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A nominal tribute to classic mid-nineties Norwegian black metal stylings, right down to the period corpsepaint, this four-track-plus-intro debut [from Australia] serves as a rounding-the-bases salvo and a potential harbinger of fine things to come. The drums mostly suck eggs – struggling to keep time on both snare and kick – and sound awful to boot, but pretty much everything else is spot-on, from tremolo picking, amiably pompous keyboard splashes and reverb-laden vocal shrieks and croaks. There’s a distinct lack of full compositional dynamics in the songwriting, making each one feel longer than it actually is, but the execution is done with texture and dedication. Old heroes like Satyricon, Emperor and Dark Funeral are referenced meaningfully while the proceedings maintain a bass-heavy rumble like so many Finnish BM groups of the modern era. If it’s inessential to the nth degree, well, it’s also a perfectly acceptable time-filler for genre adherents, and I’ll be curious to see where Bereavement’s cacophonous din can go from here with the aid of fuller production, better craft and more, more and more bass.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Legacy (intro) |
| 2. The Dawn That Never Came |
| 3. Cold Reign |
| 4. Veil of Darkness |
| 5. Funerals of Bereavement |
: 24:40
| Buy other Bereavement albums |
