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BIZARREKULT “Alt Som Finnes”
BIZARREKULT “Alt Som Finnes”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The mixture of black metal and post metal is not particularly new, but it’s difficult to pull off well. DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT, label-mates of BIZARREKULT, can make it work but they tend to lean more to the black metal side. The more I listen to BIZARREKULT, the more I think they have hit just about the right balance.
The band is mainly the product of Siberian expatriate Roman V, who uses the band as a way to work out his personal issues. You can definitely hear the emotions of a man trying to deal with his demons in “Alt Som Finnes”, which translates as “All There Is”. The album begins with “Hun”, which is less than three minutes but in no way is a throwaway intro. This brief piece already combines fierce Norse blackness with the melodic tones of post metal. This dichotomy is expanded on over the course of the album. Lots of sensitive “post-black” acts like DEAFHEAVEN and ALCEST are boring to me, but with BIZARREKULT, you are never too far away from an outburst of violent, freezing black metal. This contrast almost forces you to concentrate on the intricacies of the more melodic parts.
“Blikket Hennes” and “Avmakt” both strike with some SERIOUS black fury, which can reach the intensity of a 1349 or MARDUK. Yet both also contain slower spots that are both doomy and fragile sounding. Roman’s voice can handle the demands of both facets of the music. With “Hap”, we have what sounds almost like an upbeat poppy tune with female vocals, but there is also some heavy doom and a brief flurry of fast darkness. The album ends with what seems to be the ultimate BIZARREKULT statement, “Tomhet”, where opposites attract, merge and repel each other.
Not every moment here was to my taste, but on the whole, this was an interesting listen from one of the few bands that can successfully merge black and post metal.
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