Review by Metaloath
Black September’s second album, Into The Darkness Into The Void, (Prosthetic Records) contains 9 tracks of churning metal harnessed in the black and vile regions of metal. The band spawned from the Chicago crust scene around 2006 and has put out some EPs and toured frequently since then. Their touring CV includes supporting acts for well-known acts such as Skeletonwitch, Tragedy and Enslaved. That should stir the interest of any metalhead.
Now they are releasing the album Into The Darkness Into The Void through Prosthetic Records. The album is an important album in the sense that is a follow up to the first substantial release (The Forbidden Gates, 2010, through Shaman Records), and thus becomes the first effort after the debut and their first album on Prosthetic Records. This is by definition the leap from the surface of the underground to the outposts of established metal culture.
The human resources in Black September revolve around Chris and Jen McMorrow. The rest of the band members are mysteriously hidden in two-letter codes. The album was recorded by Andy Nelson at Bricktop Recording.
The nine tracks on the album are all well recognizable within the formats of blackened thrash metal: galloping drums, swarming riffs chasing in scales, catchy hooks, and timed breaks aligned with the headbanging likely to occur when listening. The opening track offers the usual feedback/sludged noise, and it kicks off with punctuated, mid-tempo power riffs and melodic fills. The sound is definitely rawer than more traditional heavy metal bands, but still not as filthy and fucked-up as, for example, Lord Mantis. The guitars here have the crispy chain-saw buzz when they howl through the fill-ins and between-break melody lines. The first song, “Solitude,” presents a full frontal assault with an unmistakable black metal kinda vibe.
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Black September show that they really understand the logistics in presenting vicious hooks and solid headbanger anthems. And this is the magic of metal: it’s not just to play fast as fuck and scream that Satan is getting angry – it’s also about understanding the structuring and presentation of the different parts of a song. It’s like any other musical genre, in that sense. Black September really thrives on building melodic parts into metal songs that makes that head bang. Make no mistake, there are some seriously evil musical content on this album.
After the feedback and neckpain from the opening tracks have settled, the album pours more from the same bowl – meaning that the songs are very centred on delivering break-downs and shifting between mid-tempo power-riffing, fast thrash metal, and blackened metal blasting. The segments with melodic double guitar riffing are great. This is the challenge of this album: it is hard to make memorable songs when presenting a full album within this genre.
The vocals by Jen McMarrow are mixed somewhat low so that the voice struggles to make its impact alongside the rest of the band. The lead guitar spelling the melodic fill-ins are at least as loud and prevalent, but I’m unsure to what extent this is a drawback. It is a kind of metal that presents a lot of sounds, but it seems it places great weight on grinding all opposition by an even flow of riffs, growls, and rhythmic evilness. This makes production and balancing of the band crucial, and I think they have found a reasonable middleway here, depending on whether or not you’re into neat productions or the raw crust-like energy here.
It always helps to point to other bands to describe music. This album made me think about bands as God Dethroned, Skeletonwitch, and probably some crust-maniacs into fast D-beats and punk-flavoured anthems. And definitely some old-school black metal here and there.
I’m not going into the debate concerning the name of the band, I’ll just settle with saying that on a general basis, strong political connotations may create noise (not constructive PR) that inhibits people from actually listening to the music. With sticking with Black September as the name, I’m guessing both band and record company have thought this through and found it viable – whatever meanings are intended. From the song titles, it doesn’t seem that political, but I dunno. For my part, no special interpretations are made in any direction.
Chicago is quickly becoming the Mordor of sludged/blackend (insert your preferred type of subgenre here) metal. Bands like Nachtmysticum, Lord Mantis, Pelican, Avichi etc. etc. have, with relentless conviction, laid down foundations of vicious and filthy metal. So, I would argue than any band coming out of this area really has to prove the uniqueness of their own voice in comparison to what is becoming a ever more popular sound signature in metal music, namely the slugded/blackened metal.
If you’re into metal, I recommend that you check this album and band out. They are a skilled set of dedicated people with live experience and metal skills that are present in every song. Depending on your preferred musical taste, this might prove to be a kick-ass album with raw and addictive songs. The production struggles, though, to deliver the full range of the band to the listener. I think the tracks “Solitude,” “Invocation” and “Defiance” presents the album from its best side, and should provide you a clear indication whether or not you prefer the energy or miss the fine-tuned production.
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