Rating: 7.0

Country: Slovenia

Release Date: 2007

Record Label: Decadance Through Ruination

Track list:
1. Trumpets of Malevolence
2. Banished into the Void
3. Murmurs of Diseased Tongues
4. Glorification in Loss and Misery
5. Lux Nova
6. Howls from the Devil
7. Crowning of the Morbid King
8. The Abhor Bless

Total playing time 42:45

Band Website: Somrak

Somrak - The Abhorred Blessings

J.D. - Vocals
A.D. - Guitar
J.P. - Bass
M.C. - Drums

The word "ritual" is hyperbolically thrown around in black metal quite often. Every other booklet seems to contain a message like "this Satanic ritual was recorded in necrogoat black semen studio." It's not really the most flattering word if you think about it, but at least it's easy to live up to, in the sense of studiously tailgating an established procedure step by step. Think back to a time you were fascinated by the quintessential yet now somewhat vanilla sounds of albums like Under a Funeral Moon, Shining Black Leather, Morbid Tales, etc., (if applicable), multiply that version of yourself by four, and the result would probably be something similar to Somrak. And considering how the booklet implores you to cut yourself and worship Satan, it's not too dubious of a prospect that Antaeus also ranks among these guys' idols. So yeah, The Abhorred Blessings is quite a ritual. However, nothing is entirely unique; thinkers influence thinkers, musicians influence musicians, artists influence artists, etc. Humans are inherently cooperative, so the fact that reinventing the wheel over and over is not necessary is inherent in our genetic code. All that really matters is whether or not you're true to yourself; something Somrak prove with solid riff-crafting and tasteful dynamics.

The general theme here is a morass of loosely-wielded second wave black metal mechanics occasionally venturing into the territory of anthematic proto-thrash workouts. Somrak's agenda seems to be to bridge the dark rock mentality of Celtic Frost and Bulldozer with the ancient coldness of, well, insert any 90's Norwegian black metal band here. If there was a school called "The Academy of Oldschool... Except Not Exactly," these guys would rank as honor roll students along with Winter of Apokalypse, Cult of Daath, and Darkthrone circa-Sardonic Wrath. Any potential Transilvanian Hunger-esque narrative growth we've come to expect from this kind of black metal is constricted by tight and rapid phrasing, anchored by swinging grooves that instead emulate the sadistic grandeur of, say, Carpathian Forest.

Flaws, flaws... Lack of bass presence hurts. It's audible, but does little more than conform to whatever scales the guitar happens to be navigating. And one of the most distracting stumbles here is that The Abhorred Blessings suffers from what I call Reign in Blood's reverse sandwich effect, in that the meat's on the outside, and the bread's in the middle. "Glorification in Loss and Misery" is an attempt at dirgey Burzumic sorrow that's too linear to make any emotional impact, while "Howls From The Devil" falls into the pop black metal pitfall of abusing one superficially pleasing tremolo riff but never going anywhere meaningful with it. However, the first three songs and the final two compensate for the unremarkable mid-section with anarchistic intensity.

The Abhorred Blessings is a grower. It's easy to dismiss it as rather derivative norskblakkmetal-worship upon the first few spins, which it is, but the more attention you invest in it, the more you begin to realize it's not the grand concept, but the motivation and carefully carved detail -- from M.C.'s clicky splatters of sonic gore and stylish fills to J.D.'s entranced Attila Csihar-esque vocalizations of a zombie singing opera -- that reanimates the corpse of the music Somrak are playing playing and allows it to feast on the flesh of infants. So I guess Slovenia isn't the place to look for the most cutting edge, innovative black metal, but those who thrive in the shockwaves of the early 90's should appreciate Somrak for their purity of vision and, well, ritualism.

December 21th, 2007