By Jonny Bakes
I’ll be the first to admit that Texas is probably one of the last places I would expect to have a budding black metal scene, but then I’ve reviewed black metal from SoCal before so I really shouldn’t be that surprised! Black metal is a genre that is as much about the image or aura of a band as it is the music itself, and it seems like there’s ever increasingly unique ways for bands to express this.
Black Vice are a band who have really pushed the boat out with their looming bird-skulled-masked frontman, Vultuur. If this image doesn’t immediately grab your attention or worse, puts you off, then Black Vice is unlikely to be your thing. However, If you read those words and thought “a bird skull? That’s brutal as fuck, I’m all over this shit”, then you and I are on the same page. So let’s talk about the music…
‘The Alchemist’s Vision’ is the band’s sophomore full-length release that follows up 2016’s ‘Rituals of the Anti-Cosmic Doctrine’ which laid down some seriously raw, nasty riffs with a pretty sinister atmosphere. A split album with Haunter introduced some more melodic elements to their sound, which is something that has been developed even further in this latest album. The album still has that raw and sinister feel to it, but the melodic elements take it that bit further. For me, I prefer my black metal on the more melodic side, so this is the right direction to please me, and please me it does.
The album itself comes across very minimalistic, with simple one-word titles for each of the tracks. The music itself is pretty simple too, the raw melodic riffs of Theia Mania are accompanied by blistering blast beats from drummer Ravenblod. This all supports Vultuur’s vocals which are raw and powerful in a way that is almost mesmerising. The mixing and producing is also pretty simple, resulting in a sound that captures all that sinister energy in the riffs without sounding over-produced and losing the raw edge.
If you’re looking for that classic black metal sound of blast beats and distorted riffs, then ‘Vision’ is a good place to start with this album, as the melodic elements are slightly less prominent here, so you get that. But if, like me, you like a slightly more melodic feel, then tracks like ‘Emergence’ and ‘Salvation’ should grab your attention. And for something off the wall and atmospheric, there’s the synth-heavy instrumental piece ‘Creation’ which was an usua, yet somehow fitting inclusion.
This sophomore release certainly has the potential to propel Black Vice beyond being popular in the Texan metal scene and gather them at least national attention in the US. Potentially this could even be the album that breaks them into the European market, although they will have to fight a lot of strong competition to get attention over here. That’s a fight I reckon they stand a good chance of winning on the back of this album though, after all it’s a well-crafted piece of sinister black metal, which is exactly what I’m down for, and I’m sure plenty of others will be too!
- ‘The Alchemist’s Vision’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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