The Konsortium is a relatively new Norwegian band that plays…….black metal.  Crazy right?  I know.  Anyway, The Konsortium is employing the whole “We aren’t going to say who’s in the band, but believe us, it would BLOW YOUR MINDS if you knew!!!” angle here, with sole named member being journeyman guitarist Teloch who’s played with Nidingr, OV Hell, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, 1349, Prince, The Beach Boys, and just about every black metal band there ever was.  Ok, maybe not Prince, but dude’s been in a ton of bands.  The recently released debut eponymous album on Agonia Records, while a serviceable and unoffending modern Norse black metal outing, doesn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations created by the press surrounding its release.

Now The Konsortium is by no means the first band to be unable to live up to the inflated expectations generated by their PR factions, nor will they be the last, so perhaps it’s a tad unfair to hold the band themselves responsible for the results of an overzealous press kit.  That said, it only comes into play in this review due to some seemingly flat-out incorrect characterizations of the music.  Much is made in the press release of the music having thrash influences, but for the life of me I can’t find them.  We’re also led to believe that The Konsortium is a very avant-garde affair, and while there are some interesting, unconventional slightly “out there” vocal stylings present, the music as a whole is very standard, familiar sounding Norwegian black metal.  To anyone who’s been listening to the genre for any significant amount of time, the album becomes an amusing game of “Name that Norwegian band”, as at times it sounds like a Dimmu Borgir devoid of pomp and pretense, at others it sounds very much like late era Satyricon.  Shades of Mayhem and Old Man’s Child are present, and when the tempo is slowed significantly, it could be a new Khold song.  Are these all clues into the true membership of the Konsortium, or is the bloated press release designed to mask the mire of mediocrity?  Not a terrible album, but not one to turn any heads.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Gasmask Prince
2.  Lik Ulven
3.  Under the Black Flag
4.  Decomposers
5.  Knokkeklang
6.  Slagens Barn
7.  Onwards! Onwards!
8.  Tesla

Total playing time:  36:46

Release Date: June 23, 2011
Label: Agonia Records

The Konsortium - The Konsortium

Reviewer: J. A. Burt

July 29, 2011