Draugar - Weathering The Curse
Moribund Cult
Black Metal
8 songs (60:23)
Release year: 2004
Moribund Cult
Reviewed by Misha

However I do not count the US to the countries that have a very strong black metal scene, some bands are very interesting. Nachtmystium proved its worthiness on Demise, Velvet Cacoon proved capable of engorging a very original and interesting kin of black art, and a lot seem to have interest in bands like Xasthur, Leviathan, Krieg and other big names. Draugar can best be named together with Nachtmystium, both heirs of the feeling that Burzum stands/stood for, although Draugar emphasizes raw, bestial hate and profound melancholy or agony rather than nature. The sword cuts on two sides; at times we have a very sinister and dark environment, held up high by the use of synths and empowered by the utter rawness of the sound, and then all of a sudden, an clean guitar pops up with a melody as heartrending as dying itself. This all seems to have no real structure aside from the loose expression of the misanthropic writer. Still, this latest release seems to embody most structure and catchiness of the two full lengths I heard.

Most of the songs on this latest disk consist out of very rhythmic and basic monotonous drumming, with a strong midtempo beat. On top of that, we find extremely distorted guitars that are backed up by thin synths, or the melancholic passages of a clean guitar. The whole mix is violated by vocals in the form of hateful cellphone litanies that reminded me of earlier Mystic Forest, yet usually a little slower and less pitched. The whole is quite original, and for some reason hypnotizing. I cannot recall one band that uses sinister black metal and very strong melancholic parts that obviously found influence outside the genre so well together. The music is pretty straight forward, and this results in exactly one hour of non stop black metal. The melodies and drums are quite monotone and repeating, which stands in interesting contradiction with the chaotic nature of the song structures.

All together, this really is a very good release that combines two elements of black metal that are rarely seen together on this level. It’s simply better than the preceding album, without sounding too different. A very special release with surprising acoustic passages at its summum, definitely highly recommended!

Killing Songs :
I Come As A Curse and Through The Dark Until You Die.
Misha quoted 70 / 100
Daniel quoted 82 / 100
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