English
Last Updated on 13:18 by Lilliana Tseka
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Norway
Label: Season of Mist
Year: 2015
Let’s be honest. If not for 2004’s magical “Desert Northern Hell”, Tsjuder would be considered a second-rank norwegian black metal group of no great interest, despite the delights of their demo era. “Desert Northern Hell” was an unexpected masterpiece, highly inspired with viciousness, during a period of decadence for traditional Norwegian black metal. Their 7-years-later next step, the pretty much uninspired “Legion Helvete”, was quite a disappointment for most of the fans who longed for a blaze of glory akin to that of 2004. 4 years onward, in 2015, the Norwegians release, without much ado, their fifth full-length, “Antiliv”, which seems to be a return to the era that made them widely known.
Leaving aside the furious yet quite monolithic first track (“Kaos”), the album starts rolling with the excellent “Krater”, a track permeated throughout with the inspiration of the past. Contrasting substantive groove in its beginning, with the abyssal, hyper-speed riffs of its middle part, it creates a convergence of cosmic and transcendental essences, the exact thing that was the reason of their past success. The guitars seem to shake last album’s lethargy off, meandering in serpentine paths, rooted in a refracted-through-a-rough-and-crispy-prism classic 90’s sound.
Throughout the album, “Desert Northern Hell” references are quite apparent. Tsjuder choose a safe path as far as composition is concerned, resulting in many a deja-vu for the listener. The similarities are not restricted only to the structure, but also in the nature of the riffs themselves, several of which oscillate dangerously between releases. However, the overall result is quite nostalgic, in a way that does not easily allow accusations of sterile rumination. The main point here is demonic, torrential, and ultra-satisfying black metal, a goal easily achieved, taking also into consideration the flawless production. I confess that I am not a big fan of black metal groove; Tsjuder are one of the few bands that implement it wisely, not using it just to patch compositional holes in their material.
“Antiliv” is more or less the younger sibling of “Desert Northern Hell”, erasing once and for all 2011’s slip. It offers loads of well-written, easily digestible, and “popular” black metal. Armed with 3 spectacular tracks (“Krater”, “Antiliv”, “Ved Ferdens Ende” (a nod to 1995’s namesake demo)), and an almost total absence of fillers (“Kaos” being the only possible candidate), Tsjuder deliver an album that truly honors Norwegian black metal.
4.5/6
