side we have the atmosphere of this album, something basic for this style, and which is for me what keeps them away the most of the nordic sound. Some examples come to my mind, but basically I would say they achieve to transmit a really necro and mortuary atmosphere, perfectly evocating the deepest wells of hell. The fourth song is the one that gave me those kind of feelings the most, and which reminds me of CELESTIA, even if this is just an example as lots I could use. I could add to that the length of the tracks, which helps a lot, as it gives enough space to create a good ambience without leaving the variety. But there’s one detail to raise as it has a big weight on their sound. They are not limited to one typical voice, nor only the lower choirs, as it goes from one clear and low voice to others like whispers, which give a phantasmagorical touch. Again Spanish Black Metal surprises me, even if I thought this year it wouldn’t happen. They can create stronger tracks and polish some details, but this is already a good first album. www.myspace.com/spellcrafthell

The gloomy intro would suggest that a whopper of an album is moments away from taking off. Not so. Not only is this bland Black Metal, it’s Black Metal with even blander corpse-paint. Once upon a time, corpse-paint almost guaranteed at least an interesting record. The only bands who can get away with the dated make-up are few and far between. This album has all the trappings of banality: a paper thin production, melodies performed on the tremolo, and one beat drumming. It makes little sense for a band of any kind of ambition to go for this approach. They look decent enough, but as the last decade has taught us, books can indeed be judged by their covers. www.myspace.com/spellcrafthell, www.grotesquemusic.com