Harkonin – “Ghanima”
This is upfront thrashing/black metal raging in speed, tongue-lashing vocals. These 16 songs are no nonsense, just lots of expected lyrics about the night, darkness, hell, etc. The riffing is tight and even the band has a black metal sound, the guitars have a lot of old school thrashing going on. The vocals are of the Quorthon/Mille Petrozza variety. This band is fast and tight and all that, but it’s not about speed per se. The songs have more than speed going. The changes in rhythms in the songs make for an enjoyable listen. Also, this is a band and sounds like one, not some one-man project. It is surprising how much variety they pack in some songs, including some technicality. People who can’t enough of that old-style thrash riffing should be interested. The recording sound quality is similar to that of a solid demo, which makes the music sound not as full as it should be. Overall, it’s pretty good, but not awesome metal.