Artist: Corrughadh
Title: Demo
Type: Album
Label: Digital / Northern Hell Kult
Second demo for this week, this time the somewhat mysterious Corrughadh (the project of He Who Wields The Blade) and is of a raw black metal/punk inflected howl and was brought to my attention by the blade wielder themselves.
‘Rags Soaked In Pine Tar’ is the ominous intro, keyboards and discordant guitar and just a feeling of cold weather and dread, but a feeling of very much being in this world. And the riff of ‘Death Is Undefeated’ is just.. oh man. That full on heads down black metal punk driving riff; simple, basic but full of a deep hook and some fanatastic drumming kicking in before it strips the gears and hurtles into the melee. Snarling and snapping vocals, an of kilter melody slipping around, chugging through. It’s feral and it is a beast indeed. Raw as knuckles after a fight, primitive as the act itself and still riveting.
‘Bound Hands Wring No More’ is more of the black metal even when it hits the chugging riff. There’s something strange, something both threatening and defiant about this. Having appeared on the compilation Rage Rage Against The Dying Of The Hungry (check it out, it’s an awesome collection of acts for an essential cause) you can feel the need to be hear here. ‘Sanguine Village Deliverance’ is just a fantastic blast of punk fuelled black metal and raw production. When Corrughadh hit the chug you can feel every bone vibrating with anger its that intense.
‘To dream Of Shattered Stars’ has a descent ot the sound, a feeling of dread spiralling down into the chaos of your own mind as it stretches out across some void you never should have entered. As though parts of you are pulling loose of the moorings of the flesh. ‘Kings Bleed’ follows (the track they contributed to the compliation). A slice of to the point, ravenous raw black metal hiding knives and dark intent in a ratty tshirt and glowering eyes. Honestly the realness of this is just brilliant. It howls and snarls and snaps and doesn’t give one fuck about your delicate feelings. ‘Death Whistle’ drills down, hard. A mid paced warning before fading out into an outro of ‘Rags Soaked In Pine Tar’.
Twenty five minutes of violent, virulent raw black metal with a punk spine. The fact this feels so real, so grounded is the power beneath it but the songs here are just so hard hitting. Anti-facist, knife wielding sounds to cut deep into the malignancy.
If you need a dose of attitude adjustment, I think I have it right here for you.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 