Haradwaith - Creating Hell

German black metal has risen once more in the form of Haradwaith, who issues its debut Creating Hell to a fan base long in need of something good to spit at these wayward lost souls looking for free casino chips in the roulette wheel that has become black metal.

“Devilution” has one riff in it that blatantly rips off Thorns so much that I actually had to check and see if it was the right CD, but it’s okay for the most part; the plowing speed keeps my interest for a while. For the most part there is some really decent, if standard blackness going on here. I’m not so sure I can tell you to drop your Vinterland or Dissection CD’s in the nearest Good Will box, but it’s fine for providing entertaining music as a whole. I do like how a lot of bands nowadays are mixing slow-fast-slow elements to their music, realizing at long last there is no race to some imaginary finish line. “Laceration of Flesh” has just this type of design throughout, making it a very non-typical black metal move, but I’m sure given a few weeks this will be the all-consuming style to hail as “innovation on a string”. That said, Haradwaith has some serious chops to it, no question of that, and that saves the day for Creating Hell. I might one day get the entire tagline of “In a sea of pretenders…” tattooed on my forehead just to ward off any confusion as to where I always stand on the black metal issue, but Haradwaith does seem to impress me enough to tell you that they deserve to be heard.

Blast beats and tremolo-picking aside, Creating Hell pulls out some very troubling riffs and tones that illicit serious hate and anger. “Open the Earth” makes you, literally, want to do just that…but with a pick ax hurling over your shoulders at top speed while your cheating ex sits tied up nearby wondering if you’ll eventually turn your attention to him or her…the wait, you know? The punch of the vocal delivery is very typical raspy and shrieking, but it’s enjoyable and fills your room to a fine degree of satisfactory evil for even the most ardent dark soul like me.

What I also like about a band like Haradwaith is that the band pays attention to its style in that the hooks and riffs are carefully planned, not rushed noise that never stays on time or in tune and exists as that “necro” sound. I’ll bet Varg Vikernes rues the day he mentioned that phrase in print. The crafted riffs are nothing overly-brilliant, but they do supply the fan and listener with an overall sensation of cold rage that can easily go out of control with tracks like “Seed of Judas” or “Reconstruction of Chaos”. For a first effort it’s really pretty good; trust me, there’s a million bands out there attempting this style and I want all of them drowned in a small pond…one by miserable one. Give these Germans a college try and find yourself wanting to cause random fits of destruction to otherwise annoying people. It’s a fine debut of pure evil. 

Release Date: November 5, 2010
Label: Black Bards Entertainment

TRACK LISTING

1.  Devilution
2.  Laceration of Flesh
3.  Open The Earth
4.  Creating Hell
5.  Mephistophelian Philosophy
6.  Reconstruction Of Chaos
7.  Seed Of Judas
8.  Thoughts Of Exit
9.  Open The Earth
      (alternate version)
10.  Mephistophelian Philosophy
        (alternate version)
11.  Seed of Judas
        (alternate version)

Total playing time:  38:30

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*Comments:

Reviewer: Chris

December 19, 2010