By Jonny Bakes
I seem to be picking up a lot of black metal recently, which is the perfect accompaniment to long dark winter nights that are becoming increasingly bitter. But the latest mini-album release from Californians Byyrth is something that has particularly caught my attention for a number of reasons. Firstly, the sunny liberal West Coast state is not exactly the first place I would suggest as a hive of black metal activity, but rather conjures up images of surfer/skater punk. And secondly, Byyrth are claimed to be the new frightening face of vampiric black metal. Now I’m not entirely sure I even knew there was such a sub-genre as vampiric black metal, and I certainly couldn’t tell you what sets it apart from the rest of the black metal scene, so I guess there’s only one way to find out…
‘Cold Autumn Shadows’ is a four-track mini-album whose release coincides with the annual Never Surrender Festival curated by record label Iron Bonehead in conjunction with Nuclear War Now! Productions held in Oakland, California. Arriving on the back of Byyrth’s critically acclaimed second album, this little teaser of an album arguably has some big boots to try and fill or at least to continue to satisfy the appetite for Byyrth.
First impressions are quite surprising, it’s almost as if the band went off to record a generic Californian punk song, but at the last minute decided that they would downtune and distort the guitars and then stick some brutal black metal vocals over the top. Is this punky influence what constitutes vampiric? I’m certainly not aware of vampires ever being noted as massive punk fans, but there we go. This punk influence remains in the subsequent tracks, although it’s the most prominent in the opening track ‘Infernal Abomination’ where it really makes an impact.
Strangely though, this combination really seems to work and has certainly lead to a pretty unique black metal experience. The overall feeling is dark with tinges of melancholy contrasting against the punky stampeding riffs. Each of the four tracks is an in your face assault that captures that grim and frostbitten energy that forms the backbone of black metal.
This is something I would recommend if you want to broaden your black metal horizons out even if you’re just curious to hear how two very different genres can be blended together to create something unique!
‘Cold Autumn Shadows’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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