Blut Aus Nord
Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars

March 2009
Released: 2009, Candlelight Records
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: Hanntu

Where have you been all my life, Blut Aus Nord?



MEMORIA VETUSTA II is my introduction to the greatness that is Blut Aus Nord, this wonderful black metal band from France, and I am now totally inspired to check out their back catalogue.



I get the same feeling from this album that I got from listening to Primordial or Moonsorrow. They create the same kind of atmosphere – those dark, doomy yet soaring melodies that create a wall of sound that tells of emptiness and nothingness, while remaining as aesthetically rich as you could ever want your metal music to be. It is this paradox that I love.



The landscape of sound is so varied and yet so subtle that this is truly the record to which you light a candle, turn off the lights, and blast it at top volume in the murky dark. The keyboards are cunningly used to round out the sound without ever ever dominating the sound. The driving force is the drumming and the riffing, and so rare in black metal is the minimal and yet creative use of dissonant chording. This is by far the most melodic black metal I’ve ever heard, and so beautifully epic.



Even the vocals are hidden behind this swirling wall of sound, which is a pity since I reckon they would add a real bleakness to the emotionless drumming (a good thing!) and the black guitars. The minimalistic vocals remain somewhere slightly out of reach, ethereally moaning and screeching on another plane of existence, while the songs wind their long lonely way through haunted forests and cold deserted valleys, never quite providing a satisfactory resolution to the unholy melancholia that they have created.



I will definitely check out more of this band, starting with their highly rated first album, ULTIMA THULEE. I got into Moonsorrow via their TULIMYRSKY EP and Primordial via TO THE NAMELESS DEAD. MEMORIA II will be my stepping stone to Blut Aus Nord, and god damn if I’m not looking forward to it.

Blut Aus Nord
Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars

April 2009
Released: 2009, Candlelight Records
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Mr. Rock

With their latest release, the somewhat awkwardly titled MEMORIA VETUSTA II: DIALOGUE WITH THE STARS, experimental French black metallers Blut Aus Nord have once again created an album that is very atmospheric, and very non-accessible. This disc is very underground black metal, and for the uninitiated, it may be a little hard to grasp. With the vocals buried way, way down in the mix, the disc plays more as an instrumental, and that fact alone might turn off some.



As always, the band is tight, and when it comes to this form of black metal, they play very well. But with this form of black metal (very old school in many ways), actual songs seem a little less in the forefront, with atmosphere taking the lead. The songs seem to meld into one, and does seem, at times, to go on very long.



The performances and the production are raw and cold in sound. It’s almost as though you feel the air around drop in temperature when the music is on. Highly atmospheric and orchestrated, each song is very well structured with a very determined feel to it. There is no doubt that Blut Aus Nord is trying to make the listener feel, as much as hear…and you will feel.



If you like Blut Aus Nord, and especially if you like very underground black metal, then you will no doubt love MEMORIA VETUSTA II: DIALOGUE WITH THE STARS. The album fits into the band catalogue with ease. However, if you are unfamiliar with the band and this genre, then you might not be swayed. The band, and this album, are definitely an acquired taste.